We were able to squeeze a visit to Jessica in after landing in Hoedspruit. Although we did not have a booking Tony was amazing and made space for the 4 of us. The group was relatively small (maybe 12-15 people including ourselves). He told us the backstory of Jessica and Seun and then we headed down to the dock. Jessica and her baby were not there when we first arrived but she showed up later. Tony explained that he does not feed the baby and keeps the interaction to a minimum. He was very thorough in giving us direction on how to interact with the hippos and only allowed one person at a time to be close to them (with him by their side). What an amazing experience to be able to touch and feed hippos. Loved the fact that they are free to come and go on the Bylde river as they choose. I definitely felt that Tony and his staff want the best for the hippos and everything was clean and tidy. I never felt that this was a money making operation and we were not pressured to do anything we felt uncomfortable with. A great start to our trip!

We visited here as a group of 10 and has a lovely time meeting Jessica. We were not lucky enough to see her little baby but it was a great experience and you can see the love Tony has for Jessica.

Be sensible and a responsible tourist by considering that:

1. There is nothing good or right about hippos eating from your hand and living in a human’s home.

2. It is absolutely not true that two baby hippos landed in the same garden 10 years between each other - this is clearly a commercial business that has been set up for the sake of entertainment and for making money to the man running the business. It is obvious that the man bought and brought the hippos here for selfish reasons.

3. It is clear that the man’s wife was killed by the Jessica hippo during the night Jessica lost her baby hippo. How on earth it could have happened otherwise…

4. It is not fine to let visitors believe that hippos should be touched and fed - it’s an extremely dangerous situation. When I visited the place, there were about 20 people on the pier next to the male hippo, and I felt horrified by the lack of attention given to the health and safety of the people and the hippo, too. I refused to touch and feed the male hippo that is residing there now, and the owner got angry at me and he was trying to convince me to get closer by applying a peer pressure on me from amongst other visitors.

5. We found it hypocrite that the owner plays a 15-year old BBC video showing one of the journalists visiting the hippos back then. It is misleading consumers by suggesting that the media would be supporting this practice. Times have changed and the BBC would not accept this kind of animal abuse and risks to people today.

We can vote with our wallet. If you don’t want to support unethical animal protection practices and poor health & safety standards, then do avoid this place altogether and question the practice in any conversation you might have with other people.
Unfortunately, the local laws are not strong enough to protect us and the hippos from this kind of commercial activity, which is why we need to vote with our wallets.