Where the Wild Things Are

Uncovering Rwanda's natural treasures-and the gift of multigenerational travel.

- Jacqueline Gifford

THE BATTLE-WORN hippo trotted into the acacia trees, surprisingly light on its feet. Not exactly one of the dancers from Fantasia, but even with layers of scar tissue covering its side, the creature embodied grace and resilience in the bush.

Less than 24 hours into our stay at Rwanda's Akagera National Park-a swath of savanna, swamps, and lakes some 100 miles east of the capital, Kigalimy family and I had already become accustomed to the hippos. Scores of them dotted the surface of Lake Rwanyakazinga, home to Wilderness Magashi Camp (doubles from $1,322 per person, all-inclusive), an eight-suite, solar-powered tented enclave on the shore. At night, though I was snug with hot-water bottles in our king-size bed, their harrumphs kept me awake an insomniac's dream.

But seeing this solitary hippo on the move, on land, gave us all a sense of the animals' true size and speed. "When hippos fight, they use their teeth like spears," explained our soft-spoken Rwandan guide, Herman Nkusi, who, on a later game drive, found two incisors lying in a small grove. My son, Bobby, lifted one up and down like a barbell, the tooth nearly as long as his arm.