At the Watering Hole

Lake Nakuru National Park is one of our favourite parks. It is a relatively small park in the Great Rift Valley, with a river flowing through the southern part that keeps the vegetation lush and the wildlife density high. While there are a few lodges in the park, our preferred place to stay is a delightful colonial-era warden’s bungalow that has been converted to self-catering accommodation. There is a Kenya Wildlife Service outpost in the vicinity and a small shop that sells sodas and beer to thirsty tourists. But that is short drive away and for the most part you have the place to yourself- except of course for the wildlife which comes right up to the stone house. There is an open verandah with a grill that you can put to good use- provided you have carried your own charcoal- in the evenings. You’ve most probably returned to a late breakfast after the morning drive and after the meal there’s little to do except perhaps nurse a glass of beer or white wine, sitting on one of the benches thoughtfully provided. There’s a watering hole that you can see, that is a magnet for the herbivores in the area.

This is just what we were doing one morning when a herd of zebras dropped in to quench their thirst. What with one thing and another, two of the males got into a bit of a fight and one of them bucked and kicked the other on the foreleg. The animal that had been kicked stopped jousting immediately and we knew something was wrong. It looked like a broken foot and the zebra could only hobble around after that. The fight stopped abruptly and the entire herd seemed concerned. The zebras moved about 10m away to coax the injured zebra to follow but to no avail. The hobbling zebra appeared to realise its time was up and refused to follow, most likely from a desire not to slow down the herd. The area is rife with lions and hyenas, any of which could eagerly administer the coup de grâce to the disabled zebra. After more than half an hour of waiting, the herd meandered away leaving the limping zebra to his fate. This is when I took this photo.

Soon after this, it was as if the zebra decided there was no point in suffering while awaiting the inevitable and decided to go out to meet his fate. He walked out limping badly till we could no longer see him. Our lunch that afternoon was a somber affair and that evening when we left for our game drive we never saw him though he couldn’t have walked far.