We often ask our guides to share interesting things that happen on tour, to give everyone a glimpse into the happenings on safari. Adolf Venter recently sent in this 'tale from the trail'.... "We were on a 17 day tour from Johannesburg to Cape Town, at the start of the rainy season. The whole of Southern Africa had been in the grip of a severe drought and the rain had been looked forward to with a great sense of anticpation...desperation. The tour left Johannesburg and headed out for the Kruger National Park, the first of many iconic highlights on the tour. So far, 2 days of game driving had passed when we came across a small waterhole (more like mud hole). These "mud holes"  are usually made by the bigger animals as they wallow in the mud - each "wallowing" takes more mud away, and the hole gets bigger and bigger! 

 
On this day, we found such a hole occupied by a few hippos relaxing (like sardines in a can) in this small pool filled with water. We wondered why these hippo were in such small pool and so far away from any big water source...

We sat there watching them and they were very relaxed until a few uninvited guests arrived to spoil the party. "Dagga Boys" as they are known in the industry, is a term used to describe old buffalo males that are no longer a part of the large breeding herd, but are solitary or form small bachelor groups with other old bulls. These bulls are old and experienced, usually huge, strong and very agressive as they lack the protection of the group and feel vulnerable because they are mostly solitary. 'Dagga' is the Zulu word for mud...since these old guys love lounging around in mud holes to keep cool and rid themselves of annoying, biting flies. One look is enough to tell you these guys have been through the mill...their gnarled horns and ragged ears are the badges of honour they wear, from years spent on guard duty. Faithful sentries up until the point where they can no longer perform and are 'let go' so as to speak.

Now when the hippos saw the 5 buffalo males approaching, they stood up, looking straight at the buffalo and standing their ground in the hopes that the buffalo would feel intimidated and go their own way. Hippopotamus look really harmless and somewhat gentle, but to be honest these are some of Africa's most dangerous animals and are the greatest danger to local villagers anywhere in Africa. Their teeth, although designed for cutting grass (somewhat like lawn mower blades) are highly sharp and certainly lethal. Their stance is normally enough to frighten off lion and even crocodiles generally won't mess with a hippo. Today this was however not working, as the buffalo were desperate to cool down and the temperature was well over 30 degrees Celsius. The buffalo eventually went into the pool, scaring the hippo away. The hippos, now very startled and at a bit of a loss, stood there watching as their water hole was being stolen by these persistent old pensioners. Perish the thought!!

At this point we had been sitting in the truck for about 15 minutes just watching in anticipation as the drama unfolded. (Luckily we were the only vehicle at the sighting which is a rare thing in the Kruger. The hippo, in a last ditch attempt to win back the hole and scare off these intruders, stalked back to the water hole with a purpose. They put on their scariest show - enough to make even a lion think twice, but the old guys did not even bother to look up at them... they were completely unperturbed by their efforts and clearly did not have the slightest fear of them. With that, the hippos admitted defeat (a first) and slowly walked away to go find some other pool (not an easy job after such a long drought). Who knows where they went next? But this made our day!