Had I not looked over my shoulder at that very second, the crowned eagle would have broken my neck. This feeling that someone is looking at you… Well, it does exist!
Wings wide open, talons extended, my head was the target. I know, because it was the only part of my anatomy sticking above the surface of the river. To be honest, I had not expected an air raid. I had been focusing on the crocodile whose eyes and nostrils were the only telltale signs of its presence some ten meters away.
Jean Roger with Abe
A “small” crocodile to be sure: a modest 1.5 to 1.8 meters long. Nothing to get excited about, really. Although I must say that even small, a croc sharing the same patch of river is unnerving. No good arguing though: from the bank, my wife had made it clear that I was a wimp when I dared complain about my bedfellow. In Africa real men do this all the time…
Manliness, or lack thereof notwithstanding, I had to make a quick decision, knowing I couldn’t keep an eye on both eagle and croc at the same time.
The bird was much faster, so the decision was made for me. Next question: should I go below the surface or rise above as much as I could? The nearby reptile decided for me.
Life was actually becoming easier by the microsecond!
I had never seen an eagle at close quarters putting on all available air brakes and wishing it were elsewhere, which is what happened when it saw that black, wet suit-clad figure rise from the pool. The bird floundered, almost stalled, but eventually managed a pretty mediocre landing on the tip of a nearby tree.
I didn’t feel like a god stepping out of the waters. I was, if truth were told, somewhat sick and tired of all the excitement. Sadly, I had only myself to blame. More specifically, my big mouth.
Unfortunate circumstances were barely a mitigating factor.
All the pools in the river got silted up, after a weir broke upstream during floods caused by a cyclone. Hence hippos who had been using these areas for years found themselves homeless.
How do you remove sand, a lot of it, in order to restore a semblance of habitat for hippos?
For my sins I am a geologist. I thought about it and came up with a brilliant idea, or so I thought at the time: a sand pump.
I should have known better. My wife organized everything, and here was a sand pump along with all the bits and pieces going with it. And only me available to operate it…
Starting operations with sand sparkling under ankle-deep, clear water is exhilarating. It works! Pretty soon you are holding the suction head chest deep in a perfectly shaped sand funnel. By the end of the first day though, you feel quite alone in the green murky pool you have dug.
The following days get worse: having to step gingerly into fairly deep, dark water, to resume work, not knowing what has decided to move back in during the previous night!
Hippos you can see. Crocodiles, you can’t always.
Everybody told me: “Don’t worry, crocs are shy and will get out as soon as you start the pump!” This again, was delivered in a knowledgeable voice…from the safety of the bank…
So I sucked sand, singing to myself the music of “Jaws”, just to boost my courage. After all, what was a crocodile compared to a great white shark? It could have been worse. Sure…
And hippos’ dung… Some people like the smell of it. My wife is one of them. But after removing by hand countless clumps of it, interstratified in the sand and threatening to block the suction, I was sick of the smell. Throwing the offensive mess as far away as I could, I decided that when I rule the world, hippos would be made to go to the toilet exclusively on land.
To make matters worse, animals are no dummies. Witness the hippo who, one afternoon, decided the area was large enough for his liking. Of course I was looking the other way. As I turned around to check who was visiting me, my sense of humor evaporated. When towering above you and coming to join you for a look-see, they are HUGE! We both got scared senseless and ran away in opposite directions. “But it was only a youngster!” my wife said.
I must nonetheless confess that after exhausting a life-time supply of adrenaline in a couple of weeks work, I felt ever so good when nineteen hippos were found one morning enjoying a full fledged pool again, playing like puppies.
Did I say puppies?
by Dr Jean-Roger Paolillo
To buy tickets please follow the above link and select the donate in £'s. Donate the amount for the number of tickets required and Karen will forward them to you.
Hear about feeding wildlife especially the Turgwe Hippos and many other wild animals in severe droughts where they all would have perished. Presented by Karen Paolillo the founder of the Turgwe Hippo Trust.
Watch video footage filmed from trail cameras in situ at the feeding areas during the 2024 drought. See unusual and interesting footage of various wild animals that fed during that 10-month period. Hippos, Elephants, buffalo, warthogs, wildebeest, zebra etc.
Meet Anthony Martin CBE, of the AVM Foundation.
Watch 15-minute film created by Actor, Filmmaker and Producer Dan Richardson. Filmed on site in Zimbabwe in July at Turgwe Hippo Trust.
Meet Actor and Animal Advocate and Auctioneer for the evening PETER EGAN, After Life, Death at a funeral, Downton Abbey, Chariots of Fire and so much more from stage and screen. Also meet Actor Mark Bonnar, Shetlands, Napoleon etc.
Donate to a cause that helps not just the Turgwe Hippos but any wildlife in the area. Protecting them from poaching, sport hunting, and natural events such as droughts and floods. People that step in every single day to keep them all safe and alive in the wild.
Purchase one or both books, A HIPPO LOVE STORY or HIPPOS A MONGOOSE AND ME published by Penguin South Africa, written and personally signed by Karen Paolillo; memoir and stories about living and protecting hippos and other wild animals in a remote area of the African bush for over three decades.
Purchase ‘Legacy of Love’, a book that celebrates the relationship between animals and actors, artists, photographers, animal charity founders; this includes the Turgwe Hippo Trust.
Purchase the 2027 Turgwe Hippo Trust hippo calendar presenting some of the hippos of the Turgwe River or the 2027 wild animals calendar. Images for both calendars by Karen Paolillo.
