Sep. 2012 – Suzie and Doug in Zimbabwe | savethehippos.info

RGS London 2026

Doug and I have just returned from a very special trip to Zimbabwe to stay with Karen and Jean-Roger Paolillo who run the Turgwe Hippo Trust.

I have been wanting to visit them and the hippos ever since Karen and I first got in touch back in 1991, but, due to one thing and another, we didn’t make it to Zimbabwe until this year. It was a trip worth waiting for and I have come back armed with hundreds of photos and videos ready to make

BonBon in the water

lots more new sculptures. I am now inspired to make some new hippos and elephants and, new for me, warthogs and guinea fowl. So watch this space!

Karen and Jean-Roger not only protect the hippos and make sure they are safe from drought, famine and poaching but they also protect the other wild animals living around them by doing daily snare patrols with the four scouts who are employed to help them. They form part of a team with their nearest neighbour (who is 22 km away) to patrol their part of the Savé Conservancy. Staying with them gave us a very close and personal experience of the animals and the land.

Karen, YeahYeah (baboon), Doug and Jean Roger.

We were able to see both from the “roots up” and not from a tourist bus. Karen and JR live with their cats in a house they built themselves and share the outside with a troop of baboons and vervet monkeys. At first I found the baboons rather daunting. Although I was forewarned that they lived around the house, I had not realised how big they are! But I soon got used to having to ask them to move in order to open the door to get in and out of the house and sitting out on the patio chairs with baboons and monkeys became quite normal. It was amazing to be able to be so close to wild animals, for although Karen and Jean give them titbits they are still wild. I was even lucky enough to be able to stroke Hazel, one of the vervet monkeys who had a favourite perch sitting on a dead tree just outside their double doors. In fact I got so used to them that I forgot what opportunists they are and neglected to guard our lunch when we left for our return drive to Harare. As I walked to the car a baboon appeared from nowhere, our sandwiches were whisked from my arms and the thief vanished around the house with the whole troop running gleefully after him.

Me stroking Hazel

“Innocent” baby Terry

By the time we caught up the sandwiches were ripped to shreds and being scoffed by about twenty very happy baboons. And they look so innocent!

When Karen first came to Zimbabwe she trained to be a fully qualified safari guide (which was rare for a woman then) and so, because of her knowledge, was able to take us safely around the bush and get us close the animals and in particular her hippos. I was honoured to be able to stand very close to one of her hippos (Surprise) whilst she was lying on the river bank. Karen told me that no one had been as close before except for her!

Me and Surprise

Not only did we get close to the hippos but also to several herds of elephants. Karen’s friend Sharon Pincott who looks after the President’s Elephants in Hwange also gave us a very special and memorable couple of days. Sharon is familiar to the elephants she protects and as a result they will come right up to her jeep. These are wild elephants and it is they that choose whether to approach or not. There is, of course, no guarantee that you will find them, but we were lucky enough to meet first of all Joyce and her two daughters. Joyce came right up to the jeep and it was so hard to not reach out and stroke her. But we had to remember she is wild and you have to respect her space. It was so amazing that I cannot adequately describe how I felt. Awestruck I think. We then went on and came across the “L” family, a herd of twenty that had with them a couple of very large bull elephants and a very new calf. They too came up to see us when Sharon called them over. In amongst them were Lucky and Libby. Sharon’s favourite, Lady, was sadly not there. She is the matriarch of the herd and Sharon has now not seen her for nearly a year and so is naturally becoming concerned for her welfare. We all hope and pray she is back soon. Our encounter with the “L” family was fantastic.

Me and the “L” family of presidential heird.

me and Karen at Ganda lodge with the heird

They all crowded around us and almost took my camera away. Had they wanted to they could have flipped the jeep over with just a nudge, but they were calm and relaxed, even the great bulls who were not known to Sharon were placid as they towered over us. Libby was feeling mischievous and at one stage put a dent in the jeep’s bonnet with her trunk, but at no time did we feel threatened.

