It all started with a yard hippo, a 14er, and a desire to unite the young, hip, and urban of Denver in a shared, and much beloved, activity:
Barhopping.
Thus, while enjoying pizza and beer after conquering the Bierstadt 14er on a pleasant afternoon in August 2005 in the sleepy mountain town of Idaho Springs, CO a group of Denver's finest discussed pub crawls and a photo of a yard hippo. A moment of brilliance struck, and with a clever play on words (thank you, Lloyd), the idea for the now infamous Denver HippoPUBamus was born.
Over the past five years this annual event has been held
to not only build camaraderie among the souls of Denver looking to try out new bars and meet other urbanites, but to honor your favorite beast and mine: the hippo.
Karaoke has been sung, marriages have bloomed, puke has been buried (under snow), shots have been slung, and most importantly, hippos have been adopted!
Dizzy and Kucheck are the two hippos (or if you prefer, hippopotami) that Denver's Own HippoPUBamus has adopted with funds raised from t-shirt sales and private donations.
We first adopted Dizzy, a female, in 2007, and this last year were able to also adopt her brother, Kucheck. Both the hippos live in Zimbabwe on the Save Valley Conservancy, and are protected by the Turgwe Hippo Trust, the only non-profit organization for hippos in Africa, according to their website.
According to Karen, the woman running the Hippo Trust, Dizzy is
quite a character and very bold. Her brother Kuchek is almost 10 years old, is getting close to mating stage, and being a bit of a bad ass, occasionally likes to spar with the other bulls, as bulls will do. Kucheck's and Dizzy's mother is named Mystery, and still lives with them. I believe their father Happy is no longer around.
All the hippos are wild.
Below are a few photos of Dizzy and Kucheck. Look for information coming soon on HippoPUBamus 2010, tentatively slated for September!
Dizzy!
Kuchek!
