Part 3…Kruger National Park…It never disappoints…Adding a new feature for Africa…Tom’s trip is over…Dinner guests tonight…

On the way back from Kruger, we encountered this intentional fire in the sugar cane fields.

Effective this morning, we are adding a new feature to our posts in Marloth Park. The feature will be entitled: “Who is in the garden this morning?” which will consist of all wildlife visitors to our garden when we prepare the day’s post. Here it comes!

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs
  • 13 kudus
  • 3 bushbucks
  • 1 duiker
  • 7 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 39 mongoose
  • Frank & The Misses (francolins)

Thus, while we continue to prepare the post, we will add to the list, keeping in mind that typically it takes about five hours from start to finish, considering managing photos, writing the text, editing the text with occasional short breaks to do a household task, prep for a meal or other breaks necessary during this period.

We will not count regular visitors if we can recognize who is here, which we can do in most cases. Otherwise, it’s fun for us, at any rate! For instance, just now, warthogs, Mom & Babies (2) appeared, but they weren’t counted earlier. We hope that our readers will find these figures amusing.

We had to make it through the thick smoke of the fires.

This afternoon at 4:00 pm, 1600 hours, we’re having guests for sundowners and dinner, Dawn and Leon, Jabula Lodge, and Restaurant owners. We always have such a good time with them at the restaurant, but it will be nice to have time with the two without all the restaurant’s distractions.

A wildebeest (gnu) on the side of the road near Vurhami Dam in Kruger.

This morning we prepped some of the items on the menu which when done here, I will wrap up the balance. Zef is here cleaning the house, which makes entertaining so much easier when we don’t have to clean in preparation for company.

Rapids under the bridge at the Sabie River.

All we have to do is prepare the food and clean up after ourselves. When we entertained more frequently in our old lives, it’s easy to recall how much time was spent cleaning before the guests arrived and later when they left. It’s a lot easier now. Plus, I am not as picky about preparing fancy foods for our guests.

Giraffe walking down the middle of the paved road.

Louise always suggests that we leave our evening dishes for Vusi and Zef to wash the following day as they are accustomed to doing for the guests at other houses. But, we don’t feel right leaving a sink full of dirty dishes when we can easily put them into the dishwasher. In addition, leaving dirty dishes can draw ants and other creeping crawlers overnight, which we do not want to do.

The giraffe walked toward us as we waited patiently.

Simple appetizers (referred to as starters) and simple meals are typical in South Africa, usually consisting of meats cooked on the braai with a few starchy sides, which I am making tonight for our guests. I will limit myself to biltong (delicious South African beef jerky), cheese, and steaks and not be tempted by starchy items.

Another giraffe we spotted in the park.

I am easily maintaining my now medication-free former hypertension and high blood sugar, all of which are normal, day after day. That’s a small sacrifice from my perspective. I’m not missing any of it. Well, maybe a few things, but I never indulge myself in those items, which could result in a “slippery slope.”

It’s funny, but I crave “low carb” items, not sweets and starches from my old life before 2011 when I went low carb. Now, I’ve also been zero carbs since last October while in lockdown in the hotel in Mumbai, India, when I conducted hundreds of hours of research on this more strict version of low carb, never looking back.

More rapids on the Sabie River.

That’s it for today, dear readers. I have to get back to work on tonight’s food prep and, when done, work on the post corrections. My goal is never to miss a day making the corrections unless it’s a travel day. So far, so good.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, May 13, 2020:

Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas. Will we ever be able to cruise again? For more photos, please click here.

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