A week ago we decided it was time to see the hippos. Our friends James, Katie and Krista had procured a "boat" by way of a local who kept running into them in the markets offering to take them out on le fleuve, Niger. For a small price of course. We begged to join them, thinking that would be a great way to spend Halloween in Africa!
Saturday evening found us carefully picking our way through what seemed to be a plant nursery to get to the edge of the river. Our guide had informed James that since there was a bigger group we would be taking the boat with a motor as opposed to just the one you paddle. And when we saw the boat that seemed smart because we are not talking about a small motorboat or canoe. This beast was at least 40 or 50 ft long. It was carved out of several pieces of wood. There were boards placed on either end to sit on plus 6 or 7 twin mattresses laid out in the middle. A covering over the mattresses was formed by sticks jammed into the sides of the boat with a myriad of materials used as covering. Which we discovered to be very helpful in blocking the beating sun from our bodies. We all maneuvered onto the mattresses and sat and waited for our guide to find some gas, trying not to notice the quantities of water that were slowly seeping into the bottom of the boat.
On his return the guide, the "driver," and a boy begun to push the boat out of its resting place where it was lodged significantly amongst a forest of water plants. Implying that his tour company had been lacking business. The driver up front was furiously ripping water plants out of our way while the guide in the back tried pushing underwater with a very long stick. This took awhile, with comments like, "if I were a hippo, I would be right here eating all these plants," or "are there crocs in le fleuve, Niger?" Once the boat was released from the water jungle, the motor was magically started and we were off.
It truly felt like we were in a Planet Earth movie. Floating down the river, passing under the bridge, watching men fling large pumpkins from a dugout canoe onto the side of the river, women washing their clothes, kids buck naked splashing around and us with our eyes peeled for hippos and of course the water filling the bottom of the boat. Which before long we realized was the purpose of the boy on board, to bail the water out with a small metal can.
We headed downriver about 20 minutes before our guide started gesturing back behind us. And sure enough a few minutes later a hippo head poked up, just revealing two small ears, two beady eyes and the top of a large nose. They wanted to keep their distance so we were about 100 feet away, not good picture taking since we didn't think it best to bring our nice big lens and camera but we could definitely tell it was a hippo. We watched that one for a few more minutes then motored a little bit farther down the river where we were able to see several more.
It was turning into an amazing evening. The sun was low, it had cooled off a bit, we were lounging in an authentic African boat and we were enjoying the hippo sighting. The guide had cut the motor so we could just float. The sun started to move lower however and so he told the driver to start on our return. It was at that point that I intently watched the driver start the motor unsuccessfully, possibly due to the fact that he started it by wrapping a piece of rope around the engine several times and pulled with all his might, which seems legit, until you see the rope come off after he yanks it because it is not attached to the motor! A few more tries to no avail. The guide crawls from one end of the boat to the other to try his hand at starting it, to no avail. At this point I must insert that when the African sun starts to set, it does so immediately. One moment it is light, the next moment it is dark.
None of us aboard are the type to panic, so we tried to remain calm, for the children aboard of course. Here we were out in the middle of the river, surrounded by hippos and who knows what else, about 30 minutes away from our entry point, with no motor and the African sun saying goodnight! As I mentioned in a previous blog, nothing happens fast in Africa but the next thing we know there is another dugout canoe alongside ours with about 15 people in it and one of the men has gracefully leapt from that boat to ours. It happened so fast we didn't even see him jump. Therefore, I guess some things do happen fast like arranging for a mechanic in the middle of the Niger river when you have 7 annassara in your boat and the sun is setting. Don't ask, I don't have any idea.
Well, fortunately the current had picked up while all this was taking place and we were at least moving towards our destination. The "on site" mechanic couldn't get the motor started though. So we started paddling, well the africans and james started paddling, using a board he ripped out of its place as a seat. And wouldn't you know it, we got to our entry point but went right on passed it. They couldn't paddle across the river to nose into where we had come out, so the current kept taking us. One of them joked, "nous allons au Niger!"
Needless to say they got the motor started just as we were all losing hope, maneuvered somehow over to the edge where we interrupted a group of boys swimming, who hastily grabbed their clothes and scrambled back up the rocks and our hippo tour came to an end. It was pitch dark at this point so walking back through a village and climbing up the side of a hill for a shortcut back to town was just the icing on the adventure. However, I don't think any of us would have traded that experience for dressing up as ghosts and goblins to collect candy.
And the best part was relaying this story to my mom via skype and watching her hold her head in her hands, shaking it back and forth in disbelief and unwarranted fright, as we did all arrive safely home.
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