Join all of us for an inspiring evening learning more about the hippos, one of Africa’s iconic species, and helping to protect the Turgwe Hippos to continue their wild lives in the south east lowveld of Zimbabwe within the Turgwe River.
Auction items:
1)Stay for 2 people with Karen and Jean-Roger at Hippo Haven, headquarters of the Turgwe Hippo Trust in Zimbabwe for 9 nights, which can include 2 nights in the Gona Re Zhou National Park at a rustic bush camp where you pay National Parks for that experience. Jean-Roger and Karen Paolillo will personally drive you there (2 hours from Hippo Haven) and bring and prepare the food.This does not include air tickets to Zimbabwe or travel by courier service Harare to Hippo Haven and Return. (5-hour drive).Jean-Roger and Karen Paolillo will pick you up at the entrance to the Conservancy which is 70 kilometres from Hippo Haven and return you to the boom at the end of you stay , where you will be collected by the Courier service.
Accommodation in Harare at your own cost, the Paolillo’s can suggest hotels and guest lodges. Dates this is available at this moment are between June to end of September, date to be arranged with the Paolillos by end of November 2026. Winter months in Zimbabwe i.e. cooler nights June to August. August and September hotter around 30 degrees in August in daytime but it can go as high as 36 degrees in September, climate change notwithstanding.You may be lucky enough to meet Max hippo, the Turgwe Hippo Trust house hippo if he is still visiting the house in 2027.
Value of Stay at Hippo Haven, Turgwe Hippo Trust Zimbabwe £3700
Transport Harare to boom and return to Harare 900km. £800 to be paid by winning bid
CHITAKE This is one of several paintings I have done of Zimbabwe’s Chitake Springs, one of the wonders of the wildlife world. The Chitake river bed itself is sandy and dry for most of the year, flanked on both sides by cliffs gouged out by the river over hundreds of years. On top of the cliffs the iconic towering baobab trees, perhaps a thousand years old, add to the grandeur of this gem of wild Africa. A spring wells up and is the only water for many miles. When myself and my family camp here the best times are when we are alone – just us with no noise other than those of a wild world that pays no attention to us. On the occasion of this painting the Cape Buffalo herd of over a thousand has not yet arrived, the lion pride of over 30 individuals is waiting patiently in the shade of the giant baobabs, and the elephant have ambled up for their midday drink. Small numbers of Impala are left after the main herd has finished drinking, Helmeted Guineafowl have arrived, and huge numbers of Cape Turtle Doves are milling around, drinking as fast as they can, then leaving in a flash of wings before the Lanner Falcons strike. This is raw untamed Africa at its best and a paradise for me as an artist.
Value of Chitake £3700 Ant Fynn
Framed size 26”x 36”
Richard Symonds passion and commitment to wildlife spans over 20 years.
He has held a number of exhibitions and auctions in and around London including Christies and Sotheby’s and his work can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide.
In 2006 Richard hit the headlines with his life size oil painting of an African bull elephant which sold for a staggering $100,000 to a private collector. With a large donation from that sale going to the Born Free Foundation. Richard has always pledged to himself that whilst making his living from his wildlife art it only feels right to balance his success with giving back to the wild by raising funds through the sale and auctions of his originals and prints.
Value of LION by Richard Symonds
£3500
Framed 24”x38”
I've known about Karen's dedication towards hippos, warthogs and other creatures living locally to her area for a few years now and am happy to help through my art whenever possible. So when she contacted me recently about her latest event being organised for the Turgwe Hippo Trust, I chose this special framed print for her auction at the Royal Geographical Society. Having the THT patron, Peter Egan as the esteemed auctioneer will surely help as he's one of the good guys, involved in many wildlife charities.
Besides 'Hippo' being an embellished print, which means I have personally added many thousands of new pencil strokes over many hours on top of the print making it more dynamic and quite unique. It becomes much closer to an original drawing and this particular copy has also been co-signed by two shining lights of the conservation world, Dame Virginia McKenna and Rula Lenska.
I've been fortunate to have witnessed serene scenes like this many times over the past 36 years, in Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon, Botswana and most of all in South Luangwa, Zambia where hippos abound in their thousands.
Value of HIPPO by Gary Hodges £845 unframed
Size 45.5cm x 15.5cm
Suzie’s animal sculptures have gained great acclaim over the last 35 years and she now has a loyal following both in the UK and abroad. She has undertaken many private and business commissions including sculpture exhibits for a museum in Taiwan and two public installations, one of Nelson the Seal at Looe Harbour in Cornwall, the other of Police Dog Finn at Layston Court Gardens, Buntingford, Hertfordshire. Her work reflects her love of animals and her fascination with their character and form. She often produces work to aid animal charities close to her heart and this has taken her to the Animals Asia bear sanctuaries in China and Vietnam as well as the Turgwe Hippo Trust in Zimbabwe. In recognition of her own four cats who double as artist’s models, Suzie is also a keen supporter of Cats Protection. Her initial work is in clay and her originals can then be cast in bronze resin and/or foundry bronze. All of her work is suitable for the home or garden.
Value of stoneware HIPPO Suzie Marsh £2000
Weight 10kg 45cm long x 24cm deep x 29.5cm high
She is a one-off original sculpture made in stoneware clay.
The Turgwe Hippo Trust does its best to promote indigenous artists by suggesting to guests and volunteers which markets to visit. In Gift’s case many of the Trust’s volunteers have purchased his work as his talent shines through in the details and accuracy of the shape and look of the wild animals he sculpts.
We so look forward to meeting you all and hope you have a wonderful evening with us.
