It was 2:00 a.m. We were sleeping uncomfortably in the heat, under our mosquito net. Suddenly, the cell phone buzzed. It was our night guard. He whispered (in Swahili), "did you hear the hippos? They're coming closer." Half-asleep I mumbled, "What?! What are you talking about?" He replied, "We have to call the government. They will send the soldiers to shoot the hippos and kill them." Still sleeping, I muttered, "What?!" Then the night guard asked me a fun question, "Do you have the phone number of the soldiers?" Well, surprisingly, at 2 a.m. I didn't have the government's phone number handy. Should I call the President and tell him we hear hippos somewhere nearby???
The next morning, all we saw was some huge poop on the beach outside our back gate. Jeannette had a faint memory of a strange sound like a deep bass drum underwater. Since then, we've learned that hippos really do pose a significant threat. Just don't get in their way! Maybe next time I should call the soldiers :)
Curiously Tanzanian...
for some reason I could see this as a comic strip in my head while I read.... and it made me giggle. I don't find it funny that you could potentially be threatened by hippos, just the conversation.
ReplyDelete