Resting By the Water Hole

By Lory and George Frame • Photos by authors

A thirsty cheetah

The mother cheetah stopped and looked around for danger before approaching the water hole with her cubs. Then she drank and drank, for she was very thirsty. We had been following her through the grassland of Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park, so we knew that she hadn’t had a drink in four days.

The cubs weren’t interested in the water, for they got all the liquid they needed from their mother’s milk.

When the mother finished drinking, she led her cubs away quickly. It is risky for cheetah cubs to stay at a place where other predators are sure to visit.

We didn’t follow her in our old Land Rover. The radiator needed water, and we were tired. We decided to let the engine cool and have a nap in the back of the vehicle before heading home.

Hundreds of wings

The fluttering of hundreds of wings awakened us. Yellow-throated sand grouse swooped down to the water’s edge in relays, each group staying just long enough to wade, swallow a few gulps of water, and have a quick bath. Then, when they took off, another wave of birds would come in and do the same thing.

Nervous zebras

“Now what?” we asked each other, as we heard sloshing noises. We sat up and looked. Zebras were wading through the water. Behind them, more zebras paused on the plains, nervously looking at our Land Rover. But we sat very still, and eventually everybody had a drink and left.

The morning was becoming very hot. There was a snuffling noise just outside the Land Rover’s window, so we sat up. A spotted hyena, who seemed very surprised that there was anybody at home, decided not to investigate the vehicle any longer. He waded into the pool of water and lay in the mud, still watching the Land Rover.

A cool hyena

“What a good way to keep cool,” we said enviously. But people had better not lie down with hyenas. So we just went back to sleep in the car.

Have you ever been in the lion house at the zoo when the lions were roaring? Then you know how loud it is. We leaped out of sleep with hearts thumping and looked around fearfully. Lions!

“Look how full their bellies are,” we said. “They’ve just eaten and now they want a drink.”

Ferocious lions

And because it was so hot, the lions would be sure to stay here till this evening. They owned the water hole now. Even the hyena left. Several gazelles approached but halted in their tracks when they saw the lions. They left without having their drink.

The lions went to sleep and so did we, although neither of us slept especially well. Could you sleep soundly with a dozen lions right outside your window?

That evening, as the sun set and the cool night breezes began, the lions stalked away into the grassland. We started our journey home. But first we had to fill the radiator. With what? Water from the water hole, of course.