Fantastic anniversary day and evening…Kruger National Park photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 8, 2022 with 0 Comment

The Vurhami Dam had a lot of debris from heavy rains, earlier in the spring.

Spending several hours in Kruger National Park necessarily wasn’t filled with “safari luck” this time. It was hot and humid, and we didn’t expect to see many wildlife attempting to stay cool in the dense bush. But, we had such a good time, chatting, laughing, and reminiscing that we didn’t even mind.

We were content to be in the air-conditioned car as we searched for sightings amid our lively chatter. The greenery in the park easily obstructs viewing. We’re happy to see the animals with abundant food supplies, but they stay undercover in the dense bush on hot days.

These elephants had their backs to us, but we were happy to see them anyway.

We were both hungry and looking forward to a nice meal. We both opted for breakfast, ordering delicious omelets with both cheddar and mozzarella cheese, topped with back bacon, avocado, and grilled grape tomatoes. By noon, we made it to Lower Sabie, a complex of offices, the fabulous massive gift shop, and of course, the Mugg & Bean restaurant.

Buttered toast was included, which I gave to Tom, and he piled his avocado slices on my omelet. It was a lovely breakfast. We spotted a few crocs and hippos on the Sabie River, but overall, the photo ops were limited. Tom splurged and ordered a strawberry milkshake with his breakfast, and I couldn’t resist taking this photo.

It’s a rare occasion that Tom has a milkshake but yesterday’s anniversary was the perfect day to indulge.

After our meal, I wandered through the fun stop, purchasing a few items for our friends who are hosting us for 15 days, and headed back to the little car. We then headed to Sunset Dam but saw very little there either. At that point, we decided to head back toward Crocodile Gate and eventually back home by 3:15 pm.

I had a lot of catching up with the walking and immediately got back to work to upload the short post I’d started before we left in the morning and commenced escalating my walking pace to get caught up. By the end of the day, I managed to do well over my goal of 8000 steps.

Moments before we headed outdoors to begin our evening on the veranda, my phone beeped. Rita and Gerhard wanted to know if we wanted to meet them and their visiting friends, Karyn and Dan, at Amazing Kruger View for sundowners. They are all leaving on a road trip on Wednesday, and we’d have one more opportunity to say goodbye.

Wildebeests were hanging out under a tree.

Rita and Gerhard are moving out of the Ratel house, which we’ll occupy when we return in December. After they drop Karyn and Dan in Joburg to fly back to the US, they will continue on a road trip through rough terrain in their newer Toyota Helix, going to Namibia and heading back to Joburg, returning to their home in the US for several months.

We will miss them after all the great times we’ve had since they surprised us by showing up at the New Year’s Eve party a few months ago. Fortunately, we have other friends in Marloth Park, and our delightful social life will continue. Tomorrow evening we’re having dinner at Janet and Steve’s home, and Friday evening we’ll be back at Jabula where we always see many of our friends.

Yellow-billed storks at the Sunset Dam in Kruger.

With only 15 days until we fly to Florida, we have plenty to keep us busy. Tomorrow morning, one final dental appointment for me in Malalane, and on Friday, one last visit with Dr. Theo to get my three prescriptions to get me through until we return in December. I can purchase six months of meds here, and with my current stock on hand, we’ll return just in time to get more. Prices are very low on most prescription meds here in South Africa.

So there it is, folks, our 27th wedding anniversary came and went. March 15 is a special day for us too. I will share details on why one week from today.

Enjoy your day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 8, 2021:

What an adorable face! For more photos, please click here.

Today is our wedding anniversary…We’re celebrating with the animals…Off to Kruger National Park…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 7, 2022 with 0 Comment

Bossy makes sure we see she is here for a visit.

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary, and we’re off to Kruger for a self-drive safari. When we arrive in Lower Sabie, we’ll have lunch at the Mugg & Bean Restaurant overlooking the Sabie River, hoping to see Cape buffalos, hippos, crocs, and more.

Sometimes a trip to Kruger proves to be uneventful. We hope to spot elephants on the long drive, and if we experience “safari luck,” we might encounter big cats and other exciting species. If we see a lot, we are grateful and excited beyond words. We are always prepared for that eventuality and take it with a grain of salt.

Yesterday, we grocery shopped for what may be the last time before we leave South Africa in a mere 16 days. If we run low on groceries, we can always dine out or make a run to the local meat market and the little shop for a night’s meal. At this point, we are trying to use up as much as we have on hand as possible as the days wind down.

I am working hard to get in as much of my walking as possible before leaving. I hope to have half of my usual goal accomplished before heading out the door soon. If we return by 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs, I’ll be able to finish the other half before dinner. I already prepped everything for tonight’s dinner except the salad I’ll make when we return.

