Peeking up over the step, looking at us, “Got any meat for us?” Sure, we did! Thank goodness, Louise and Danie made certain we had an inverter in this house, Love Bird’s Nest. How thoughtful they are! An inverter uses power to recharge batteries inside the unit, which can be kept indoors, to be used later when the power goes out for small voltage requirements, such as powering a router and recharging digital equipment.
It could be used for some lights but can’t power the air-con, the refrigerator, and power-hogging appliances such as tea kettles, toasters, and microwaves. We keep the usage only for our phones, laptops, and the router to ensure we have WiFi, which, right now, we do. It’s been a massive benefit during all of the power outages.
At some point, if the power doesn’t come back on, the batteries in the inverter will lose their power. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully, sometime today, the cause of the outage will be repaired.
With the rains resulting from Cyclone Eloise, the ground is still soaked, and flooding is happening all around us. Even the Crocodile Bridge Gate and others, as access to Kruger National Park, are flooded, preventing visitors from many areas entering the park. I can only imagine the frustration of tourists who planned a one or two-week holiday in this area who can now not visit Kruger National Park unless they drive long distances to other open gates.
Also, we’ve found that wildlife tends to go for cover during rainstorms as powerful as this when they become frightened by the sounds. Thus, those tourists currently staying in Marloth Park won’t be seeing much wildlife in their gardens when, for example, so far this morning, we’ve only seen Franks, hornbills, and helmeted guinea-fowl. We tossed seeds for all of them when they looked at us with those longing eyes. Of course, we comply, even on sunny days.
Flooding will escalate over the next several days as the rains continue through Monday, Tuesday, and longer. In viewing the weather reports, it appears it will rain almost every day over the next two weeks, all the way through February 14.
We’re certainly happy that we’re staying here for quite a long while. Otherwise, this amount of rain would be frustrating. However, it’s vital for the growth of the vegetation critical to the wildlife in the bush, which is their primary source of food, except for carnivores such as mongoose, lizards, snakes, and others.
This morning Louise and Danie stopped by with a cooler, called a “chill box,” here in South Africa. Our social life is beginning to take shape with upcoming visits to friends in the bush. We’ll bring our beverages, in this case, Crystal Light Iced Tea, since alcohol is still banned in South Africa.
Hopefully, the ban will be lifted by mid-February, and I can purchase my favorite South Africa wine, Four Cousins, Skinny Red. It’s a delicious low-alcohol wine, 9% instead of 13%, which had been my go-to wine when we were here in 2018-2019. At times, my mouth waters when I think of this delightful wine.
It’s ironic. We couldn’t drink alcohol in India during those 10-months in isolation due to many months-long bans and then outrageous prices with taxes at 38%. It just wasn’t worth it to us at the time, especially when neither of us had ever enjoyed drinks in a hotel room or even a cruise cabin. It’s all about socialization for us.
Of course, if it’s just the two of us on the veranda at “happy hour,” we find each other’s companionship a delightful form of socialization and may imbibe when the time is right. We look forward to that down the road.
A moment ago, the power came back on! We’re thrilled!. We’ll be back with more tomorrow! As soon as I upload today’s post, we’re heading out for a drive to check out the area’s flooding and take some photos.
Stay well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 31, 2020:
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| The view from our hotel room in Mumbai, overlooking the Arabian Sea, shortly after we arrived in India from the US on a 33-hour journey. For more details, please click here. |