What Badge Do You Get For That?

Three British scout leaders have told of their terror after they were attacked by a hippopotamus during a canoe trip in Africa.

Brian Sheen, 66, Geoff Ryder, 59, and Michael Billworth, 23, were four days into a trip down the Niger River in Guinea when the beast struck "like a submarine-launched missile".

They were forced to abandon their damaged canoe and trek through the jungle for five days to reach a small village where they received help.

Mr Sheen said he was amazed by the speed and ferocity of the attack.

He added: "The front went up and the middle went up. Then the back flew in the air and Geoff, who is 16 stone, was suddenly airborne and landed in the water beside the boat.

"It happened so quickly we didn't have time to be scared."

The three men, from Cornwall, had just started a 2,500-mile trip from Faranah along the Niger River to promote the scouting movement.

They managed to drag their sinking vessel on to a mud bank and salvaged what equipment they could carry before walking back to a village they had passed on the way.

The men, who have all returned to Cornwall, hope to revisit the area next year.