In Africa, the hippo is the second greatest killer of humans (the first is the mosquito). We We had a run in with one hippo while on a boat tour. Envision six people in a pontoon boat watching eight hippos basking in the sun on the riverbed. Three hippos swim over to join them. Trying tirelessly to get up out of the water, they fail and begin swimming back to the shallow side. We head down the river to view 20 elephants and their babies playing in the water. As we proceed, we get in the path of one of the hippos. He is two feet from our boat, jumps out of the water, growling and showing us deep down to his tonsils. It was beyond frightening, but an amazing experience nonetheless. ----- Hippos on the Chobe River