The 2022 Africa Journals, Ch. 6: The Waterhole

Chapter Six:

The Waterhole

 

There is mystery behind that masked gray visage, an ancient life force delicate and mighty, awesome and enchanted commanding, the silence ordinarily reserved for mountain peaks, great fires and the sea.-- Peter Matthiessen.

 

 

Four o’clock and we load our cameras and ourselves into the Land Cruisers.   We are off on the evening game drive, after taking a photo of a giraffe at the camp's waterhole.

 

Scarcely out of sight of camp, we see the truck in front of us pause and then move on.   Nosy rubberneckers that we are, we also pause and drive slowly until we spot a long-necked gerenuk.   These small, graceful antelope have become a favorite of mine.

 

This one, however, doesn’t realize how much I care for it and it becomes impossible to get a decent shot of it.   All I want is to see it stand straight up on its hind legs and nibble on leaves of bushes.   That’s all.

 

Instead, it assumes a position that is impossible to mistake as it pees.

 

So, we leave it and head for the hard-surfaced road that leads us to the Kimana  gate of Amboseli National Park.   

Once inside the park, we drive a short distance and turn left.   Soon we see a herd of elephants nearing a man-made watering hole.

 

There is a Kenya Wildlife Service ranger station nearby and the water comes from there.

 

I watch the elephants arrive one by one and get a drink.   For some unknown reason, they gather behind some bushes and are only occasionally visible.  When a young elephant leaves the herd and approaches the water, it carefully places its front feet on a rock before drinking.   No idea why, but it happens every time.

 

 

I watch a large elephant that follows the rest of the herd.   It stays back while the herd approaches the waterhole.    My best guess is that it is there to make sure four village dogs didn’t interfere with the herd.   At one point, it turns and faces the dogs, leaving no doubt as to its intent.   The dogs behave themselves. 

 

The sun is beginning its descent to the horizon and it’s time for us to head back.   This is a gorgeous time of day to take photos, when the long rays of the sun turn everything gold.

 

Pay attention to this very important tree.   It's a butt scratcher.....

...a behind-the-ear-scratcher...

....a tail scratcher.....

...a shoulder scratcher.....

...and a side scratcher.    Very Important Tree.

On the way back, a very cooperative waterbuck stag poses nicely for photos right on the shoulder of the road.

 

Afternoon game drives are generally very short.   There are restrictions on how late you can stay in the parks—usually 6 P.M. or a short time later.

 

Before we left, we played with sunset photos.  

 

Tomorrow morning,   bright   I was going to write “bright and early” but there is no “bright” when game drives begin before 6 A.M.   Just “early.”

 

 

 MORE ELLIES:

 

Also at the waterhole :

Speckled pigeons