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When I went on safari recently in Tanzania, one of the animals that I wanted to see most was the hippopotamus. I saw several in the Serengeti, but it was in Ngorongoro Crater that I really got my hippo fix. Not only did I see these fat noisy animals wallowing in the water, but I even saw several out walking around during the day and grazing on the lush green grass near their pools.

Hippos are actually the most dangerous animal in Africa and kill more people than anything else due to their aggressive nature. It was to my surprise that when we got to this particular hippo pool, we were actually allowed to get out of our vehicles and watch the hippos from the bank. Apparently they are most dangerous when they are out of the water, particularly if you get between them and their pool.

It was incredible for me to sit and watch these amazing animals swimming and wallowing around in the water, usually with just the tops of their heads sticking out and keeping an eye on all of us. They seemed quite calm and to not care at all about us being there, and they just went about their noisy business.

Below is a panorama that I took of this particular hippo pool. You can just see the tops of their heads sticking out of the water, and the crater rim is in the background with a ring of cloud clinging to it’s top.

Panorama of a hippo pool in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania