Today is a special one year ago anniversary…Complications with paperwork…Kidding myself about using my phone or camera for scanning documents…

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About three weeks ago, this piglet became separated from her mom and two siblings in our garden. We hope others are feeding her too.

One year ago today, we were finally able to leave the hotel in Mumbai, India, where we spent a few days short of 10 months in lockdown at the Marriott hotel due to Covid-19 to fly to South Africa. Several days earlier, we’d made arrangements but expected the flight to be canceled. It was not, and we made it as far as Dubai on January 11, 2021, as described in this post.

Without a doubt, with Covid-19 in the air; it was scary flying for so long. From the Mumbai airport to Marloth Park, it was 59 hours. We remember that day as if it was yesterday. We were so happy to be here, in this house, with this fantastic garden, backing up to Lionspruit, the exhaustion we felt after 2½ days of travel was incidental.

In a matter of a few days of rest, good food, and sleep, we were feeling great and settled in, thanks to Louise‘s help, dinner at Jabula, and our uncanny ability to adapt to time zone, and long travel days reasonably easily. In no time at all, animals came to visit us. Most exciting was the day that Little appeared, shortly after we arrived, tearing a hole in the screen trying to get into the house.

We hadn’t seen Little in over two years at that point, and the fact he found us so far from the Orange house where we lived in 2018/2019, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. He visits almost every day, except during this busy now-ending holiday season. Soon, he’ll be back to his old routine of stopping by around 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs, daily.

This poor little piglet is alone. We’ll make a point of feeding her each time she stops by.

At this point, we’re busy getting all the documents the law firm needs, and undoubtedly, it’s been a hassle. We carried a small portable printer and scanner when we first began traveling. But those days are long gone. Both weren’t of the quality of desktop models, and neither lasted more than a few years. Besides, they were bulky, although travel-size, and added a few kilos to our luggage weight.

When we need to prepare documents for visas or other reasons; it is a real pain in the you-know-what. There is a post office here in Marloth Park that does printing and scanning for a fee, but their hours aren’t always convenient, and we could end up waiting for quite a while with other customers in the shop.

Louise has an excellent printer and scanner which we use. But, lately, with the busy holiday season, we haven’t felt comfortable pestering her so much, although she is always happy to oblige.

So I got all the necessary documents together, and some of them weren’t acceptable. Our passport pages couldn’t be adequately scanned on a camera, so we had to run back to Louise to do these. Plus, the immigration department wouldn’t accept airline tickets for our eventual departure without the Expedia (or other vendors) logo on the tickets. It’s impossible to make a PDF of an Expedia ticket for whatever reason.  I ended up having to take a screenshot to comply.

Bushbuck’s hair stands up on their backs when they are around other bushbucks, fearful of having to share their territory.

Then, yesterday, the law firm couldn’t get South Africa’s immigration system to accept any of our credit cards to pay the additional processing fees. I called our credit card companies, spending almost an hour on the phone, to find out nothing was wrong with our cards, which I knew would be the case. It’s a South Africa VSF immigration department issue. Hopefully, today, that will be resolved on their end. Otherwise, I don’t know what they/we will do.

At this point, other than the payments as stated above, we’ve done our part, and they should have everything they need to complete our extension applications. It’s frustrating, to say the least. We’re glad we didn’t attempt to do this ourselves. It would have been even more cumbersome.

On another note, last night, after returning from picking up Rita’s sister, Petra, and her husband Fritz, at the airport in Johannesburg, Gerhard called and said he had a “perishable” treat for Tom. He and Fritz came over to hand Tom two boxes of Krispy Kream glazed donuts. He couldn’t have been more thrilled. With six donuts in total, Tom ate three last night and the remaining three with his coffee this morning.

Soon, we’re heading to Komatipoort to shop.

Have a wonderful day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 11, 2020:

I was wearing my N-99 mask, face shield, and gloves continuously during the entire 2½ days of travel from Mumbai, India, to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport. The post may be found here.

New visitors to the garden appear on trail cam photos!!!…

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Definitely, not as clear as we’d like. We were thrilled to see these two Meller’s Mongoose on the trail cam last night.

We had a relatively quiet day upon returning from Royal Kruger Lodge, where we slept on Saturday night after a pipe broke in the bathroom and flooded the house. The house was back in order. I’d already done the laundry the previous day, and nothing more than writing a new post, making dinner, and continuing with my exercise routine was required of me.

It was on my mind that we needed to go to Louise‘s office early in the morning to get clearer scanned copies of our passports and visa stamped pages from when we returned from Zambia in October with our current visas good until January 23, 2022. Now, the law firm has all of the necessary documents to begin processing our extensions. We wait.

When an application for an extension is submitted, the approval won’t be tendered until after the original visa extension dates have expired. We have to stay in the country until the approval comes through, or we’ll become “undesirables” if we leave earlier.

In other words, if the approval doesn’t come in until we need to leave for our April 8th cruise, we won’t have the benefit of the extension and will be banned from South Africa for five years. We don’t want that to happen. The usual processing time using a lawyer is under 60 days. On our own, it could easily have been much longer.

Immigration offices are poorly staffed right now due to the pandemic. It was worth paying the US $983, ZAR 15,366 for the legal fees. It is several thousand dollars less than we’d have paid to fly somewhere.

It is hard to get perfect shots from the trail cam, but we’d never been able to see these two Meller’s Mongoose in the garden without it.

If our transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Cruise Line is canceled, we’ll have no choice but to leave around April 23, when the new visa extensions expire. We can only wait and see what happens. Many cruises are canceling now, and ours could soon be on the chopping block.

We’d love to embark on this cruise, but the news isn’t promising. Instead, we’re keeping a positive attitude and loosely considering our options if we can’t sail away. No, we aren’t worried. This pandemic is now in its third year, and we’ve managed to figure out what to do, time after time.

We finally got our refund from Delta Airlines on the flight they canceled for what would have been our trip to friend Karen and Rich’s wedding, upcoming, on February 11. We’re disappointed we couldn’t attend the wedding but being stuck in a two-week quarantine in a hotel in Florida was particularly unappealing to us.

And yet there was no other way to fully provide peace of mind to the wedding party with us coming from South Africa. There are nearly 1,000,000 new cases a day in the US, and the misconception is that South Africa is worse. It is not. Now, 95% of all cases are the less dangerous Omicron variant. But, even if a bride or groom ended up with the cold-like symptoms, typical with Omicron, it could put quite a damper on their wedding. We understood the concern and chose to stay away.

Instead, this week we’re content in Marloth Park as always. It’s Rita’s 60th birthday week, and many fun activities are planned to which we’re included. Today, they are in Johannesburg, picking up Rita’s sister Petra and her husband, Fritz, from the airport, arriving from Germany and staying with them for a few weeks.

They will all be staying at the Khaya Umdani house starting today. On Wednesday, we’re going to that house for a dinner party celebrating Rita and Gerhard’s one-year US citizenship anniversary. On Friday, on the actual day of Rita’s birthday, we’re going on a night game drive with a guide into Kruger National Park, ending with a dinner in the bush, in the dark, with the wild animals surrounding us.  Then on Saturday evening, the six of us will head to Jabula for dinner.

Next week, we’ll invite the four of them for dinner at our house. It will be a fun and busy time. We’re happy to have an active social life with dear friends once again.

Vusi is here now cleaning the house, and we’re sitting at the table on the veranda as usual. Stingy is here along with Imposter Little, but we had many more animals a short time ago.  More and more holidaymakers are leaving the park after the school holidays have ended. Soon, we’ll see many more wildlife visitors, and I’ll be able to take more photos that have been sparse over the long holiday season.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 10, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #291. An owl we spotted in Kanha National Park in India. For more photos, please click here.

Oh, my gosh!!!…What a week!…Another shocker!!!…

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After breakfast, Tom at Royal Kruger Lodge in the area where we waited for the house to be ready.

What can I say? It was a crazy week with the intruder in the garden, shown in this post, and now the latest, a flood at our house.

Last evening, as we often do, we were on the veranda, sipping our beverages, listening to music, and enjoying a slightly cooler evening than those of the past several days. We’d considered going out to dinner but decided to dine in, having been out the previous night and having a busy upcoming social week, we’ll explain in tomorrow’s post.

We threw a well seasoned free-range chicken (generally, not available) on the braai on medium heat and let it cook for a crispy exterior and moist, tender meat. I’d made a big salad, roasted some carrots with the chickens, made rice for Tom, and we were looking forward to our upcoming meal on the veranda watching wildlife.

The view across the garden to the pool and dining area where we had breakfast this morning.

About 20 minutes after we sat down outdoors, we went indoors to refill our glasses. We stepped into the water and heard the water running hard and loud from the master bedroom. Sloshing through the living room to the master bedroom, where the water was even higher, we saw the water supply line under the sink in the en suite bathroom was pouring out water like a hose. We couldn’t believe what we had encountered.

Quickly, I contacted Louise, who happened to be grocery shopping in Nelspruit, and she told us where to find the water shut-off. In seconds, Tom found the shut-off valve close to the road in our driveway, and he turned off the water supply.

We ran around the house, picking up things off the floor. The water had run through the entire first floor but didn’t reach our luggage in the second bedroom but wasn’t far from doing so. Surprisingly, the two bags of pellets in a corner in the second bedroom was only a meter from the water. That would have been a mess since pellets dissolve quickly in water.

Most likely, this was a rhino beetle we spotted outside the door to our guest room at Royal Kruger Lodge. We couldn’t see the face to determine its species, but it certainly looked like one.

But, the worst of it all, due to our concern about leaving our laptops in the second bedroom at night, we’ve been leaving them on the floor of the master bedroom, plugged into an outlet that works off of the inverter during power outages, and load shedding. There’s no dresser or table in the master bedroom to set the computers on. The little nightstands are too small.

Had it not been for this week’s human intruder to the garden and our concern of theft, we would have kept the laptops in the second bedroom on the long wood shelf along a wall. The laptops were far from the window, which we’ve kept locked with the shade down. Now, we’ll develop another plan with the laptops off of the floor.

My laptop was on the daybed in the lounge room when this happened, so there was no issue there. But Tom’s laptop got wet, dripping when he picked it up. Plus, all of our specially purchased power cords, adapters, and converters, of which there are many, were underwater.

Firstly, we knew we couldn’t spend the night with all the water in the house. The power had tripped from the water, but Tom managed to get it going again. Louise arranged for a guest room at Royal Kruger Lodge, where we spent New Year’s Eve at a party, hosted by owners Flo and JiJi. We decided we wouldn’t leave until after eating our dinner, which was still cooking on the braai.

We packed a duffle bag with overnight stuff, the laptops (including Tom’s soaked device), and by 6:45 pm, 1845 hrs, we were on our way to Royal Kruger Lodge. The room and setting were beautiful, with impeccable service, and we were settled in no time at all. Tom left his laptop open all night in the cool air-conditioned room, deciding not to check it until this morning.

Much to our shock and relief, his laptop is working fine. Plus, all the power cords, converters, and adapters survived as well. That was also surprising. There was no way we wanted Louise to feel responsible for replacing our equipment.

When we returned to the house a few hours ago, it was dry and spotless. This morning, writing back and forth with Louise on WhatsApp, they had the plumber here to fix the broken pipe, and Louise, Danie, and Zef and Vusi cleared all the water, cleaning everything to perfection in its path. Thank goodness it isn’t quite as hot and humid today since the house feels a bit humid after all of that water. But it’s drying out with fans running and a few windows with screens open.

This morning we had a lovely breakfast at the resort, and soon, I’ll start prepping for tonight’s t-bone steak dinner, again using the braai. We are good and pleased with the result. Perhaps there was a little “safari luck” in the mix with our equipment surviving.

At the moment, we’re back on the veranda, after feeding pellets to Gordy, Spikey, Broken Horn, and “Little” Imposter, sipping our iced tea and content as we could be.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago, January 9, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #290. The excellent staff served us at the Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai International Airport. They couldn’t be more attentive and concerned about our needs and those of the other stranded foreign nationals staying at the hotel during this difficult time. This photo was taken when we could still go downstairs. For more photos, please click here.

News about the possible end of the pandemic…We know, enough already!!!…

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Three Big Daddies and Little Imposter showed up for pellets this morning.

When I am getting ready in the mornings in the second bedroom where I keep my “stuff” and clothes, I always listen to a few podcasts with the latest information on Covid-19, particularly one from a doctor in the UK, Dr. John Campbell, who’s stayed on top of the latest developments, scientific studies, statistics and the future of the pandemic.

Dr. Campbell can be found by typing in his name on YouTube. He often reports daily and twice on some days. His information is unbiased, unpolitical, and fact-based. I trust him instead of some of the sensationalized news instilling more and more fear into the public worldwide. His most recent podcast uploaded today on YouTube can be found here.

Over the past week, there have been numerous articles online stating that the lesser effects from the Omicron strain provide an added layer of immunological protection that possibly could put an end to the pandemic in 2022. I gathered this information from various articles extracting snippets I found less politicized and controversial.

It didn’t take long for the three Big Daddies and Little Imposter to get into eating pellets.

Why the media has made this pandemic about politics baffles me. Reputable scientific information should lead the way in reporting the statistics and the inevitable outcome. But even the statistics are inaccurate when millions of cases are never reported.

There’s a lot of controversy about hospitals in the US and other countries reporting Covid cases and deaths for people treated in hospitals for other causes and happen to have a positive Covid test. Of those who may die of other causes while in the hospital, for example, being treated for a heart attack, but happen to have tested positive for Covid, they are counting these as Covid deaths.

It isn’t easy to rely on the stats. Sure, a case of Covid is a case of Covid, regardless of a patient’s other conditions and what brought them to the hospital. But from this perspective, it’s impossible to understand how many cases and deaths there are.

We’ve named this warthog Little Imposter. He responds when I call him since he’s heard me call Little often. But, he won’t come close to the veranda as Little does. He’s very skittish.

I know you are all sick and tired of hearing about the pandemic, but for us as world travelers and those of you who read our posts and who are traveling and would like to travel, staying on top of the most reliable sources of information is imperative. Where, when, and how we’ll be able to travel is entirely predicated by the latest news hitting the wires, not necessarily the most up-to-date medical science.

Sorting through all the news reports and scientific evidence can be daunting. I am having an awful time trying to find out where I can get a J & J vaccine booster without driving three hours (round-trip) to get it. Information online is sketchy, particularly about the J & J booster. It appears that we’ll only be able to get it when we go to Nelspruit to return the current rental car on January 23.

In a perfect world, none of this pandemic chatter would be necessary for our posts. But, since so many of our readers are travelers, from time to time, we find it imperative to discuss and share any vital information we may discover due to our ongoing research. Few people like to spend time online searching for such answers. We are attempting to streamline this process for those who prefer to spend time online doing other things.

They wiped out the pellets and looked at us for more in no time at all.

For those of you who are “sick of hearing about it,” we apologize. We’ve always promised to be transparent about our travel issues and most certainly, what’s happening in the world falls right into that category.

On a lighter note, I am pleased to say I am working out again, attempting to get in the number of steps I accomplished while in lockdown in India, walking about eight kilometers a day in the corridors. I wish I could say I am doing this outdoors but based on the instability of my legs after two surgeries. I find it safer to do this indoors rather than walking on the uneven dirt roads, now all the more washed out than ever.

It’s a daunting task to walk that much indoors, but as of the past several days, I am working my way toward my goal and should reach it within a week or two. I can already feel the beneficial effects and am thrilled I finally mustered the motivation to do it. I was simply sitting too much, although I stay relatively active around the house each day.

We hope you are healthy, happy, and content.

Photo from one year ago today, January 8, 2020:

This photo was posted while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #289.The stunning interior of Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Pondicherry, India. For more photos, please click here.

Gloom and doom about the cruise industry…Worst-case scenarios…

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Gosh, our porcupine is becoming quite a regular. Next time we shop, we’ll purchase some root vegetables for her.

The worst-case scenario of cruising during the pandemic is getting the virus and becoming seriously ill during or after a cruise. However, the next situation would be, after becoming infected, with or without symptoms, and being forced to quarantine in the small cabin for several days, missing all or part of the cruise.

At this point, some cruise ships are requiring all positive-tested passengers to remain collectively on one particular deck, unable to attend regular dining, tours, or activities. It’s entirely possible an infected passenger may be required to forgo their upgraded cabin, such as our usual balcony cabin upgrade and moving to whatever other cabins may be available on the quarantine deck.

For instance, we could be moved to an inside cabin which, without a window or sliding door, would be awful for us. Neither of us feels comfortable in a window-less room. We’re always willing to pay considerably more for a balcony cabin which offers some upgraded options for which we are also willing to pay an additional charge.

Imagine our upcoming 13-night transatlantic cruise with either or both of us infected, spending seven of those days in quarantine. This is not appealing to either of us. As of today, we are scheduled to board the Celebrity Silhouette in 91 days. Will this Omicron thing be eliminated by then? Most likely, it won’t be.

When we went indoors to make dinner, Little was in the garden looking for the last remnants of pellets.

We ask ourselves this question? What happens if we board the ship and in two days it is forced to return to the port of embarkation, in this case, back to Florida, due to too many cases onboard the ship? This could be the case if all of the cases were staff, let alone passengers. This has been occurring regularly, especially in the past few days as per this article below:

“Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise cancel voyages amid omicron spread

It comes after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised people to avoid cruise travel after launching investigations into cases on more than 90 ships.
By Reuters

Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line on Wednesday canceled sailings amid rising fears of omicron-related coronavirus infections that have dampened the nascent recovery of the pandemic-ravaged cruise industry.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd called off its Spectrum of the Seas cruise for Jan. 6 after nine guests on its Jan. 2 trip were identified as close contacts to a local Hong Kong Covid-19 case.

The contacts have tested negative, but the cruise ship will return to Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in Hong Kong on Jan. 5 to test all guests and crew who must take a second test on Jan. 8, the company said.

A similar decision to cancel trips by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd was made against the backdrop of the United States reporting the highest daily tally of any country for new coronavirus infections on Monday.

“Due to ongoing travel restrictions, we’ve had to modify a few sailings and unfortunately have had to cancel,” the 17-ship strong cruise operator said, with the embarkation dates for a few canceled sailings as far out as late April.

The cruise line, which requires everyone on board to be vaccinated, has also had to cut short a 12-day round trip from Miami on its Norwegian Pearl ship, citing “Covid related circumstances.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had last week advised people to avoid cruise travel after launching investigations into onboard cases on more than 90 ships. The health agency starts a scrutiny if at least 0.1 percent of the guests test positive.

Norwegian Cruise said guests, who were supposed to embark on the canceled sailings on the eight ships, will receive full refunds and bonus credits for future bookings.

The omicron-led travel uncertainty is also causing guests on other sailings to cancel their bookings as a few ships have also had to skip ports due to onboard infections.

“We booked the cruise last March and assumed that things would be getting back to normal… by mid-December, I was mentally prepared for a change of plans,” said Holly Bromley, a consulting arborist. She canceled her booking on Norwegian Epic.

Meanwhile, bigger rival Carnival Corp said it had not canceled any upcoming voyages, but its shares fell on Wednesday to close down 2.6 percent. Royal Caribbean lost 2.1 percent and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings 3.6 percent.”

Miss Duiker stopped by for pellets. We were happy to send some her way.

I should mention that Royal Caribbean owns Celebrity Cruise Line.

We can only imagine the inconvenience of being stuck in Florida if the ship returns to port or never sails at all due to Covid cases. We will have spent a fortune on airfare from South Africa and quarantining in a hotel, plus meals, for at least a week before we even board the ship. We don’t want to take a risk that we won’t be able to board coming directly from South Africa. (But, we’ll check prior to booking the flight and hotel).

Yes, sure. It’s all up in the air. The third year of the pandemic continues to impact our travel plans. Today we sent the law firm in Cape Town all of the required documents to process our extension. If we get it, it will be good until April 22, 2022.  If the cruise scheduled for April 8th cancels, we’ll have to figure out what we’ll do at that point.

Challenging times continue. If good health supersedes it all, we’ll have no complaints.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 7, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #288. An artfully designed temple was built over 1000 years ago in Chennai. For more photos, please click here.

No power!…No Water!…Our road washed out…Huge storm with 100+ mm, 4″ rain during the night…Crazy night!…

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  • A handsome male duiker in the garden.

This morning this message was on Facebook regarding access to our house:

“Good morning.
“Spruit”* in Bird: washed away the road. Impassible.
Eagle: VERY bad: no sedans can drive there.
Keep safe.”

*Definition of spruit:: a small, often dry tributary stream in southern Africa.
Bird and Eagle are the two roads that provide access to our house. I guess we won’t be going anywhere today. We needed to go to the little market for lettuce for our taco salads. But with the meat in the fridge and the power out, it will be spoiled by dinnertime, and we won’t dare to eat it.
Tom put the metal bowl filled with ice in the refrigerator during the night. The ice will be a good indicator that the fridge’s contents will be safe to eat. The freezer should keep the contents frozen for a few days. With the storm’s intensity, we could be out of power for days. But, as we always say, TIA, This is Africa, and occurrences such as this are common.
When the power is out, the pumps for the water supply don’t function. Subsequently, the only water we have right now is left in the house’s lines. Miraculously, I was able to take a quick shower this morning. Soon, Tom will bring buckets of water from the pool to the bathrooms in the house to flush the toilets.
Duikers, the smallest of the antelopes in South Africa, are very shy and don’t come close to the house.
Of course, we use bottled water in a water machine for drinking water. The water is included in our rent. We do not purchase small bottles of water. Why use all those plastic bottles?
The electric inverter provides us with WiFi, able to supply power to the router. Without that, we’d have no access to the Internet. The inverter will run out in less than a day. If we could go out, let’s say, and go to Kruger, we could turn off the inverter and save the remaining power to use later. But, with the road washed out, that’s not possible.
The little rental car won’t make it on the washed-out road. Besides, the Crocodile Bridge may also be covered in water and debris, preventing access to Kruger National Park, even if we could go. As a result of all of this, we’ll stay put and wait it out, until the power returns, until the water returns, and until the road dries out sufficiently to pass.
Stringy and Gordy, preferring not to get close to one another. Bushbucks are solitary animals and rarely travel in pairs or more.
With all the rain, the only wildlife we’ve seen so far today is a few bushbucks, Spikey and Gordy, and Barbara, Lori, their mom, and the two piglets and a female duiker, who all came for some pellets this morning. It will be a quiet day.
We can only imagine how frustrating it is for holidaymakers who are still in the park on what may be their only annual vacation. For us, it’s a lot easier.
This morning, Rita and Gerhard invited us for breakfast at Stoep Cafe in Komatipoort. If we had been able to go with them, they’d have had to pick us up in the big four-wheeled truck. But, after being awake the majority of the night with little sleep, we were still in bed at 8:00 am. By 8:30, we got up to begin our day.
We hope you have a pleasant day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 6, 2020:

This photo was posted one-year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #287. A Marwari horse with curly ears at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India. For more photos, please click here.

Lots of response to the intruder…Thanks for the support!!!…Fun with Tom’s favorite podcast!…

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One of our two noisy frogs serenades us each night.

After yesterday’s post about the intruder in our garden in Marloth Park after our trail cam took a photo of a man wearing a hat, gloves, and backpack (for the loot he planned to steal), we’ve had tons of supportive comments and interest. We wrote the story and posted the photos on our site at this link and on Facebook on the Marloth Park Sighting page to alert other residents to be especially wary of the man and ensure their alarm systems are set and doors and windows locked at all times. Thanks to everyone for their comments and concern for our well-being.

Yesterday afternoon two security personnel from Field Security stopped by, with whom this property is contracted, to check our security system. We knew we could not set the alarm during power outages but hadn’t given it much thought until now. One of the kindly men went up onto the roof and replaced the defunct backup battery with a new one. Now we’ll be able to set the alarm during power outages and load shedding.

Also, we moved the trail cam to another (secret) location in the garden. Not only might we get photos of some other wildlife at night, but if this or another intruder comes into our garden at night, we will have more precise shots of them. This is comforting.

There were multiple species in the garden on New Year’s Day. As the holidaymakers leave the park, we’ll be getting more visitors.

Louise offered to move us to another one of her holiday homes once all the current holidaymakers depart. We appreciate her offer. But, other than this recent intruder and a few snakes, we are pretty content here. Plus, all of our favorite animals who’ve come to know us mean a lot to us. If we moved, they might never find us.

It was a fluke that Little found us here from the last time he saw us at our old holiday home in 2018/2019, a few kilometers from here. I doubt we’d be so lucky again. We may move at some point, but right now, we are content.

This morning, we were anxious to look at the trail cam photos. Thank goodness there was no human intruder, but our porcupine appeared again in the images. Unfortunately, the photos weren’t clear enough to post today. We’ll keep an eye out, and once we acquire more explicit porcupine photos, we’ll post them.