We’d dined out twice in the past five days, and after lunch at Mugg & Bean, we thought dinner at home would be fine. We’re having bacon-wrapped filet mignon, fresh green beans, and salad, with rice for Tom. It will be a perfect way to celebrate our special day.

Off we go! We will be back tomorrow with photos from Kruger National Park.

Have a happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 7, 2021:

We waited quite a while to pick up their heads for a photo, but they were preoccupied. For more photos, please click here.

The UK discussion continues…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 6, 2022 with 0 Comment

Not out photo. The continuing rise in the cost of food in the UK was one of the key contributors to December’s consumer price inflation of 5.4% © REUTERS (An article from Financial Times, with their link here.. See the article below in bold type)

A lot of our readers live in the UK. After reading our post from a few days ago stating that we won’t be staying in England during our two-month itinerary gap until the next cruise, many of our readers wrote to us, mainly those who live there. There were approximately 25% that didn’t agree with our reasons for the change in our plans, due to high prices, stating that prices hadn’t changed, but 75% said they are appalled by how much prices have increased in the UK since the onset of the pandemic.

I wrote back to many of our readers in a personal email, but when the comments were too many to reply to individually, I had no choice but to address it here. Sorry if this topic doesn’t appeal to you, but if you are a frequent, infrequent, or full-time traveler, like us, these facts will have an impact on your travels if your financial situation requires tight reins, like ours.

Undoubtedly, some world travelers are wealthy, and the cost of living in each country they visit may not be relevant to them. But, for most of us, research is imperative to budget and project future travel expenses.

Don’t get me wrong—some travelers dream of spending time in England. If visiting the island is the fulfillment of a lifetime dream that has been carefully studied and budgeted, my and our reader’s comments may be meaningless. But, we’ve already spent quite a bit of time in the UK (except for Scotland, which we’ll visit down the road), and going over budget for a gap-filling period is not what we’d like to accomplish at this time.

We love England for its deep and rich history, warm and friendly people, charming rural communities, and the modern hustle and bustle cities. Much to a contrary view by many, we’ve loved the food in England has had some of the best meals in our world travels.” Sunday roasts” are a divine experience at many establishments, resulting in dining experiences we’ll never forget.

Now, after two years of basically staying put due to Covid-19, we need “new” and unique experiences, people, and cultures. Returning to countries we’ve already explored doesn’t appeal to us. Of course, the exception has been Marloth Park, South Africa, and other parts of Africa, which always intrigues us.

Also, a new consideration right now is what’s happening in Ukraine. Does this create concern for travelers heading to Europe for their summer? If this war extends beyond Ukraine, we may choose to “hunker down” in safer parts of the world. At this point, it’s imperative to watch the news, deftly discovering reliable sources (duh) that may or may not indicate if European travel makes sense right now.

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but none of us knows right now what the future holds regarding this onslaught by Putin. We have no interest in putting ourselves anywhere near a war. We love adventure but not that type. Our hearts break for the Ukrainian people, and we wish they all had the freedom to extricate themselves and their families from these horrors.

Back to the high cost of living in the UK…I research some news articles that may be reliable such as the following:

UK cost of living crisis intensifies (from Financial Times)

January 19, 2022

“Consumer inflation jumps to the highest rate in 30 years; oil prices continue to rise…

New data today showed UK prices rose at their highest rate for 30 years in December, fuelling the country’s cost-of-living crisis and putting more pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates. Consumer price inflation hit 5.4 percent in December, up from 5.1 percent the previous month, and could yet pass six percent in the spring when energy price rises take effect, just as new tax increases kick in.

Both will hit poorer households particularly hard, as will the continuing growth in food prices, one of the key contributors to December’s increase. Inflation was also running significantly ahead of earnings, which rose at just 3.8 percent in the three months to November, despite labor shortages. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, speaking to MPs in Westminster this afternoon, acknowledged that higher inflation would last longer than initially forecast. Investors now expect four UK rate rises from the BoE by November.

Pressure to increase rates to combat inflation is being felt by policymakers worldwide. In the eurozone, bond market investors are betting that central banks will speed up their attempts to withdraw stimulus programs, while in the US, investors are now pricing in up to four rate rises from the Fed this year. Fear of rising inflation has even spread to policymakers in Japan, a country that has battled against deflation for decades.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued their upward trajectory, hitting a seven-year high on Tuesday. The US has urged leading producers to speed up production to help control inflation, but Opec and its allies have stuck to their plan for more gradual increases. Bookmark this: Our global inflation tracker allows you to track data and trends by country, including house prices and food costs.”

Line chart of YoY change in consumer price index (%) showing UK prices rose at their fastest annual rate for 30 years in December

There are countless such articles online espousing the same facts. In the meantime, we are waiting to hear if our cruise from Istanbul on June 29, 2022, from Istanbul to Istanbul, Black Sea, with our scheduled sailing on the back-to-back on the same ship, Istanbul to Athens, Greek Islands. These two cruises account for 21 days at sea which we were looking forward to.

