The Hippo Wind

People in faraway lands say the wind has always been there, that the wind stokes wildfires to cleanse the earth, carries pollen for propagation, and gives flight to the birds.

Our legends tell of the one true reason the wind came into being.

***

Kito had begun, like his friends, as a goat herder. At the age of six, he was herding the goats on his own, learning the skills of the bush and how to protect his small herd from predators. He always took them near the hippo pond when the sun was overhead. He had a favorite place to sit while the goats grazed on the plains above the hippo pond. Kito knew the habits of the hippos and that during the day's heat, they lounged in the water, safe from sunburn.

Kito stood on the overlook above Tanzania's spring-fed hippo (kiboko) pond. The seat he used was a large rock the volcano had thrown off in ancient times, and he made a game of leaping onto it. Each year, the leap became more manageable, and he knew that soon, he would graduate to more responsibility, and his goat herd would pass to a younger boy.

Aloud in Swahili, he counted the hippos, "Moja (1), Mbili (2), Tatu (3)," continuing until he reached fifty (hamsini). He stopped counting and silently watched them moving in the murky water, jockeying for position as they surfaced. Some enormous bulls jostled, jaws wide, snorting and bellowing.

The pond was full of hippo sludge; their excrement caused earthy and unpleasant odors to waft upward and unpleasantly tickle his nostrils. Kito wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his head to clear it from the unpleasant stink. He then heard new noises from the hippos. The noise was not from their nose or mouth.

"Oh, that is from their ass!" he exclaimed aloud. "They are passing gas – farting!" He laughed out loud like all the boys did when they had farting contests in the village. He had never heard the fart noise before from the hippos, although, in the past, he had noticed the bubbles on the pond's surface. Now, it all made sense. So many giant hippos in one body of water, crammed together and trying to hold a favorite spot, of course, created a storm of odorous gases rattling from their behinds.

"Oh, I could not possibly count all the bubbles from their gassy behinds," he chuckled. The sun was beating down, the air still and heavy with heat, and there was no shade. It was an hour's walk to a bush that might give some shade. He was used to the mid-day heat of the grassland savannah and didn't carry water. His tribe was conditioned to small amounts of liquid while hunting and herding. He wore a headband but used his wristband to wipe his forehead again and keep his eyes clear of sweat.

The hippos were restless in the heat and used the lake to keep their tender skin from burning in the bright sun; this waterhole was full of these fat pig-like creatures. The odor began to swirl up as if pushed from massive underwater vents. Kito breathed into his wristband to get a slight respite from the disgusting smells.

A bit later, he felt a faint breeze caressing his legs and ears and watched as the flies floated away from him toward the pond. The tall tan grasslands waved in the breeze, and low scratching noises emitted as the wind rustled through. The breeze cooled him and lifted the odors from his nostrils momentarily. He jumped down from the rock, and the air current stopped.

"Oh, it smells so horrid. Hippo gas and poop are so stinky; how can they all be in there together?" He kept watching, his wrist over his nose.

The bubbles burst in rows as if someone were popping them with a needle. Pop, pop, pop - he saw and heard them, then watched bubbles disappear when a large kiboko (hippo) roared to the surface.

When up on the rock, he felt some relief from the heat and stink due to the slight air currents. Now on lower ground, he was very hot and had to concentrate harder on watching for predators.

Woosh! A strong breeze shoved Kito toward the pond, but he used his quick reflexes and balance to stay safe. Woosh! The wind hit him again - perhaps a game?

"You want to play, Upepo?" Kito jumped as high as his height and let out a warrior scream, facing north. "Shove me again, Upepo; I am ready!" he shouted to the wind.

Woosh! A dust devil swirled toward him from the south, pelting him with fine sand and red dirt. Kito crouched down, covering his head with his arms, waiting. There was only the silence of still air, mixed with the hippo stench so intense he needed to move away from the pond.

"Kiboko, why do you stink so bad?" he shouted at the enormous hippos. They continued their open-mouthed jousting, letting loose with loud farts and snorts. As they surfaced, the water rippled and splashed.

The breeze began to blow gently across the water on the pond. Kito watched as the baby hippos raised their heads into the wind, their huge nostrils poking from the water. An enormous male exploded from the pond floor, and Kito saw a crocodile snaking away from the hippo. "Ah, the babies are safe now, hey, papa?" he murmured.

More gaseous odors erupted, but the breeze gentled them like it had the flies, and Kito could breathe now. He inhaled deeply, smelling the grasses and distant rain that probably would not fall onto the plains, but blow out to sea.

The grasses were again rippling, and the bubbles on the pond dissipated as the breeze from the south converged with the northern one. In the wind, the sweat on his arms and brow cooled him.

Kito watched as the hippos all raised their head in unison, wide nostrils seeming to flare in the wind. The pond rippled as the hippos expelled gas and excrement from their guts. Their tracks around the pond led to the steep trail they used to exit. Always amazed to see the gigantic animals climb and descend the steep path, Kito knew they would leave at dusk when it was cooler to graze.

"Oh, Grandfather, I know the hippos provide life to many creatures and the land with poop, but why must their pond stink so?"

Kito's nose wrinkled in distaste as the enormous alpha hippo roared angrily and threw feces from his tail at a lesser male. The goat herder knew the safe distance to keep but narrowly missed getting sprayed this time.

Once again, the breeze kicked up, blowing into the faces of the hippos, who were now facing the wind.

Kito now understood his grandfather's story of the winds at the hippo ponds.

The hippos graze at night and return to the ponds, leaving their dung along the way and dropping it into the rivers and ponds. Their feces provide nutrients to many creatures, but nature is not kind. There is a price to pay - the hippo stink.

The wind exists to carry away the stink storm of the hippo pond. Kito remembers his grandfather saying: "The hippo stink creates food, and the wind is your breath, your life."

He stood at the pond, facing the wind with the hippos and raised his arms high.

“We thank you, hippos for your life-giving stench and the wind that blesses us with its breath.”