Our new boy, Wounded, has stopped by several times.

On another note, Tom and I continue to listen to Garage Logic podcasts each weekday, while Tom continues to contribute from “This Date in Minnesota History.” Daily, he sends them the latest information, and each day, the guys on Garage Logic read it, mentioning the following before they read:

“Only, because they come to us all the way from Marloth Park, Mpumalanga, South Africa, from the traveling Lymans, “On this date in Minnesota History.” At that point, they read the latest and date-appropriate historical events that occurred in Minnesota. Each time they say this, we get a massive kick out of it. I suppose they do this since they are thrilled and surprised we’re listening to their podcasts from almost 9000 miles, 14,484 km, away.

A few days ago, one of their listeners, Susan, wrote to them stating we aren’t traveling and should change what they say when referring to us as the “traveling Lymans.” You can listen to her comments here at this link. To avoid listening to the entire podcast, you can fast forward to one hour, one minute, 56 seconds to hear what she wrote.

This is the second of our two frogs who make noise communicating with each other, mostly at night. It looks like he’s ready to at that bug!

Hearing this, Tom was compelled to respond, and you can listen to them read Tom’s response here at this link. You can fast forward to 53 minutes, 50 seconds to hear Tom’s reply to Susan. We couldn’t help but laugh aloud when podcasters Joe, Rookie, Reevers, Kenny, and John joined in.

It’s often the little things that often give us the most fulfillment and pleasure. And yes, although we are in one place right now, we do plan to continue traveling once we take off for our Azamara cruise to the UK from Fort Lauderdale on April 8, 2022. Hopefully.

Today, we’re filing the documents with the attorney in Cape Town we’d used for the visa waiver in 2019 after we’d been detained in South Africa for an extra 90 days due to my emergency open-heart surgery. Now, we need an extension to get us through until we can leave for the cruise in a few months. We’ll keep you updated as to how this goes.

Be well.,

Photo from one year ago today, January 5, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #286This hall at the temple site is used for weddings, arranged marriage meetings, relaxation, and prayer. For more photos, please click here.

Frightening visitor to our garden at 4:00 am!!!…What do we do now?…Earlier, a wonderful sighting…

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It started as an ordinary night. We enjoyed time on the veranda during the day and into the evening. After dark, when the bugs came out, we went inside to watch the final episode of season 4, Yellowstone, and another hilarious episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.

During the evenings, when we are inside the house, Tom frequently checks the garden to see if we have any visitors. Last night, around 8:00 pm, 2000 hrs, he told me to hurry and come look out the veranda screen door. Our favorite porcupine, with fully extended quills, was not only in our garden but also came up onto the veranda checking out Frank’s leftover bird seeds.

It was the best sighting we had of this exciting and unusual animal. We were hoping they would pass in front of the camera, but unfortunately, no such luck. There was no way we could have used our camera to take a photo since the sound of opening the door would have easily scared the porcupine away.

Since we’ve had the camera set up, we’ve been able to see her in photos in the garden at night, although they were often too far from the camera for a clear shot. Last night would have been perfect if only once she passed in front of the trail cam. But, we were nonetheless thrilled to see it and will continue to watch for another sighting.

Then, off to bed, and by midnight we were both sound asleep. Once, during the night, we were awakened by Tom’s phone ringing. He’d forgotten to turn on the “Do Not Disturb” button before he went to sleep. It was a call about renewing our car warranty. We don’t own a car. Robocall. Disgusting.

Tom drifted off right away while it took me over an hour to return to sleep. When I get startled by a sound during the night, I always have trouble falling back to sleep which I’ve read is due to the release of cortisol and adrenaline, hormones that are released to a “fight or flight” response. Tom doesn’t seem to have the same reaction.

This morning, as usual, Tom was up and out on the veranda before me. He always takes the data card out of the camera and reviews the night’s photos. Today, he was particularly enthused to see the images, hoping we’d have photos showing the porcupine. Alas, there wasn’t a single photo of the porcupine, much to our disappointment.

There have been many burglaries in Marloth Park, often at gunpoint in the middle of the night, and this concerns us. However, there were only three photos from the trail cam…a man in our garden at 3:58 am, as shown in today’s photos!!! Why was this man in our garden so secluded, requiring a walk through dense bush to access?

Immediately upon seeing the photos, Tom showed them to me. I contacted Louise, sending her the three images. She has contacted Field Security, and they’ll be coming out today to talk to us. We will ask them to come by our house several times during the night. Doing so may not ensure they’d catch this man, but at least, if he’s here again, he could be deterred by their presence.

Yes, our house is fully protected by an alarm system with bars on windows, including the screen door to the veranda. We keep the alarm button on the key fob in our possession at all times, including beside the bed at night. In any case, this is still worrisome, and we will feel a little relieved after we’ve spoken to Field Security.

Several of our friends have experienced break-ins over the years. Although there are guards at the entrance gates, anyone can enter Marloth Park since it is a public municipality. The guards at the gates’ job are to ensure that no animals are coming into the park or heading out of the park in the boot of a car.