Now, we wait and see what Azamara decides to do about changing the ports of call that are scheduled to visit Odessa, Ukraine (two days), and Sochi, Russia (13 hours), among other locations not in Ukraine or Russia but located on the Black Sea. Once the new itinerary is posted, we will include it here, at which point we’ll decide if we are content with the changes.

If not, everything will change. There will be no need for us to go to Europe at this time. Our next grouping of cruises will begin in Athens and end in Athens sailing to Egypt and Israel. We hold our breath in anticipation but are not worried or stressed. Our future travels are of little significance compared to what is transpiring in Ukraine.

Be safe.

Photo from one year ago today, March 6, 2021:

Two years ago photo when we couldn’t upload new photos due to WiFi issues. This blind priest prays in this position all day, standing outside the Eklingi Temple in Udaipur, India. Silver was used in embellishing the interior, and it was stunning. As a functioning temple, no photos are allowed. For more photos, please click here.

Feedback about the UK …

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 5, 2022 with 0 Comment

Bossy doesn’t bring her baby to see us every time she visits. In time, she will bring her more often.

In yesterday’s post, found here, we mentioned that we aren’t staying in England after our ship arrives on April 21. We’ll spend one night in Southampton, drive a rental car for over an hour to London Heathrow Airport, and then fly away. We will share details once we book that flight and our chosen location.

We were looking forward to spending more time in the UK and carefully considered the change in plans. I suppose, in part, we may have been dealing with somewhat of a shock comparing prices in South Africa to England, but we considered that fact.

The youngsters are always very skittish around humans, as they should be.

We did receive several comments from readers living in the UK, espousing how reasonable the cost of living is in some areas, especially for food. But, food isn’t our primary expense, although it may be higher for us than some; we only eat high-quality meats, dairy, and vegetables. Most likely, our weekly grocery bill and 25% to 40% higher than most.

In reviewing meat prices in England, we checked the beef prices considering that we can consume a kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat in a day between us. After all, our day-to-day way of eating is called “ketovore,” where we consume meat and meat products, a small amount of high-quality dairy, and non-starchy vegetables.

In searching at an online grocery store in England, the link is here; it was easy to see how we can easily spend the amounts we listed in yesterday’s post.

She spends most of her time close to her mom.

But, as mentioned, groceries aren’t our most significant expense, nor is dining out. We don’t eat fried foods, nor do we eat fast food. Thus, when dining out, we visit mid-range restaurants that can easily cost US $100, ZAR 1531, with a few drinks, the main course, taxes, and tips. We factored in those costs to our totals, knowing we generally dine out once or twice a week.

Our most significant per day expenses are auto and holiday home rental, which account for most of the listed totals. You may say, “Well, don’t rent such lovely places. Stay in apartments or hostels to reduce the cost.

But, this is our travel journey, and we decided long ago we’d never sacrifice the quality of a rental nor “stay anywhere
to save money. We don’t want to haul our bags up two, three, or four flights of stairs. We don’t want to hear noise from connecting walls if we can avoid it. We seek pleasant surroundings, views, and safe areas when possible.

Bossy always makes herself known. If we aren’t on the veranda, she comes right up to the bedroom window looking for me.

In every case, we strive to maintain the criteria we established when we first began to travel in 2012. That hasn’t changed much over the years, although we have factored in inflation in this world we live in, allowing us to pay more for our expenses, and although our fixed income has increased very little.

All of these decisions we make are predicated on our desires and needs, not only based on cost but also on convenience and our desire to expand our horizons in learning new areas, cultures, and ways of life. We’ve spent considerable time in the UK in the past. Perhaps this change is an excellent opportunity to go after a bit of the unknown, overall, adding to our worldwide experiences and adventures.

Bossy and her recently born calf. Lots of kudus visited the garden looking for marula fruit.

Thanks to all of our readers who wrote to us for your much-appreciated comments and suggestions.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 5, 2021:

Due to a day-long WiFi outage, we could not post on this date.

We were so wrong!!!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 4, 2022 with 0 Comment

Last night, the porcupine returned to the garden.

Sometimes, we write about a decision we’ve made and post it here, only to find out one or two days later that the decision was made hastily. I admit that in my enthusiasm for a new topic, I may prematurely post a decision we’ve made but have yet to investigate seriously enough for it to become a certainty.

This was the case for the post I wrote yesterday, found here with a heading that read: “Enough procrastination for now…Finally, we’re making decisions…Fun new photos…”

Sometimes, Bossy visits without her baby.

I jumped the gun stating this before we conducted ample research to determine if staying in the UK for 68 days made sense or even taking the ferry to Jersey to see our friends there, staying for a week in a hotel. When we started adding the expenses relative to both of these experiences, the cost went far beyond what was practical for our budget.

