Nile Hippo Expert

My name is Makayla, I'm 27 years old, and I absolutely LOVE Nile Hippos. I am autistic, and had unfortunately experienced major suffering in some ways since I was 12 years old, so some of my posts (particularly my older ones) on this forum might be considered bad posts, but that has changed a lot in the past year or two and now I am now overall an extremely good, very happy and vibrant young woman who has had a lifelong passion on zoos and animals. My grammar and sentences might not be the greatest because I am a high school drop-out so please understand that. I was diagnosed as an adult with ADHD, and would describe myself as a very talkative person, whether in person or on forum posts online. However, my life has been amazing in many ways too, most notably taking a turn for the green when I became a mother at a very young age, and raising my four children with my long-term boyfriend has really meant the world to me, my strong love for animals is one of the many things that has passed on to my children! I have traveled around the world, another strong passion of mine, I have visited 10 different countries in my lifetime, personally I think Italy and Germany are the most beautiful places! Some other things I love doing are artwork, cooking, hiking, stylizing my hair and makeup on my face, and looking at funny videos and vandalism to web pages on the internet, but none of them come close to my love of zoos.

I have been to over 50 zoological institutions in my lifetime (30 in the US and about 20 in eight other countries). I have absolutely adored Nile Hippos ever since I saw Otis, the large male hippo open his 5-foot wide mouth at the Los Angeles Zoo when I was only three years old, and I have continued to hold a love for Nile Hippos and zoos and animals in general since then. My October 2021 visit to the San Diego Zoo was definitely the best day of my life, they had such a neat collection, and it was especially meaningful afterwards as I was lucky enough to see Otis, the hippo who was the reason my love for the species and zoos in general started back when he lived in Los Angeles, as he would pass from age-related natural causes only a month later. Otis is my favorite individual zoo animal of all time and that will probably never change. ZooChat has made my life so much better since I joined over three years ago, I even feel at times that I might even be addicted to ZooChat!

My top 10 Zoos:
1. San Diego Zoo - 2013 and 2021
2. Disney's Animal Kingdom - 2005, 2016, and 2024
3. Los Angeles Zoo - 2002 and 2008 (would probably miss the cut, but I can't ignore my love of zoos and Nile Hippos origins)
4. Fort Worth Zoo - 2021
5. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo - 2018
6. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo - 2022
7. San Diego Zoo Safari Park - 2013 and 2021
8. Busch Gardens Tampa - 2024
9. Philadelphia Zoo - 2019
10. Woodland Park Zoo - 2019

Thanks for visiting my page, Makayla