Terrors of the Night: Hippo Stampede

Let me tell you about our most dangerous experience during the orientation course at Lake Naivasha—and it happened on our first night! 

Hippos lived at Lake Naivasha, yet Fisherman’s Camp had no electric fence—no fence of any kind—to keep us separate and safe from those hippos. They stayed in the lake during the day, for the most part, but roamed freely throughout our campground at night.

Try to take all this in: Hippos are about 15 feet long. Females can weigh about 3,000 pounds, but males can weigh up to 9,000 pounds! Animal Facts Encyclopedia writes this about even small hippos: “At 14 to 16 feet, and 4,000 pounds, they are about as long and heavy as a Ford Fusion.”

With those facts in mind, here’s an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Grandma’s Letters from Africa:

During the day, the hippos stayed underwater among the reeds, but at night, they grazed freely—even within two inches of our tent—and made monstrous grunting, munching, belching noises throughout our campground. 

In the middle of our first night, the ground rumbled like an earthquake and Dave and I jolted awake. 

Within seconds I recognized hippo noises, and I knew what I heard—a stampede, right through our camp. 

Immediately I wondered if we had pitched our tent in their usual path because, if so, those spooked hippos would trample us to death. 

I asked myself, Should we get up and run? If so, where? Which direction? I couldn’t think straight! 

But it didn’t matter—I was so frightened I couldn’t move. 

It took about twenty seconds for those hippos to thunder through our camp—which seems like a long time when you’re scared out of your wits—and then we heard colossal splashes in the lake as, one after another, they plunged in, their ghastly bellows and snorts echoing through the night. (from Chapter 1, Grandma’s Letters from Africa)

Dave and I were okay! Thank God!

But how about the others in our group? Had any of them been in the path of those crazed hippos?

I listened for screams 

or sounds of movement from the other tents.

But I heard only the blessed sound of silence.

What a relief! 

Those hippos must not have trampled anyone.

It took a long time for Dave and me to calm down.

How we thanked God

for protecting each person in our group!

That night He had shown us, up-close-and-personal,

how He protects us from the terrors of the night.