We don’t mind exceeding our chosen monthly budget when we’re cruising or on a special expedition of one sort or another. But, living in a location for a few months is time we prefer to maintain a tight reign on expenses in order to be able to embark on cruises and such special outings from time to time.

These are pits from marula fruit which the kudu eat and spit out the pits when done chewing. Eight kudus stayed in our garden all day eating the fruit since we have a prolific marula tree hanging over the house. There’s controversy over whether animals get “drunk” from the fermented fruit. But, based on the numbers of kudus we had sleeping in the garden yesterday, we considered this may be true.

Long ago, we made a decision to avoid tapping into our investments to support our world travel. If we started doing this, it could easily get away from us. Plus, if we take money out, we are taxed on it, thus increasing the cost of any particular event.

In the post, on October 22, 2019, found here, we listed our final expenses for our stay for 62 nights in the UK as indicated below:

Expense	US Dollar	GBP
Holiday Rentals	$ 8,381.40	$ 6,426.17
Southampton Hotel (2)	$ 276.94	$ 213.35
Car Rental + Fuel	$ 1,985.64	$ 1,529.73
Dining Out	$ 675.07	$ 520.07
Groceries	$ 1,502.48	$ 1,157.50
Pharmacy	$ 478.20	$ 368.40
Tours	$ 42.00	$ 32.36
Total	$13,341.73	$10,247.58
Avg Daily- 62 ngts	$ 215.19	$ 165.28

Here is an estimate of expenses, if we spend 68 nights in the UK, (rounded off to the nearest dollar for illustrative purposes):

Expense	US Dollar	ZAR
Holiday Rentals	$ 10500.00	$ 160538.00
Hotels	$ 2500.00	$ 38223.00
Car Rental + Fuel + Ferry	$ 5800.00	$ 88751.00
Dining Out	$ 2300.00	$ 35194.00
Groceries	$ 1800.00	$ 27544.00
Pharmacy & Shopping	$ 650.00	$ 9946.00
Tours	$ 400.00	$ 6121.00
Total	$23, 950.00	$ 366482.00
Avg Daily- 68 ngts	$ 352.21	$ 5389.00

The above totals clearly indicate the approximate 30% increase in expenses we’d mentioned in a prior post, that we’re seeing three years after our visit in 2019, after carefully researching expenses in each of these categories.

It’s unusual to find kudus laying down in our garden. But, after eating dozens of marula fruit, they may be sleepy.

We fully realize inflation would impact the costs wherever we may go in the world. We are prepared to adapt to those increases. But 30% in an already high-cost country makes us realize we need to shop elsewhere.

As a result of yesterday’s extensive research, we reviewed the list of non-Schengen countries and have gone back to investigate which may be excellent options for the 68 nights we need to fill. Keeping in mind, the purpose of researching the expenses for a potential 68 nights in the UK is while we await news from Azamara as to the new itinerary for the cruise at the end of June, sailing out of Istanbul.

If we find the ports of call on the new Azamara itinerary are those we’ve visited in the past and don’t care to see again, we’ll have the option of canceling and receiving a full refund. If that proves to be the case, the 68 days in the UK becomes a moot point and we must find where we’d like to go until the next cruise on November 8, 2022. In that case, we’d be left with 202 days to fill. We have some ideas in mind and will share that information when we know more.

The kudus stood at the edge of the veranda eating the marula and dropping the pits onto the veranda floor. Tom swept them off a few times.

It’s not that we’re running out of countries to visit. It is just that after the pandemic with many travel changes throughout the world, and now the war in Ukraine, we look at where we’d like to travel with a new and different perspective.

To wrap this up, next time we post statements about what we plan to do, we’ll make sure it’s affordable and logical, considering the above situations and also the cost of living in any specific area. Now, our only option is to wait and hear what happens with the Azamara cruise to Russia via the Black Sea, and then, from that point, we’ll conduct the appropriate research, sharing details when we pin things down.

Thanks for your patience. Humm…19 days and counting until we depart South Africa for a short stay in the US, then off to Fort Lauderdale for our transatlantic cruise on Celebrity Silhouette. We love this cruise line and this class of ships and look forward to cruising once again.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 4, 2021:

There were several fast-growing ostrich chicks close to a house in the bush. For more photos, please click here.

Enough procrastination for now…Finally, we’re making decisions…Fun new photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 3, 2022 with 0 Comment

A lovely female kudu was sound asleep in our garden. She didn’t move for over an hour.

It’s been easy for us to procrastinate after many cancellations have occurred over the past two years. We no more than book a trip to another country, and close to departure time, everything changes, and either our flight is canceled or changed, or we decide not to go for one safety reason or another.

In the 14 months we’ve spent in South Africa since January 13, 2021, we’ve only left the country twice; once to fly to Zambia for a visa run and another to fly to the US for a visa run, vaccinations, and see family. We accomplished our objectives and returned for yet another 90 days in each case.

