The Sultan of Zanzibar had a shark infestation problem in his harbour. To solve the problem, he bought 12 hippos to keep them at bay. But when the sharks gradually disappeared, the hippos became a nuisance and the sultan decided to have them slaughtered, except Hugo, the exquisite pink hippo. Hugo the Hippo was a Hungarian cartoon from 1975. It was also a defining show that had me musing about Africa from a very tender age.
My obsession with palaeontology and wildlife saw me wandering through countless nature reserves and zoos growing up. Visiting Africa, especially, has always been on my list of things to do before I wilt. Thanks to my deputy editor, who joked about how she probably wouldn't be able to differentiate between a horse and a zebra, I was nudged into taking her place
