As goes large African animals, one of my favorites is the hippopotamus.  I’m not sure exactly what it is about them that appeals to me so much but I find them fascinating.  They can often be a bit disappointing at a zoo since they will spend long periods of time doing very little.  However, we have had some good luck over the years.  The one at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago once gave us an interesting moment and San Diego Zoo had a baby hippo swimming around during a visit there.

There are two hippos in Woodland Park Zoo and, when we arrived, they were both almost totally submerged in their pond taking it easy.  This does not make for much photo action.  Fortunately, a little patience paid off and one of them surfaced and proceeded (slowly) to exit the pond.  It wandered around for a short while before returning to the water and taking up its previous position.

This disturbance caused the other hippo to wake up for a while.  It didn’t exit the water but it did get its head above the surface and then it yawned a few times.  Hippos have amazing mouths and a yawn makes them look so dramatic.  I was absolutely delighted.  A couple of yawns and then it was back to submerged and napping.  I know they can be incredibly dangerous but they are still one of my favorite creatures.