10. Waiting Game

While on safari, there’s always a little bit of excitement when pulling up to a watering hole because you never know what type of animals will be there.  Usually something is there.  So far, I’ve seen elephants, zebras, impalas and giraffes — or nothing at all.  The disappointment is almost palpable when the latter happens.  However, when there is a sighting, it can be magical.  That’s what’s happening now.  “Someone want to help me raise the roof?”  I hear from the back of the Jeep.  I stand up to release the safety latch on the roof.  A few seconds later, two of the men stand and press the collapsible roof upward, giving our small group a few feet of clearance to poke our lenses through.  “What’s happening?”  “That’s a kudu,” our guide, Tarry, tells us.  “It’s normally not in the water like that.  Oh, and look.  It’s injured.”  I look but can’t see anything, even with my telephoto lens.  “There is something wrong with its front leg.”  I zoom in on the awkward scene.  He looks as though he’s frozen in place.  “Look!” someone excitedly says.  “There’s the problem.  Look to the left.”  I shift my lens away from the kudu and see a pack of hyenas not far from the watering hole.  “You see what’s happening?” Tarry asks.  “The kudu is trapped.  It knows that if it leaves the water, the hyenas will attack him.”  I hear two of the women in my Jeep wince.  Then I hear the men talk about wanting to see a “kill”.  I’m not sure what to think, so I just keep my lens focused on the kudu, wondering how long it’s been standing in the water like this.  I watch it take a small step toward the edge of the pond, only to retreat when the hyenas move closer to the water.  It’s a game of cat and mouse — except on a much bigger scale with an audience armed with cameras trying to capture everything.  “How long will they do this?” I ask.  “Who will tire and leave first?”  “It depends on how hungry the hyenas are.”  I hear the wincing again.  “This can go on for hours, so rather than wait this out, why don’t we see whether we can find any of the cats and then circle back here?  Is that alright with everyone?”  There is a consensus in the Jeep, so we close the roof and leave.  Within moments, someone spots a leopard in the distance.  High-powered binoculars would be needed just to get a decent look, so we keep driving and end up at another small watering hole.  When we pull in, our arrival scares a solo rhino that shuffles off before any of us can get a good image of him.  We continue our drive, intensely searching for animals that might cross our path, but it’s a quiet morning.  We decide to head back to the first watering hole to see if anything is developing with the kudu.  When we arrive, there are a few more vehicles along the water’s edge, and we join them to see the same scene we left nearly an hour ago.  I can’t believe it…  We pop the roof again, get into position, and wait to see what’s going to happen.  Then something does.  The kudu slowly limps out of the water and cautiously goes around the hyenas that are lying on the ground and appear to be sleeping.  One hyena raises its head, which prompts the others to do the same.  I think I’m going to see a chase, but I don’t.  Instead, the kudu goes back into the water and the hyenas walk to the water’s edge as if they’re going get in.  But they don’t.  They stop and wait.  And we wait…