When we came to South Africa in 2013, we were aware of the high rates of crime in some areas, as is the case, and in our own US and many other cities throughout the world. But, we thought living in the remote bush might offer some security. Over the years we’ve spent here in Marloth Park, we’ve heard many stories of burglaries occurring during the night. Some include guns and, in the case of one couple of our friends, being tied up while the burglary occurred.

That’s the news for today, folks. We will get back to you when we know more.

Be well.

                                         Photo from one year ago, January 4, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #285. The colorful temples in Chennai were breathtaking to see. “Kapaleeshwarar Temple: Dedicated to one of the forms of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati that is Arulmigu Kapleeswar and Karpagambal respectively, the temple should be on the top position of your list of temples to visit.” For more photos, please click here.

Marloth Park has suffered a sad loss of a beloved animal…

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Not our photo. Fluffy, male, and Dezi at the Impala Dam on January 15, 2021.

After a good night’s sleep, I awoke this morning at 7:30 and began my day by checking out the world news, my email, messages on Messenger, text, and WhatsApp, and finally checking out the most recent new posts on Facebook as I always do. I love knowing what’s going on in the world. I also listen to podcasts when getting ready for the day. But more on that later in this post.

When I read the following post this morning that popped up on Facebook, it brought tears to my eyes. Not only was it beautifully written and heart-wrenching, it was sensitive to the reality that few of us in Marloth Park had ever seen Dezi, but that didn’t mean we didn’t love her.

Many nights, we’ve sat on the veranda and listened to hers, and Fluffy’s roar permeates the air. Last night, the roars we heard must have only been Fluffy’s since, by then, Dezi was no more.

Please read the following unedited, beautiful tributes to her and her sad passing.

May be an image of big cat and nature
Not our photo. Fluffy and Dezi at the water’s edge in Lionspruit.

“✝️A TRIBUTE TO QUEEN DEZI ✝️ by Gerrie Camacho.

The roar from the Lionspruit lioness, also known as Dezi, will no longer be heard as she has spent her last night under the Lowveld skies. As of last night, she will no longer join her mate of the past 16 plus years in the always familiar duet of lion vocalization, claiming Lionspruit as their territory. She was a quiet legend and was most probably one of the oldest wild living lionesses but at the age of twenty years had to quit the African bush life.

Few people were privileged to spend time with her, many were lucky to see her, and most owners and visitors had the regular privilege to hear her at night time. After her radio collar transmitted from the same area for the past few days, it was pertinent to go find her on foot in an area too dense to enter with a vehicle.

She was hardly responding to any stimuli of the sound of humans and paid no attention to our approach on foot. A winding pathway was established from the nearest road to approach her by vehicle. Here she was darted and taken to a workable area where she was examined by Doc Peet.

We can only pay tribute to this female who kept a fighting spirit to survive until the last minute. Doc Peet who has been serving the Marloth community voluntarily and diligently over the past couple of years had the sad task to let her pass on as humanely as possible. This task could have been performed more easily, but he chose to help her out of this life with as much dignity as possible. Thank you to all those involved in finding her. Thank you Doc Peet for the professional, compassionate and respectful manner you once again showed while working with this magnificent beast in her last moments under the Lionspruit skies. R.I.P. Dezi!❤️“

Also, on Facebook was the following message further explaining her passing:

It is a sad day indeed for all of us who love our own Lionspruit lions.
Yesterday we lost Dezi. It has been a long week of hoping against hope that she would recover from age-related injuries that she recently suffered whilst still living her best lion life. But unfortunately, she was losing ground day by day. Dezi indeed lived to a great age for a lion.
We would like to thank Doctor Peet Venter for his caring, professional input. He concluded yesterday that Dezi was suffering, and it was time to let her go. Thank you also to Gerrie Camacho from MTPA, the Marloth Park Field Rangers, and the Honorary Rangers for this last day of care. A special thank you to Joce Gordon for the time-intensive monitoring, especially over the last few weeks.
Genie Retief, Chief Honorary Ranger.”
May be an image of big cat and nature
Not our photo. Another gorgeous photo of Dezi.

It is amazing that those of us who love wildlife can feel so deeply for an animal they’ve only heard but never seen. That’s the magic of living in Africa, or anywhere there is free-roaming wildlife. We fall in love with their beauty, uniqueness, and mystery, although we were never able to get too close to her or ever see her at all.

If we are so touched by the sound of a lion, living only meters away from Lionspruit, which abuts our holiday home in the rear, it is easy to understand how connected we become with the animals we see almost every day, who look into our eyes, with trust and interest and depend on us, in the leanest times, to toss some sustenance their way.

Soon, the holidaymakers who came to the park for the Christmas and New Year season will be leaving to return to their homes in other parts of South Africa and, for some, other parts of the world. When they are gone, the vast numbers of animals that routinely visit us will return to us in abundance.

Now, with the rich vegetation for the wildlife to eat after weeks of rain, they no longer need much in the way of pellets. And yet, day by day, they return, much to our joy and appreciation. Sure, we still toss a few pellets their way, the same way you’d offer your dog or cat an occasional treat, knowing with or without this offering, you are still loved, still important in their lives.

