There’s a lost archaic glory to hippos. With them, a river isn’t just a path made by water, it’s a mind, a memory, and a will, a mysterious force moving with a purpose older than thought. The river shapes the hippos as the hippo shapes the waterway. The fins of fish, the sleek body of an otter, the chorus of bell frogs, the quiet hunger of reeds and papyrus, are all the river speaking. Before we gave them names and tried to own them, Africa’s river – every current, eddy, whirlpool, and dark shadow – ran through hippo’s veins to create the most powerful creature it could imagine. We imagine ourselves as separate, as solitary witnesses standing apart. On expedition, I spend my days on the river with hippos. There’s a certain kinship on the following water, together. The hippos watch me carefully as my mokoro glides silently past. Like a thunderstorm building on the horizon, they watch us. We move together before we meet in the narrow, deep corners. Too close to each other, the tension builds as the river flows indifferently. Heaven unleashes its fury as the dominant bull explodes towards us. He speaks on behalf of the river: “Join us in the present moment. Take nothing for granted. Know we’re together and you’ll be safe.” This is the way of water. There’s no malice In this moment of crashing water and waves, only the acknowledgement of something primordial. How could a bird’s song possibly be curled up in the silence of an egg? How does grass and water become these hippos? Why am I here? We’re all this moment happening in the empty stillness of reality. We’re all lost in each other. When I am with hippos, I sense myself becoming. Far beyond either of us, I see a part of myself lying unseen and unrealized. A hippo doesn’t need a name to be everything. All life is an unbroken lineage born in water, of water, sustained by it. We’re fated to let it go, to return to it. The hippo, the river, and you are an illusion, a unity disguised by your thoughts; shapes and shadows in a timeless pattern. A river is flowing energy ready to become anything. Let your mind drift into awe, get lost in the currents, as the boundaries blur. This is life on Earth. Photos: @jameskydd