Hippo: Kazinga Channel’s celebrity species

The Kazinga Channel connects two lakes, George and Edward. In between is a diversity of wildlife. Among the many, the hippopotamus is the celebrity animal thanks to its size and imposing looks. You will see hundreds of them while you cruise the channel, one of the main attractions in Queen Elizabeth National Park in south western Uganda.

For your viewing, the boat captain and guide will gladly drive you close enough to watch them as they swim and interact.

For the photographer, patiently wait and anticipate for that moment when they yawn, letting their two-feet long jaw wide open. 

You can chance on seeing part of their 36 teeth, hairy nostrils and fairly big noses with which they occasionally breath through the water, and as they do so, let off a splash and bubble on the aquatic surface. Some hippos can mean to be shy and at the sight of boats will take a dip the river, thereon exercising their ability to hold their breath for seven minutes under the water.

Their eyes are peaceful but do not be fooled to take them for entirely being peaceful wild gems. They can kill people in a matter of seconds. Nonetheless, they are a sight to behold, and certainly an optical manifestation of God’s sense of humour.

You got to give it to the man above who created an animal so big with very small ears and short legs. An average adult female hippo can weigh up to 3, 200 kilogrammes.

They are the third largest mammals after elephants and rhinos. If they are in a mood to show off, you’ll catch a happy family with young ones, all lazily taking it slow with an afternoon swim. Lovers will rest their heads over each other while young ones enjoy the company of their mothers. Some of the huge wild folks like to take time out of the water to graze by the shoreline though the general trait is to graze during the night.

Some hippos present with quite wounded bodies from territorial disputes as well as movement through the thorny and untamed jungle. They can feed on up to 70 kilogrammes of wild grass in one night’s venture. If you choose to keep an observant eye, you will realize some have lost their melamine.

The hippos are one of the main attractions on the 32- kilometre Kazinga Channel that makes a boat cruise worthwhile as a tour guide shares information and responds to questions from curious tourists. The elephants enjoy browsing by the river banks of the Nile against the backdrop of the park’s thickets and savannah grasslands.

That is in addition to the Nile crocodiles and cape buffaloes who cool off within the bank’s water. If you love birds, the channel will draw you in with water bird species that line its shorelines in a complementary co-existence with wild animals.

A total of 342 tourists have rated Kazinga as excellent on TripAdvisor, an online travel platform. In their review, Cartegana writes, saying that it was truly exciting to start the boat trip immediately after arriving in Queen Elizabeth National Park. They go on to say that for about two and a half hours, they were able to see what is believed to be the largest concentration of hippos in the world as well as buffalos, elephants, many antelopes, crocodiles and different birds which congregate at the fishing village.

‘Wild Whispers Africa’, a tour and travel company detail some of the bird species to see while on the water channel expedition. “For the avid bird watcher, the Kazinga Channel is a prime place for bird watching. While on the boat safari you can see up to 60 different species of birds. Many of these are water birds.”

“Some of the birds you might see on the boat launch along the kazinga channel include: the Great White and Pink-Backed Pelicans, African Shoebill, Yellow Billed Stork, Great and Long Tailed Cormorants, Open-Billed Stork, Saddle Bill Stork, Darters, Black Crake and Jacana,” their website states, in part.

Kazinga Channel is within the park that is christened the medley of wonders. It is situated in south western Uganda, some 410 kilometres from Kampala, Uganda’s capital city.

According to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) which manages parks in the country, the Kazinga Channel is an oasis for many of the fascinating species that inhabit the park, and taking a boat tour along it gives visitors the chance to cruise just metres from hundreds of enormous hippos and buffalos while elephants linger on the shoreline.

UWA’s boat can carry and cruise up to 40 passengers with guarantee seats with a view, while expert ranger guides narrate the creatures’ stories. They ply the channel up to four times a day. For accommodation, you can choose from budget, midrange and luxury facilities therein. 

The species
Hippopotamus is the type genus of the family hippopotamidae. The pygmy hippopotamus belongs to a different genus in Hippopotamidae, either Choeropsis or Hexaprotodon.

Hippopotamidae are sometimes known as hippopotamids. Sometimes, the subfamily Hippopotaminae is used. Further, some taxonomists group hippos and anthracotheres in the superfamily athracoth-eroidea.[8]:39 Hippopotamidae are classified along with other even-toed ungulates in the order Artiodactyla.