In the future, the lion roars we hear at night will only be those of Fluffy and, of course, the remaining five lions currently residing in our presence.

The holiday has ended, but our hope for the future is only just beginning. May the New Year bring all of us peace of mind and comfort.

Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #284. Festival in the street in India. “Meena Sankranti is an important Hindu festival observed on the auspicious occasion of the sun’s transition from Pisces to Aries. Known as Meena Sankramanam in South India, the festival will be celebrated on March 14 (Saturday), 2020, all over India. Celebrating a Sankranti is often marked with the donation of various things. According to specific personal needs, the people celebrate the event at the onset of every month. Some Indian states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala observe the occasion at the beginning of each month. In contrast, states like West Bengal celebrate the festival during the latter half of the month.” For more photos, please click here.

Dinner on the veranda with friends during a sizzling hot night…Escalated lion warnings…

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Thirsty after eating pellets, piglets needed a drink from mom.

Last night’s dinner was easy to make when Rita and Gerhard came for dinner, which was decided on New Year’s eve when they surprised us at Flo and JiJi’s party as described in yesterday’s post, which is found here, in case you missed it. We had already planned a lovely New Year’s day dinner for the two of us, and in our usual manner, we had plenty for two more. We had enough for six more, so we’ll be eating leftovers for the next few days.

I’m thrilled I won’t have to cook for a few days with this awful heat and humidity. Last evening when we were situated at the veranda table with Rita and Gerhard, starting at 3:00 pm, while the meat cooked on the braai, it was so hot and humid, the sweat was pouring off each of us.

Moms and piglets stop by several times each day.

I had a few last-minute items to prepare that required the use of the oven. Rita sat on the barstool in the kitchen while I worked on the food, giving us a chance to catch up on some “girl talk” while Tom and Gerhard chatted outdoors. We often talked about how much we miss Kathy and Don, who are back in Hawaii, and how we wish they could be with us.

We made a plan to meet at Two Trees on Tuesday for sundowners and river viewing. Afterward, we may go out to dinner or each return to our respective bush houses for the remainder of the evening.

Poor mom with no tail.

But, the four of us will stay busy together this summer in Africa, frequently sharing our wildlife sightings and stories that come our way. Every Friday night, the four of us will go to Jabula, sit at the bar for drinks and later move to a table on the veranda for dinner. All of this is reminiscent of old times we shared beginning in 2018 when they first came to Marloth Park, again a couple who came here to this wildlife paradise after reading our posts for years. Little did we know, the four of us would become fast friends.

We introduced them to our friends living here before the onset of Covid-19, and again, typical for Marloth Park, magic happens, and social circles grow. Neither of us has ever lived anywhere where it is easy to make new friends. In our old lives, we socialized with the same wonderful long-term friends year after year, rarely including someone new in the “inner circle.”

This is the mom who lost her tail. She is the mom of Barbara and Lori and the set of two piglets. Poor girl, she also lost one of her latest piglets in the past few weeks. Check out her perfect tusks.

But, as I often say, there is something special about the commonality visitors and residents of Marloth Park possess, a passion for nature and wildlife that has a way of bringing people together. It may be true that those who love nature and wildlife have a different perspective of life, a passion that is unlike any other we’ve encountered along the way. We are very grateful to have met so many amazing people, many of whom have become dear friends.

This is our boy, One Tusk. His singular tusk is larger than any tusks we’ve seen on any other warthog.

As for the most recent comments about the lions possibly having returned to Kruger, it’s not the case. Here’s the latest post from Facebook that popped up last night:

“‼️CARNIVORE ALERT‼️
1st and 2nd January 2022
The Carnivore Team has released a warning that the three young lions have been spotted at 16h30, and they are highly mobile and hunting!
A very urgent alert for tonight in the following area: The whole block of Swartwitpens to Seekoei and tomorrow morning from Hardekool to Soenie an urgent alert for joggers and cyclists to be cautious along the fence!
Please do not allow children in these areas period as the lions could be anywhere! 😳
Unfortunately, the warnings are not taken seriously! The onus is on everyone to adhere to the alerts and warn others of the dangers.
Should you spot the lions, phone any one of the following numbers:
Rangers 082 802 5894
CPF/ Nadine 082 672 4545 Gerrie Camacho 082 353 9097,
Ernst Röhm /MTPA 083 626 6309,
April Lukhele: 082 807 1057. Jan Koekemoer 063 053 7601.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding – Carnivore Team, Rangers, MTPA, CPF, Security, and the Vet.”
Broken Horn has been digging in the mud based on his dirty face.
No doubt, this means the lions are still here in Marloth Park, although this time the warning was issued they are closer to us, now under 2 kilometers, 1.2 miles from us. Of course, for our concerned family and friends, we want to assure you we are safe. We don’t go out onto the roads on foot, and we proceed with extreme caution when going to and from the car to the house.

That’s it for today, folks. We hope you have a safe and enjoyable start to the New Year.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 2, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #283. This kind man, Mr. Ganapthay of Cholan Art Village, made the experience of visiting his nine-generation family’s bronzing business all the more special to both of us. For more, please click here.