Rain, at long last…Few visitors last night…Today is Women’s Day in South Africa, a national holiday…

As for last night’s visitors, we were pleasantly surprised when no less than eight warthogs, some we didn’t know, stopped by to say hello and check out the pellet situation. It was pretty good, they observed.

View of the Crocodile River from the overlook.

A short while later, several bushbucks and two duikers, female and male, all of whom we do know, appeared, anxious to get in on the action. It was easy for us to help them participate. 

We got up to feed them several times during dinner, leaving our dinners to get cold. This is such a common practice. We no longer mind a bit. Now, chilled to the bone, we’re still sitting outdoors while the drizzle continues hoping to see more and more vegetation turn green for the wildlife. It’s a happy occasion in the park today.

Three little pigs…not so little…Mom and babies eating pellets at the bottom of the steps, intended for Ms. Bushbuck.

We thought it is important to mention that instead of frequently apologizing for late postings, in the future, please plan to see a post between the usual posting time and five hours later. We’re so busy here in Marloth Park. We often head out on mornings to shop, go to Kruger, or head out on a drive, especially when we see notices posted on Facebook on unusual sightings.

As much as it seems we may have idle time, we’re swamped each day with only a few idle hours in the late afternoon. I’m sure this is the case with many retirees. How did we ever manage to have a “regular” job and get anything done?  

Croc lounging on the bank of the Crocodile River.

We’ve often heard retirees make such comments as “I’m busier now than when I worked.” I suppose it’s no different for us when each day we strive to engage in more fodder for the next day’s stories and photos, have a social life, cook most of our meals while spending the bulk of each day interacting and observing wildlife.

Tom says, “Being retired, I get up every day with nothing to do, and by noon, I’m three hours behind.” Hahaha, so true.

Three zebra butts.

Add the fact we spend at least three to four hours each day preparing a post, proofreading, taking and managing photos, and coordinating photo ops for future posts. It’s surprising to us that we have any time at all left for frivolity. But, we make sure we do.

So, for now, we’re back from shopping for the next week until we depart for Zambia and Botswana next Thursday. We’ve eaten almost everything in the big freezer except for two boxes of fish we recently purchased from the traveling “fish guy.”  

Little Wart Face often naps in our garden.  He’s so at home here.

If the power goes out for an extended period while we’re gone, Lousie and Danie will rescue the fish and other frozen items in the fridge’s freezer and put it all on ice.No worries.

Today, when we drove to Komatipoort to shop, we noticed the pharmacy was closed at 10:00 am. While at the Vodacom store purchasing my new phone (more on that tomorrow), the sales staff stated that due to Women’s Day in South Africa as a national holiday, the pharmacy would open for only one hour. How weird was that?

Vervet monkey on a rock on the bank of the river.

For details on this holiday, see below from this link:

National Women’s Day
Women in Lesotho at a National Women’s Day protest against violence against women at the National University of Lesotho
Observed by	Republic of South Africa
Date	9 August
First time	9 August 1995

“National Women’s Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on 9 August. The day commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country’s pass laws that required South Africans defined as “black” under The Population Registration Act to carry an internal passport, known as a pass, that served to maintain population segregation, control urbanization, and manages migrant labor during the apartheid era.

The first National Women’s Day was celebrated on 9 August 1994. On 9 August 1956, more than 20,000 South African women of all races staged a march on the Union Buildings against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act of 1950, commonly referred to as the “pass laws.” In 2006, a reenactment of the march was staged for its 50th anniversary, with many of the 1956 march veterans.

The march was led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, and Sophia Williams. Other participants included Frances Baard, a statue unveiled by Northern Cape Premier Hazel Jenkins in Kimberley (Frances Baard District Municipality) on National Women’s Day 2009. The women left 14,000 petitions at the office doors of prime minister J.G. Strijdom.

The women stood silently for 30 minutes and then started singing a protest song composed in honor of the occasion: Wathint’Abafazi Wathint’imbokodo! (Now you have touched the women, you have struck a rock.). In the years since, the phrase (or its latest incarnation: “you strike a woman, you strike a rock”) has come to represent women’s courage and strength in South Africa.”

Moms and babies.

What an important day for South African women! We wish the very best for every woman as they are reminded of this critical period in time to celebrate together.

We’d heard about this important day of celebration but had no idea some stores would be closed or open for only short spans of time. After keeping an eye out, we managed to get into the store during the one-hour-open period and purchase a few toiletries for our upcoming trip.

Five waterbucks and lots of elephants near the river.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with photos from Tom’s new haircut and the story of purchasing a new smartphone in South Africa, where there certainly are a few differences from buying in the US.

Have a spectacular day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 9, 2017:

The view of the main pool from the master bedroom in the villa in Costa Rica. These sliding doors and others on an adjacent wall open wide with fine screens to keep out insects. It was such a treat for us to have screens! For more photos, please click here.