Let sleeping hippos' lie.....

Had a long but fabulous day today! Went with a friend to Vwaza Marsh which is a wildlife area bordering Zambia about a 2 hour drive from here! Its a beautiful spot although very badly maintained and not possible without a 4 wheel drive vehicle!

Vwaza Marsh is owned by the Government and has not been maintained so the huts which I used to stay in are now falling down! The fence around the park is broken so the elephants break out and terrorize the villages to get food! There are many Tsetse fly in the park (which cause sleeping sickness) and because of poor maintenance today there were many - in fact I had an extremely sore arm due to an allergic reaction to a bite today.

However, having said all that its a great place to go for some peace and quiet and to check out some wildlife. There are many elephant in the park but today we did not see any (it is an area of 400 square miles). I was not complaining as last time I was charged by an elephant, the time before that I was surrounded by elephants so today was quite a relief. However, we did see many other animals - warthog, hippo, kudu, impala, baboons, crocodile and lots of birds including an Open Billed Stork and a beautiful Goliath Heron.

There were as many as 50 hippo basking in the warm sun, some with babies, and being very protective of them so best to stay quite far away at this time! Hippo's are one of the most dangerous animals in Africa, especially if protecting their young. I liked this shot of two hippos sleeping but still didn't want to get to close as they can run at 30kms an hour which would definitely outrun me!!

Thank you so much for all the stars and hearts on Blessings yesterday - it is most appreciated. Have a great week ahead.