More agile than it looks a hippo can gallop at 18 mph in an emergency and half that speed in a jouncy trot, normally the fastest gait. Turns on a dime, climbs steep banks, but is unable to jump and won't even, step over obstacles. Lies down and rises by first sitting down and up on haunches (like pigs). Seen underwater, hippos cross-walking on the bottom levitate like moonwalkers; their swimming movement is a gallop. As a hippo submerges, you can see its nostrils close and its ears fold into recesses. Resurfacing (usually in under a minute, maximum 5 minutes), the nostrils open as the hippo exhales and the ears spring erect, throwing off showers of droplets. Sleeping hippos rise to breathe, resurfacing as automatically as breathing itself. This Beautiful Hippopotamus crown from the Republic of Liberia was issued in 1994.