Alongside a road in South Africa's Kruger National Park, I noticed a medium sized muddy pool to our left and asked the driver to pull over for a minute.  Yep, there were two hippos lounging in the dark brown waters of a wallow half the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Anxious Kruger Hippo

As soon as I walked over, keeping my distance from water's edge, one of the hippos became agitated...opening its great jaws in an act of "yawning", a sign of anxiety and aggression.  I used a fast shutter speed to capture the water being hurled up as he let me know I wasn't welcome.

Charging Kruger HippoAnd so, with his patience at an end, he let me know not to get any closer at all.

This particular shot preceded others where the hippos lunged at me through the water, not really coming closer, to let me know I definitely wasn't welcome.  And so, after about ten awesome minutes ... we drove away having witnessed one of Africa's truly majestic and dangerous inhabitants.  Though I truly never meant to agitate the hippo, which goes against every fiber of living in unity with every creature, I'm glad I had this brief encounter.