Down by the River

Oh Love, keep me warm, keep me satisfied.
Please keep me calm, keep me pacified.
Now I'm content and my life is complete.
I can close my eyes.

Sitting by the riverside with you.

I love sitting down by the riverside,
Watching the water go flowing by.
Oh, golly gee, it is heaven to be
Like a willow tree.

Spend my time just drinking wine while looking at the view.

From Sitting by the River by "The Kinks"

Hippos aren't particularly strong swimmers, but they spend most of the time in the water. So when you do get to see them you usually see something like this:
Or this:
Occasionally, if you're lucky, you get to see something like this:
We were lucky enough to see hippos when they left the river:
It's kind of funny to see hippos defecating. They wag their tails furiously and disperse all the dung. Presumably this is to mark their territory, but I prefer the African explanation: hippos were land animals that left the land and went back to live in the river. So all the other river animals complained that it is hard enough to find fish as it is, without the extra competition. So to calm them doewn the hippos promised to be totally vegetarian, and when the poo they spread the dung around so that all the animals will see there are no fish bones in their dung, thereby proving that the hippos are keeping their side of the bargain.

See more hippo pictures here

A young croc: An old crock:

See more crocodiles

A monitor aka "Nest Destroyer" because it has a habit of finding and eating eggs from nests:
African Fish Eagle:
African Darter aka Snakebird (in Afrikaans: Slanghalsvol - meaning Snake Necked bird) because when it swims it's neck sticks out of the water and it looks like a snake:
Egyptian geese: Its sort of funny that they are called Egyptian geese, because just about the only place in Africa that you don't find them is ....in Egypt. I think that the name has more to do with the colouring around the eyes, which is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian pictures.
The Jacana (aka the Jesus bird):
The Jacana has long toes on its feet, that help spread it's weight when it walks and stands on lily pads. From far it looks like it is actually standing on the water, hence it's name the Jesus bird.


Next: Beating About the Bush