Whatever the Weather, Hippos for our Hippo Lawn
Friday, January 16, 2009 at 09:03PM
It’s been a strange season again, with the short rains (which were due to start late October) never really materializing. We had two substantial rainstorms on the 6th and 8th of November respectively, but that was it. As a result, this part of Kenya is extremely dry, there has hardly been any re-growth of grass (just take a look at our Little Serengeti, below) and the river is as low as you might expect – yet still ever so beautiful nonetheless (above.)
Last week, the sparrows starting courting and I wondered if they had gone a little crazy but – of course – they were right, for since the full moon a couple of days ago, it has been raining! Rain in Tsavo in January is not normal but we’re not complaining. I know I probably said that in January 2008 too, which was also an unusually wet month. It seems things are changing on the weather-front, and nothing is predictable any more – you can no longer be sure the short rains will fall in October / November and the long rains will start in April. You just have to be grateful when the rain comes at all.
Despite the dry, hot months we’ve been having, Ian has succeeded in nurturing our lawn – with the aid of a couple of strategically placed, ever so persistent sprinklers - and yes, we really can call it a lawn now, rather than a few hopeful tufts of grass! You might remember our plan was to have a conventional lawn up around the house (and it’s done a wonderful job in softening the look of the house, below), and then on the Hippo Lawn, to let the wild grasses grow really wild, and wait for a hungry, grateful horde of hippos….which didn’t come and didn’t come, despite the star grass growing thick and tall (some of it is waist high)…
Excuse what may seem like somewhat obsessive behaviour, but I’m going to subject you to a whole ream of aptly named star grass photos…you see, we’re rather proud of our lawn, and I also happen to think that backlit grass is one of those beautiful images from everyday life which should not be taken for granted…
And then all of a sudden – and to our great delight! - one night about ten days ago, we heard a sound outside our bedroom window in the middle of the night, much like an over-sized horse munching on lush green grass. A hippo at last for our Hippo Lawn! And judging by the footprints next morning, more than one too…
A couple of nights ago, a hippo arrived earlier than usual, at around 10pm, and I was able to sneak along the balcony outside our bedroom and photograph it. Believe it or not, it took no notice of my flash whatsoever…
It's fun to think that, where our wedding dancefloor-under-the-stars once stood, now a hippo romps his way through a feast of grass, just outside our beautiful home...
Other grass- and seed-eaters are enjoying the free meal too. We're starting to get regular visits from the Guineafowl (flocks of both Helmeted and Vulturine), though they remain shy. The tiny African Firefinches are here en masse, amongst the equally tiny Cordon Bleu waxbills, and of course our armies of resident squirrels, not to mention the Vervet Monkeys who - much to Ian's indignation - think the grass was planted just for them!
Reader Comments (2)
What great photos - hopefully Mr Hippo will bring along all his family and you can have the whole clan! Glad the rains have arrived at last.
We've seen footprints of other hippos up on our lawn (including a small one) but to date have only seen a single adult on a couple of occasions...I think they come up here quite late at night sometimes.