after the guide had chased the hippos off the island, we occupied the white sand beach and the kids set about catching fish.

it was either the best introduction to fishing or the most unrealistic - the kids each caught a fish, almost 5 mins apart with this last one being caught from the boat. we mostly caught barbel (catfish i think) which they ate enthusiastically.

i mostly enjoyed watching the river and the hippos snorting at us from the water

at sunset we went to find the hippo hotspring pool. hippos are not the most friendly of animals and in fact more people are killed by hippos than any other animal in africa...but... the camp said it was fine - they said the hippo breaks down the wall in the pool every night, and sits in the hot springs pooing, and then the camp blokes go down every morning and mend the wall.

so we sat in the hot springs and Shim the hippo sat at the other side of the pool, on the other side of the wall

and my brother in law, who has lived in zambia all his life, kept well away from the water and had a beady eye on the hippo