Fishing and Hippo Watching in the Heat

Sterling and I just got back from a short fishing trip that was short on fish, but tall on tales. We headed south off the 4,000 foot plateau that we live on. It was quite the adventure. No one knew of any rod and reel fishing on this lake in recent times, but apparently there had been some kind of fishing tournament on the lake that was last held 13 years ago. We set out on a three hour drive hoping to catch Nile perch, which can weigh up to several hundred pounds.
Things were not as we had hoped. There was no easy access to the lake with bank fishing as we had hoped. Last night was spent in tents with an outside temperature over 90 degrees farenheit, no wind, and much humidity. Today warmed up quickly to over 100 degrees. We fished some this morning, but without a bite.
On the good side, I got my first ride in a dugout canoe. We had great company. We did see hippopotami in the water and monkeys in the trees. We successfully warned some of our guys to get out of the way of some of the hippos on the move. Hippos are very aggressive and more people die in Africa from hippo attacks than from any other animal. We had more uniquely African experiences.
We were quite happy to drive back this afternoon and leave the 100 degree temperature. We came back onto the plateau to the first rain of the season. It has been over four months since any rain has fallen. It was 65 degrees while raining. Ahhh! We like the cool and the rain.
Michael J. Mitchell, MD