The Hippo Charge - Kwara Camp - Okavango Delta - Botswana

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The Hippo Charge - Kwara Camp - Okavango Delta - Botswana

The day had already been amazing. We had arrived at Kwando Kwara Camp in the Okavango Delta and immediately been treated to elephants, giraffe our first lion to mention but a few.

It was time to head to a special lagoon for the traditional Sundowners whilst enjoying a gorgeous sunset.

Someone had other ideas.

George, our fantastic guide and driver spotted a lone hippo in a small lagoon and stopped for us to photograph.

I had four of the group with me and we all trained our lenses on this beast in the water. All I could see was a huge bow wave coming towards us and then, next thing we knew, the hippo was out of the water and charging!

George yelled out for us to hang on and we were off...not! He has popped the clutch and the Landcruiser has bogged down in the soft sand and almost stalled. In with the clutch, a few more revs, and bang, we're off with a huge hippo thundering through the bush at 40 kph after us.

Thankfully, hippos get puffed and Landcruisers don't and we made good our escape whooping and cheering at what had been an adrenaline packed amazing moment.

We were on an incredible high whooping and carrying on that the rest of the group in the two other vehicles could hear us coming a mile off.

WOW!!! What an experience and certainly one that we will all never forget.

But, did we get a shot?

Thankfully, yes. High ISO and fast shutter speed saved the day in the failing light and here is the result.