Fernando!

Fernando the traveling hippo

What on Earth is that?
Fernando is a hyper-pygmy hippo of unknown regions who ended up in a giftshop in Colorado. Upon receiving Fernando from my mother, I immediately thought two things. First, “OMG! He’s so flippin’ adorable!” and second, “OMG! He is totally travel sized!” And so Fernando’s legend as a traveling hippo began.

on Lady Musgrave Island in the Great Barrier Reef

Where has Fernando been?
New York City (twice)
-went to the top of the World Trade Center in 2000, and Empire State Building in 2003
New Zealand
Australia
- Great Barrier Reef
South Western US
- The Grand Canyon
Toronto, Canada
- Niagara Falls
Japan
- Okinawa, Hiroshima, Tokyo, and many other places
And inside the mouth of a cocker spaniel

at Niagara Falls (American Falls)

Have you ever almost lost Fernando?
Fernando has had a few close calls. He’s been almost eaten by a vicious cocker spaniel named Louie, twice! He fell to the floor of a movie theater when he blended in perfectly with the concrete. He also fell to the sidewalk on a university campus where my friend spotted him.

I had to hold Fernando at the windy Grand Canyon

What’s Fernando up to these days?
Fernando lives in Japan with his brother, Hernando, in a tiny shrine not too far from Tokyo. He has enjoyed traveling all around Japan and seeing famous sites as well as meeting the locals, to whom his is known as “Kaba-chan”.