My treats with elephants were not over yet. The next day Karen and Sharon took us into Hwange National Park where we enjoyed watching elephants wallowing in water and playing and then also seeing giraffe, zebra, kudu, water buck, impala, an ostrich family with 15 chicks in tow, warthogs and sable all coming to the pan to drink while a couple of hippos and a crocodile slept soundly in the water.

Me and Chitora

And still there was more to come. Another of Karen’s friends has four elephant orphans that she has looked after in a semi-wild state. With Theresa you can walk in the bush with the elephants and even touch them. They are not elephants that have been broken by humans in order for you to be able to ride them. Instead they have been loved and cared for and left to be as natural as they can be within the confines of the land that Theresa and her husband are still fighting to hang on to. Whilst their farm is surrounded by settlers and poachers she cannot risk letting the elephants go off to find a wild herd. So every day her helpers walk with them protecting them from snares and poachers and then bring them back to the farm for safety at night. We walked with and touched these elephants. Again I cannot describe how special this was. Their skin was like a dried up river bed with great crevasses and yet in a very strange way seemed soft. For me the ultimate time came when the eldest elephant called “Chitora” who is 14 years old, reached out with her trunk and took my hand. She was so gentle and yet I could feel her strength. This encounter was magical and one I will never forget. I could have stayed all day just being with these elephants.

Chitora taking my hand !!

And then back to Karen and Jean-Roger’s house on the Turgwe River. Now our holiday seemed to be suddenly running out of time and I hadn’t seen nearly enough of the hippos. But I was to be spoilt some more. At the time of year we were there it was very unusual for see hippos on land because of the heat, but on the morning before we had to leave for Harare, there they were, five of them, on the sand by the river. Following Karen as quietly as I could we climbed onto a small rock to watch them. As we watched, Tasha also came out to of the water to join the others, the two bulls Robin and Kuchek being the only two left in the water. Little BonBon at last threw off her shyness and wandered about for me and then cuddled up to her mother. Cheeky the matriarch at one stage stood up warily at the sound of some baboons and we thought they would all rush back to the water, but she decided that all was okay and just settled back down. After about an hour or so Cheeky finally decided she was too hot and ambled back to the water slowly followed by the others except for Surprise who slept on. Karen talked to the hippos as we moved down from our boulder on to the sand only about 30 yards away from Surprise. Another special moment, to be that close to a wild, but very relaxed hippo. I was very honoured. The rest of the pod looked on from the water in between bobbing under, gapeing and chattering. In the meantime Maxi, Surprise’s calf, hung back near her but still in the water. Finally Surprise decided to join the others and little Maxi rushed to her with joy and they rubbed noses.

Maxie and BonBon touching noses

On our last day we went in search of Tandee, another of our foster hippos, who lives in a different part of the river. To get to her would mean crossing through reeds five foot high. I have to admit I was slightly nervous about doing this, but when we got there we found that we couldn’t chance it as there, on the other side of the river, were three very large bull elephants. So no Tandee, but a last sight of elephants before our very long journey home.
Our trip was certainly very special. We may not have seen any big cats, but we had an unforgettable time with hippos and elephants. And I am not sorry we didn’t see everything as it gives me a good excuse (as if I really need one) to go back!

Suzie.
www.suziemarshsculpture.co.uk

Suzie is our talented friend who crafts beautiful hippo sculptures available for purchase. Visit her website or our Merchandise page.

donate to buy tickets here

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

2) Oil Painting: - by Zimbabwean artist ANT FYNN

CHITAKE

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”

IMPALAS by ANT FYNN

Size 14” x 23” value £400

3) Pastel painting includes frame approximately 24 x 38 inches by British artist RICHARD SYMONDS

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”

4) Framed embellish print size 658mm x 365mm Image size 450mm x 150mm HIPPO by British artist GARY HODGES

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

5) Bespoke silver hippos by Zimbabwean silversmith and sculptor of Luxury brands PATRICK MAVROS

6) One-off stoneware hippo 45cm long x 24cm deep x 29.5cm high by UK artist SUZIE MARSH

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.

7) Hippo Sculpture by Zimbabwean Gift C. Rusere

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.

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