During one of my early photo trips, I visited the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania 🇹🇿. What makes this place so special is that it’s basically the world’s largest collapsed volcano 🌋with over 20,000 animals trapped inside. Just kidding, the animals aren't trapped, but it's really no reason to leave when they have all they need inside the 12 mile (20km) diameter caldera…
When I got there, I asked a herd of zebras 🦓 for directions to the busiest watering hole . I was happy to hear there was a hippopotamus performance that day. They didn’t share many details but warned me not to get close.
Hippos 🦛 are considered the most dangerous ⚠️ animal on the entire African continent. Part of this is that they are very territorial and don't take kindly to visitors around their watering hole. Because of this, I was concerned for my safety and considered avoiding the watering hole completely. But the zebras reassured me this wasn’t the case and that Hefty the Hippo was a very friendly hippo despite his size and appearance. Since they live here and I wanted some pictures, I took their word for it. 🫣
I knew this was going to be an experience. The exact type of experience was still unclear. The zebras only said a hippo performance with no further details. 🤷🏾♂️I could hear the hippos’ distinct honks and grumbles long before we made it close to the water. When we finally arrived, the watering hole was jammed packed with hardly any space to maneuver. I moved to get closer, but not too close, remembering what the zebras warned. ⛔️
There was a lot going on with all the pushing and shoving down in the water, but that was nothing compared to the deafening sound radiating from this bloat. It was so loud, it was almost painful. However, this did make things a bit more exciting, building my anticipation to its peak, waiting for whatever to happen. 🫤The excitement wasn’t contained for long before one hippo lazily exited the water. The crowd fell silent to less than a whisper 🤫as he made his way to the side of a hill.
The sound started deep and strong, as a low grumble with the hippo’s head down. As he slowly raised his head and opened his mouth, the grumble also increased to a honk until it was echoing off the crater's walls. The natural acoustics 🔊and visuals were supernatural . In front of me, there was a hippo with its mouth open to almost 180°, but the sound of the hippo was coming from all directions at different times, giving the sensation of giant honking hippos along the rim of the caldera. 🤯
As it ended, I finally understood why the zebras warned about getting close. In true hippo etiquette, the performer gave a frivolous bow by wagging his tail and flinging dung far and wide for everyone to see. The hippos loved it! I, on the other hand, needed a lens wipe. 🤢😒
