Note: To all of our readers visiting our site via a smartphone, please click the “View web version” tab under the word “Home” at the bottom of the page to access the web version enabling you to access all of our archives on the right side of the page. We’ll be updating our site in a few months, making these extra steps unnecessary. Thank you.
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| At the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, Tom donned a huge leather hand and arm protector and was handed a massive chunk of fresh meat to feed this vulture at the rehabilitation center. It was quite a thrill to get this photo. I love the look on Tom’s face! As their injuries healed, these vultures would soon be returned to the wild. Photos today are from this post on this date in 2015, which included some past-posted photos. |
Today, while deciding on which past photos to post, I started with the post we wrote five years ago while still living in Princeville, in Kauai, Hawaii.
Then, we’d posted so many photos of Kauai. We were running low on new photos to post, so we reached back to these photos from 2014/2015 since we found them to be of particular interest to us and, hopefully, to our newer readers who may not have seen them in the past.
We apologize for the repeats if you have seen these photos in the past, perhaps even a few times. We aren’t taking any photos during the lockdown and, based on recovery from four surgeries a year ago. The pickings were also slim at that time.
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| It was exciting to touch the vultures. We were told to keep moving while around the vultures. They only eat what appears to be dead meat. |
For us, seeing these photos again is comparable to watching a favorite movie a second time, especially one that makes us smile. It only reminds us how anxious we are to get back out into the world again, sometime in the future.
In actuality it was on January 19, 2014, we visited the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, which may be found at our link here. We were so enthralled at the experience of making the tour of the well-known Panorama Route in South Africa. The photos have been fascinating.
If you ever can visit South Africa, this road trip is well worth the effort. The Panorama Route is a series of sites to see while driving along the highway, veering off periodically to stop at yet another stunning point of interest during the self-drive tour. For more on the Panorama Route, please click here.,
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| An eagle on the mend at the rehabilitation center. |
Hmm… Do we ever get to visit South Africa? If we ever get to see South Africa again??? That’s the proverbial question for us. At this point, it’s hard to imagine when the airports and borders of both countries will open again.
The number of cases in India is growing, not diminishing as expected from the lockdown, with 16,345 cases and 521 deaths. But, this was to be expected when many were not able or willing to honor the lockdown. Protests in the streets, in massive crowds, wanting businesses to open immediately, as is the case in parts of the US, significantly contributing to the added new cases each day.
Poverty is an enormous factor in the public’s response to lockdowns. On the other hand, South Africa, making it a crime to be out and about, has 3034 cases with 52 deaths. But, there, too, protesting workers are angry and anxious to get back to work to support their families.
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| We had an opportunity to interact with a cheetah at the wildlife rehabilitation center. The particular cheetah wouldn’t ever be able to return to the wild due to injuries sustained in the wild for which he was rescued. |
All of these statistics can change dramatically in a day, in a week. We’ll continue to watch and see. In any case, we are continuing to feel safe here in India with virtually no need to go out.
In the interim, we’re accumulating supplies we need now and will be shipped here to us in Mumbai over the next year. Imagine you could never go to a Target, Walmart, or Walgreen store. Of course, over time, one’s list of needed items would grow. We don’t purchase anything unnecessary.
Recently, I ordered such items as large bottles of Tylenol, Tums, contact lens solution, toothpaste, and many more. If we went out to a tiny roadside pharmacy here in Mumbai, we’d have no say in the products we’d like since the little lean-to shops have a minimal inventory of such items, if they have them at all.
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| A Vervet Monkey and her baby were peering at us one morning while we were sitting at the table on the veranda. Check out that thin pink ear of the baby. |
All of our purchases are sent to our mailing service in Nevada (free shipping on most), and then all will be packed into one box and shipped to us soon. Daily I cross-reference the items I’ve ordered with those that have been received by our mailing service. Once everything has arrived, we’ll order the shipment.
Cargo planes are flying into Mumbai, and we should receive our shipment within 10-days of ordering utilizing the fastest possible service. Our only fear is that the hotel will close while we’re awaiting the shipment. But, they continue to assure us they will be staying open through the lockdown and beyond.
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| The fifth animal in the Big 5 (Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, and Lion) this herd of elephants blocked the road as we drove through Kruger National Park. Notice the babies are kept protected in the middle of the herd. The most giant elephant, the Matriarch is often twice as large as the other adult females, holds up the rear with a keen sense ensuring their safety. Seldom are elephants attacked in the wild based on their pack mentality of safety in numbers and their massive size. |
So, today, after completing this post, we’re back to our usual routine; me walking once an hour while listening to podcasts, playing online Scrabble on my phone, and streaming shows while I play using my earbuds. Tom listens to Garage Logic and other podcasts while researching his favorite historical topics and, of course, ancestry.com.
How we manage to stay busy enough to keep from going crazy baffles me, but we’re doing it. We hope you’re doing the same.
Stay healthy. Stay safe.
Photo from one year ago today, April 19, 2019:
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| Duikers are incredibly cautious around warthogs, especially when there’s food being offered. Tom makes a special effort to ensure the smallest of the antelope in Marloth Park is given pellets when no pigs are in close proximity. For more photos, please click here. |