On one occasion, President Ramphosa provided an automatic visa extension for visitors already in the country. That worked well for us since it was close to when we had to leave anyway. Recently, we applied for and received a 90 days extension that runs into April 23. But, in this case, we’re leaving in 20 days, a month earlier than the extension date, to get to Florida in time for our cruise on April 8.

Eight female kudus hung around our garden all morning.

Then, of course, we were scheduled to go to friend Karen and Rich’s wedding on February 11. But, based on negative news in the US about Omicron, which was minimal here and extensive in the US, we would have had to quarantine in a hotel for 14 days before the wedding. That didn’t work for us. We had no interest in hotel quarantine after what happened in India in 2020, resulting in a 10-month quarantine in a hotel.

Now, with the upcoming cruise on April 8, leaving from Florida and feeling comfortable it won’t cancel, we booked our flights to Tampa, a rental car for 15 days while we’ll stay with Karen and Rich. On the morning of the cruise, we’ll drive to Fort Lauderdale, drop off the car at the airport, and take a taxi to the port.

With the high cost of living in England, we recently wondered if it made sense to fly to a less expensive country and enjoy its wonders. The dilemma begins at the end of the cruise in Southampton, England, on April 21. We have two months “to kill” until our next cruise in Istanbul, Turkey, at the end of June.

Our resident tree frog lives atop this structural post on the veranda. She croaks off and on during the day but ramps it up at night, communicating with other frogs.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post here, we listed all the non-Schengen countries we could visit during the gap in our itinerary. But most of those countries are around Russia, and we don’t feel it is sensible to stay in many of those countries right now, based on the war in Ukraine.

I awoke during the night and started thinking of what would make the most sense for us. In my mind, I came to a decision. All I had to do was present it to Tom and see how he felt. As we have often mentioned, we never choose to stay anywhere in the world without both of us totally in agreement.

This morning when I bolted out of bed, I approached Tom, who was sitting at the table on the veranda, as usual, and posed the question, “Honey, shall we just “bite the bullet” and stay put in England for the entire two-plus months as originally planned, staying one to two weeks in each location we visit.” When we did that in 2019, we had a wonderful experience, enjoying each unique experience along the way.

This was the tiniest mongoose baby we’d ever seen.

Tom immediately replied with a resounding “yes!” It means we’d have to move frequently, but we’re good at that, living out of suitcases from location to location. We can rent holiday homes, cook our meals and haul our leftover food with us from one locale to the next. That way, we’d reduce the cost of eating dinner out every night, although we’ll still dine out once or twice a week.

Now, we go back to the drawing board, searching for holiday homes, using the VRBO link on our website while accepting the reality that we’ll be paying a lot more than we did last time, which was also expensive. From what we can see online, average prices for holiday homes are as much as 30% higher than before the pandemic.

I suppose some property owners have been trying to make up for lost revenue during travel hesitancy and restrictions in the past two years. Ultimately, this philosophy may not serve them well when their overpriced holiday rentals are sitting empty.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back tomorrow with more!

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 3, 2021:

Last year at this time, we were scheduled to travel to the Maasai Mara in Kenya in 37 days to stay at Little Governor’s Camp. We had to cancel the trip when Kenya closed its borders. For more, please click here.

The house we’ll move to in December…Exterior photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 2, 2022 with 0 Comment

We look forward to sitting here watching the visitors stop by.

It’s been a busy morning in the bush. First off, I postponed doing the post since my space bar isn’t working due to the humidity. I can’t tell you how hard it is to write anything. Hopefully, it will resolve soon. I’ve had this happen here, and a few days later, it improves. I’ve tried all the fixes to no avail.

Once we get to the USA, I may need to purchase a new laptop. Two years ago, while we were in Udaipur, India, this cheap laptop I bought may have seen its better days. However, it was only US $365, ZAR 5662, so I may not flinch from replacing it to make life easier. I am constantly having trouble with the keys.

There’s a table on the veranda now that comfortably seats eight.

I’ve finally become used to using a Chromebook, and since we often replace our old laptops every few years, another Chromebook would be my choice. When checking out similar models on Amazon.com, I see they are no more expensive than what I paid in India. Since we won’t be returning to the US for a while, this might make the most sense.

In any case, I am banging the spacebar with enthusiasm to write here today. I may end up giving up a little short of our usual post. We’ll see how it goes.

When we arrive in the US, we’ll need to head to a Costco store and check out laptops there, along with purchasing some vitamins we take and other miscellaneous items we use. Of course, we can’t buy much since we’ll be flying again in a few months with strict weight restrictions.

It seems the airlines are charging more and more for luggage, which will only worsen as oil prices rise due to inflation and the war in Ukraine. We have to consider the added expense of traveling as we add more to our itinerary. We’ve noticed the prices of holiday homes have increased, especially in the UK where we recently searched in light of our upcoming trip.

