The Hippos in Lokossa

I (Jaren) had an in-service training in Lokossa for a few days and while down south took the opportunity to visit the hippos that reside in a neighboring lake. Along with 5 PCVs from Togo I boarded a long, narrow wooden boat carved out of a tree trunk and set off on the water.







The guide used a long pole -- similar to what is used in Venice -- to push and direct the boat. Though unlike the Italians, the bottom of the pole was capped with a Gino (the local brand of tomato paste) can for more stability. Oh, the Beninese.

While out on the water, the two hippos that are the lake’s residents were spotted: the mama and the baby. Unable to get too close to the hippos (unless we were to be dinner) we saw their heads bobbing up and down.


We also saw local fisherman out on the lake. Fishing here in Benin is done the old fashioned way- casting a net and waiting for the fish to swim into it before picking up the net. We accidentally paddled over one fisherman’s net and ripped it. There went his catch for the day.


At the end of the excursion our guide welcomed us into his home for a “thank you for participating” mandatory sodabe shot. As the shot burned down my throat, I was glad I saw the not so hungry, hungry hippos.