Bazil the Hippo
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Life for Bazil [baa-zil]was care-free, with each day being filled with new discoveries. He learned to stay away from the crocodiles. He learned where the best grazing areas were. And he learned to use the same path that led him up out of the river and back into its coolness again. His mother kept him hidden from the other members of the pod for the first month of his life, so he felt quite secure. Bazil didn't have a worry in the world, nor did he have any troubling thoughts. At least not until he was about 2 years old; then it seemed like his whole world, as he knew it, came crashing down!
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About the Book
Bazil is a young hippopotamus who lives with his mother on the Kafue River in Zambia, Africa. Life is carefree for him; he learns to avoid the crocodiles and find the best grazing areas. His mother keeps him hidden from the other members of their pod so that he will be safe. But when Bazil turns two years old, everything changes. Hippo pods may only have one male, so Bazil must flee from his own father in order to get to safety. He manages to escape, finding himself at Mukambi Safari Lodge in Kafue National Park. From then on, every time Bazil’s father chases him, the young hippo runs to the lodge, knowing that the nearby humans will keep him safe. As the years go by, Bazil finds a new way of living with the humans at the lodge. But what will happen to him when he must finally face his father? In this children’s tale, based on a true story, a young hippopotamus named Bazil, running way from his father, finds shelter at a nearby safari lodge.
About the Author
Gerri Helton, who was born and raised in West Virginia, achieved her childhood dream of becoming an elementary school teacher. Following her retirement after thirty-five years of teaching, she went to Zambia as a missionary. Mukambi Safari Lodge, where she met Bazil, was located about halfway between Mongu, in the Western Province, where she lived, and Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia. Now retired from the mission field, she resides in Bristol, Virginia.