Bang, bang, bang, on the spacebar!

This is a perfect area for us to spend our days and nights.

Right now, it looks as if staying in England for a few months is not unlike staying in Hawaii. The cost of living is very high. Based on our number of upcoming cruises and those related expenses, we may decide not to stay in the UK for the entire two months.

We may visit our friends in Jersey for a week and return by ferry to England to see Ken and Linda a week later when they return from Holland. We are considering heading to other non-Schengen countries, so wait out the next cruise at the end of June.

We will set up a few chairs on the wood deck to be closer to the abundance of wildlife who visit this garden.

Schengen visas rule visitors’ visa rights to most countries in Europe, allowing visitors only to stay for 90 days out of 180 days. Due to the itineraries of many of our cruises, we cannot stay in any Schengen countries before the cruises begin to ensure we don’t violate the ruling.

Here is a list of non-Schengen countries in Europe:

Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Cyprus
Georgia
Ireland
Kosovo
North Macedonia
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Turkey
Ukraine
The United Kingdom
Vatican City

Of course, some of these countries are foolish to visit due to the war in Ukraine. We are considering the other options to see if it makes sense to visit them during this gap in our itinerary. We will figure it all out in the next few weeks, hoping to have established some bookings for the next few months. But, in the worst case, we can always do some booking while on the cruise across the Atlantic Ocean when we have some free time during the day.

Enjoy the exterior photos of the house we’ve booked for our return in December. Have a safe and purposeful day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 2, 2021:

Mongooses share a pan of raw scrambled eggs. For more photos, please click here.

Last night, the house we’ll move to when we return in December…More photos tomorrow…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 1, 2022 with 0 Comment

Rita and Gerhard’s friends from the US, Karyn, and Dan, arrived on Sunday after they’d moved into the bigger house on Ratel St., which Danie and Louise own and recently remodeled. Louise has mentioned this house to us many times. They lived in that house for several years, and we’d seen in 2018, before the remodeling, on several occasions.

Another view of the master bedroom with ensuite bath.

Once they finished the recent remodeling, Louise suggested we see the house to consider it a possibility for us when we return next December. Somehow time slipped away, and we didn’t get over there until last night when Rita and Gerhard invited us for dinner with Louise and Danie, joining them and their houseguests for steaks on the braai and side dishes. I brought a huge salad, and Tom cooked everyone’s steaks, as usual.

It was fun to meet Karyn and Dan, Americans who’d never been to Africa. Of course, as we sat there enjoying our sundowners amid lively conversation, the animals came to call at an unbelievable pace; we were shocked. Karyn, who’d gone nuts over them, feeding them what she called “kibble,” actually pellets, did so with such enthusiasm we all couldn’t stop laughing and reveling in her sheer joy! Dan was less vocal but couldn’t put down his phone when he was constantly taking videos and photos.

It’s such fun to see a first-time visitor to the bush, like Karyn, become so enthralled with the wildlife that she literally could not sit still for five minutes. We couldn’t stop laughing and encouraging her. Like me, she also uses a high-pitched ‘animal-talk” voice. She reminded me of myself eight years ago when I couldn’t believe what I saw when we first arrived. I eventually settled down in time, but even today, eight years later, I’ve never become tired of seeing them.

Last night was truly a feast, not only with the delicious food but also a “feast-for-the-eyes” when not only did we see an endless stream of kudus, bushbucks, and warthogs but later in the evening, the very elusive steenbok, which is rarely seen in the bush or even in Kruger National Park. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me and could not get good photos with my phone.

However, when we return in December, a mere nine months from now, we will stay in the Ratel house as shown in today’s photos, which Louise sent me this morning. We told her to block it off for us for about six months since we plan to make a visa run after the first 90 days.

It will be fun to stay in a house with a more oversized veranda, enabling us to entertain more easily. The place looks fantastic, and there’s a master ensuite bedroom on the main floor, which we like with another ensuite bedroom upstairs for guests. We’re hoping by then our friends, Karen and Rich, will come to visit and we’d have plenty of room in that house when we don’t have room in the house that we’re in now.

It’s a beautiful thought to know we will move into the Ratel house when we return in December. We’ve certainly enjoyed this house, but mainly for the wildlife in the garden and the seclusion, so far from other bush houses. Although the Ratel house is closer to other properties, none that we can see from the grounds. It appears to have even more wildlife than we have here.

Besides, the open garden will certainly bring giraffes and zebras, which we seldom get here other than in the driveway. The bush is too dense for them to maneuver their way to the garden. But, how will we feel about not returning to be with the animals we know and love now?

The scullery is a separate area for doing dishes.

