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When There is ‘Nothing’ at the Waterhole

Midori Paxton

There’s a notice on a signboard in Namibia’s Etosha National Park that reads, “When There’s Nothing at the Waterhole.”

OK, there’s usually something at the Okaukeujo water hole — dusty files of zebras trooping in through a phantom sea of mirages, thunderous elephants drinking, tank-like rhinos brawling, gaunt and panting lions. Quite a place, Etosha.

But there are slower times. Times when the sun beats down on a view of silent rock and shrivelled scrub; soporific, stifling times when a dreadful emptiness seems to envelop the place.  Times when there’s ’nothing‘ at the waterhole.   

Back to the sign! Beneath the headline, there’s a list of what is at the waterhole, right under your nose (or over your head). Little things — lizards, beetles, a roosting owl, weaver birds, ground squirrels...  A host of tiny lives, so easily unnoticed, but so full of interest once one has become aware of them. And so important to the integrity of the whole ecosystem.

It’s strange what one can overlook. And so readily. We can fail to see the big picture by missing the small details that go to make it up.

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Midori Paxton is a UNDP Regional Technical Adviser (Ecosystems and Natural Resources) for the Asia Pacific Region based in Bangkok. She previously worked in Namibia as coordinator for the UNDP/GEF-supported Strengthening the Protected Area Network (SPAN) Project.

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