THE RIVER HORSE

The Zulu people call the hippopotamus imvubu. As Credo Mutwa has pointed out, “This word has several meanings, one of which has to do with mixing several things in a container... In this sense, the word imvubu means ‘the mixed up creature’, or ‘the creature which is unable to make up its mind what it is’. It behaves like a crocodile, but it looks like a combination of a rhinoceros and an elephant.”

Although this is the stuff of legend, a hippo is indeed a unique