We have no doubt thatLittle will find us eventually. Some of the others may also find us there. Surely, we’ll have to come up with new names for many of the wildlife we’ll meet while living there. For now, we are OK with this.

Of course, Louise has everything there we could need.

Yesterday, Karyn and Dan shared an exciting story. They saw and heard one of the lions loose in Marloth Park run through the side yard. How exciting was that? Of course, that’s not to say we will see the lions when we move there but, no doubt, we’ll enjoy all the wildlife and this house.

Here are Louise’s recent photos of the house after the remodeling was completed. Tomorrow, we’ll share the exterior photos, including the spacious veranda.

Have a lovely day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 1, 2021:

When we were gone, Vusi was cleaning, and Little returned and tried to get inside again. Vusi suggested moving the big bags of pellets from the lounge to another area. We moved the bags of pellets to the second bedroom. For more photos, please click here.

Power outage for 14 hours…Long night without aircon….Amazing responses from readers…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 28, 2022 with 0 Comment

Spikey Kudu has only recently begun to sprout his lifetime horns. Look at his tongue sticking out a little. Cute.

Last night when we were sitting indoors watching the final emotional episode of the excellent prequel to Yellowstone, 1883, the power went out. With numerous short-term outages lately, we expected it to be restored shortly. No such luck! It never came back on until this morning, 14 hours later.

We did the usual, putting the metal bowl of ice in the refrigerator, which Tom refreshed with more ice this morning. Last night’s meaty casserole was still cold, but since we will be going to Rita and Gerhard’s for dinner tonight, we tossed it out to the few dozen mongooses waiting in the garden for paloney. They loved it! Their digestive systems are sturdier than ours. After all, they can eat venomous snakes!

I keep thinking about Little stopping by several times after leaving and not finding us here.

Luckily, we still had hot water but could not make coffee when we got up. The side burner on the braai wasn’t working for some reason. I made myself an iced coffee using decaf crystals and added ice leftover in the freezer. That worked ok for me. Finally, when the power was restored, Tom could have his coffee.

After carefully checking the food in the fridge, I determined it all survived, but I threw out a few questionable items. Since last Wednesday, we hadn’t shopped, so the refrigerator wasn’t overly stocked. Everything in the freezer was still frozen solid, including fish and prawns. No worries there.

As far as homely warthogs go, Little is a fine-looking specimen, although he has small tusks.

Luckily, with our laptop’s long-lasting batteries, we were able to watch shows until finally we shut it down, played with our phones for a while, and drifted off to sleep. Of course, we awoke several times during the night, never even using the top sheet. It was too warm. Thank goodness, yesterday wasn’t the hottest day in the past week.

Today, I’ll continue walking and make a salad to bring to R & G’s tonight. They have friends visiting from the US, whom they picked up yesterday at the Nelspruit Airport. They are all going on a road trip in about ten days and won’t return to Marloth Park until next September.

Last night, Mom and babies stopped by, accompanied by Barbara and Lori (not shown in the photo), her daughters from her previous litter.

Maybe another surprise will be on the horizon!! We probably won’t see Rita and Gerhard when we return in December since they spend Christmas in the US at their home in Washington. But, they surprised us by showing up on New Year’s Eve at the party at Flo and JiJi’s. That would be fantastic.

Tonight there will be eight of us, with Louise and Danie joining in on the dinner party. Gosh, it’s fun to go to a dinner party on a weeknight. We never did that in our old lives when we had to get up and go to work the following day. It’s one of the many joys of retirement.

In yesterday’s post here, I apologized for our mundane posts and lack of exciting photos since the pandemic hit the world over the past two years. As for many of you, traveling became cumbersome and complex with all the Covid restrictions, closed borders, and regulations.

Mongooses sleep close to one another, even when it’s hot. After this morning’s breakfast, they stay around for a few hours, lounging in the side garden.

In response to that post, the email messages came in by the dozens, if not more. All of them were kind and thoughtful, expressing their support of what we do each day to bring you our latest news. There wasn’t one “hater” or negative comment. We thank every one of you for taking the time to write and for your thoughtful and generous words.

One of these email messages particularly stuck in my mind overnight from a longtime reader/friend, Liz. It’s a bit self-boasting to post this, so in advance, let me say that it is not our intention to “fluff our feathers.” Here’s what Liz wrote:

“Dear Jess,

It should be us who thank you and Tom to allow us ‘homebodies’ to travel vicariously through your experiences. The time and effort it takes to photograph, create the post idea, write and edit is not lost on me. The fact that, unless in exceptional circumstances, you have provided a daily post for many years now is amazing.

On the one hand I too am ‘champing at the bit’ to get back out there to see more of my beautiful country, but on the other hand circumstances, health, and finances.

In the mean time I am able to watch the world through your eyes informing and learning not only about the far flung places but my attitude, likes and dislikes. Geography, social history, politics and the human race are all presented there in your blog giving me the chance to learn something new.

