A friend of mine lent me a lovely book about the animals of the Mara, and that, combined with some interesting things I discovered from the guides on my safari trip, meant that I learned a lot of fascinating, amazing and fun facts about some of the animals of the Mara!

Hippos

Hippos are herbivores, who spend all day lounging in the mud, almost fully submerged in water, and they come out onto the land at night to graze (they mostly eat grass). They are excellent swimmers, although they mostly prefer to stay near the banks of rivers and lakes so that they can stand up in the water rather than float or tread water. They can hold their breath underwater for up to 15 minutes, but on average they submerge for 5-6 minutes at a time before coming up for air. Hippos are massively aggressive, and will defend their territory fiercely, and can easily kill a human, although they won’t actually eat you afterwards. They live in families of around 10-15, usually with one male and lots of females, and some of the young.

When they defecate, they flap their tail quickly back and forth with a “thwap-thwap-thwap” noise, to spray their faeces far and wide. It looks a lot like shit, quite literally hitting a fan. Trust me, I’ve seen (and heard) it.

My favourite hippo fact? Young males are tolerated in a family, but they must show respect by defecating in the face of the alpha male. Possibly the most hilarious way to show respect I’ve ever heard of.

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