Experiencing the incredible bond between game warden Tonie Joubert and Jessica the Hippo, it’s easy to forget that this is Africa’s most fearsome animal.
Having grown up to fear hippos more than any other creature on the African continent, it was with great hesitation that I approached Jessica’s giant canine teeth and powerful gaping jaw. Just seconds before, Tonie Joubert planted a kiss on the smiling hippo, who washed up on his doorstep in South Africa 12 years ago after devastating floods separated her from her mother.
In the wild, a lone premature calf won’t survive for long, but Tonie and his wife Shirley nursed Jessica to health with baby formula. She now weighs nearly 2, 200 pounds and sleeps on their veranda in the Limpopo province! Jessica is the world’s most famous hippo and perhaps the only one who has forgotten how aggressive and scary she is supposed to be.
A Tata Nano in India – this made-for-masses cheap mini could be the smart car for the poor man, in countries like Israel, Jordan and Egypt
To the great shock and horror of a local journalist, recycled Israeli pencils are discovered for sale on the shelves of a popular store in Saudi Arabia.
A hastily constructed building in Israel designed in 1972 seemed like a good idea at a time, but now it has evolved into a bizarre eyesore and a sanctuary for the country’s Orthodox Jews.