Thank you!

Liz”

Another slightly younger Spikey Kudu arrived in the garden.

This email brought tears to my eyes. We posted for the first time in March 2012, almost ten years ago, and our readership continues to grow with many new readers each year. Is this why our readers have stuck with us through boring, mundane, and repetitive posts, year after year?

All we can say is “thank you” to Liz and to every reader who wrote to us, and every reader continues to read our post. With your support, we stay motivated and engaged in bringing you more content, especially now as we hope to enjoy more freedom of travel.

Will this war in Ukraine have an impact on our future travels? As always, only time will tell. But, again, travel freedom can change in a moment, as we’ve seen over the past two years. In the interim, we continue to make as many plans as possible at this point.

Have a pleasant Monday!

Photo from one year ago today, February 28, 2021:

Tom and I and Ken and Linda, great friends from Marloth Park who happened to be in Sydney at the same time as us! Small world! In May, we’ll see them again in England. For more photos, please click here.

An apology for our readers…Newly posted photos from elephant encounter…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 27, 2022 with 0 Comment

At Kwa Madwala, guests can opt for safaris on horseback.

It was almost two years ago that our hotel lockdown began in India. It’s been over 13 months since we arrived in Marloth Park. Overall, we’ve only been to these two places, other than a week-long visa-stamp trip to Zambia in April and then a one-month visit to the US in July. We’ve been contrary to our self-imposed nomenclature as “world travelers” since we began this years-long journey in 2012.

Don’t get me wrong. We’ve enjoyed every moment in Marloth Park with our human and animal friends, of which there have been countless opportunities. But we are ready to move on. Our wanderlust has taken over! We’re chomping at the bit to get back “into the world.”

The pool from the veranda at Kwa Madwala is soon to be renovated and re-opening within a year.

We don’t mind staying put for extended periods, which accounts for the many times we’ve stayed two, three, and even four months in one location. Doing so has allowed us to learn about each country, its people, culture, nature, and fascinating points of interest.

Sure, we could have done more while we were here. We could have gone on road trips and stayed at various safari camps. But, it’s been hard to motivate ourselves to travel to see precisely what we can see here in our backyard and on a short drive to enter Kruger National Park.

The beautiful male elephant tossed his trunk back for the guide to place pellets inside.

Plus, with so many cruises booked, we needed to watch our spending. It’s only due to the low cost of living for us in the bush that we’ve been able to select a few more expensive cruises than we would have by living here than in other countries. where the cost of living is so much higher. In reality, our lowest cost of living has been in South Africa in partial years: 2013, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021, and now in 2022.

In total, we’ve spent 32 months living in Marloth Park in the past nine years and hope to be back, if all goes well, returning next December, just before Tom’s birthday, the 23rd, and Christmas. We won’t be staying so long when we return, leaving no longer than six months after we arrive, requiring another visa extension, or a short trip away for a visa stamp.

Nonetheless, I should get to the point of our heading; an apology to our readers…

The property manager was familiar with the elephants allowing him to do a pull-out. Wow!

We are sorry for the redundancy of our posts, especially over the past two years since the onset of the pandemic, and now the endless stream of animal photos of wildlife we’ve surely posted time and time again. You’ve seen me walking in the corridors in India during the ten tedious months of repeated photos from past experiences. Now it is one or multiple bushbucks, one or multiple pigs, one or numerous kudus, and one band of mongooses after another.

We posted numerous photos from our night trail cam, most often of genets and porcupines and many elephants from the river, Kruger National Park, and our recent elephant experience on my birthday. Frank and The Misses and other francolin pairs have graced these pages repeatedly. Recently wildebeests Hal and Broken Horn have been shown and mentioned over and over again.

The veranda where we had brunch last Sunday at Kwa Madwala.

Occasional bush babies, hornbills, go-away birds, and other small creatures have been highlighted on countless posts. On top of all of that, we’ve prepared innumerable posts about Covid-19, lions in Marloth Park, cruises, and now, challenges in traveling due to the horrific war in Ukraine.

Don’t think for one minute that we haven’t been aware of the repetition, the redundancy of various topics and photos, ad nauseam. I justify the repetition because the concept of writing a new story 365 days a year is a daunting task. If someone had presented such a task for me to accomplish daily, I would have run the other way.

The sign for the property as we left after the beautiful experience.

But doing so has been of my own volition, and we’ve continued to do so with love and caring for our surroundings and our fine audience, who miraculously have stayed with us while it continued to grow over the years. For this, we are very grateful. Thank you, dear readers, for your commitment to reading our posts year after year. You amaze me! My attention span is not quite as good as yours!

Hopefully, soon as we reach out to the world before us, our stories and photos will be more exciting and varied. That’s our intention.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 27, 2021:

Year: 2022

UK cost of living crisis intensifies (from Financial Times)