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| A single bottle brush flower blooms in the bush. |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Tom took this photo of two hadeda birds on the roof of a neighboring property. They are known as the loudest birds in South Africa. Click here to hear the sounds they make, which result in their name. |
No words can describe the relief we feel after the temperature has dropped after the rains of the past 24 hours. Currently, at 10:00 am, it’s a comfortable 25C (77F).
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| What a pleasant surprise for Tom early this morning! There were three duikers, one male and two females, and two female bushbucks in the garden sharing pellets. |
Although the aircon in our main floor bedroom won’t be repaired until after January 1st, we’ll manage just fine if it stays this cool for the next few days. If it heats up to 40C (104F), we’ll be back where we were when the power went out when the company can’t handle the extra load of holidaymaker’s use.
Several locals have made comments on various Marloth Park pages on Facebook, such as “We wouldn’t lose power if you idiots don’t use aircon when it’s hot.”
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| This is a male giraffe due to the lack of hair on the ends of his ossicones—the pointy protrusions atop his head. The coat has worn down from competition for dominance with other males. |
But, the reality is, people will use aircon when temperatures are so high. Many people living and visiting Marloth Park are seniors, have health problems, children, and everyone in between.
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| Male elephants are excluded from the family during their teenage years to live and fend for themselves. This is done to preserve the integrity of the gene pool and prevent the male from mating with his siblings and other female relatives. |
When the temperature is over 40C, it’s doubtful anyone will be willing to sacrifice being cool, at least at night, when sleeping is nearly impossible. It’s a catch 22.
Plus, you can’t single out healthy mid-age residents to avoid using aircon, so others less fortunate may use it. That’s not going to happen. Thus, with high temps in Marloth Park right now, the power goes out. Plain and simple.
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| At times, we’ll see two or more males hanging out together. |
It should become more accessible within a week when many holidaymakers leave the park after New Year’s Day. By January 9th, we should be back to “normal” with sufficient power to handle the park’s needs in most cases.
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| When we spot a herd or “parade” of elephants, it often comprises a matriarch, moms, offspring, other females who’ve yet to give birth. and young males who’ve yet to be ostracized from the family. |
That’s not to say we’ll be free of outages. Load shedding is supposed to continue in January, but right now, the Eskom website states, “We are currently not load shedding.” We’ll see how that goes.
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| Three lions were lying… |
Last night, I had a great night’s sleep. Although we both awakened many times during the night, I easily fell back to sleep, getting a total of eight hours of rest. On the other hand, Tom was out of bed by 6:00 am and may need a 20-minute nap today. I feel like a new person.
Last night, we decided to go out for dinner, and we showed up at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant without a reservation, although a group of nine of us will be dining there tonight. I was so tired I couldn’t imagine putting a meal together.
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| A male lion was perusing the area near the Crocodile River. |
With the fabulous restaurant booked, we knew we’d be willing to eat at the bar rather than request a table. We arrived at 1700 hours (5:00 pm), and by 1930 hours (7:30 pm), after another beautiful meal, I was ready to head back to our house.
Tonight, Kathy and Don and three friends/family members and Rita and Gerhard will join us for dinner as mentioned above for what surely will be another enjoyable evening with friends.
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| A male lion on the move. |
As for today, if it doesn’t rain, we’ll try a drive in the park, hoping to spot some of our wildlife friends. If there’s too much traffic along the river, we’ll turn around and come right back. This place is all about low stress and a powerful sense of calm. We prefer to keep it that way.
Have a peaceful and calming day!
Photo from one year ago today, December 29, 2017:
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| Tom ordered a local beer while I had a Malbec at La Cabrera Restaurant in Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, one year ago today. For more photos, please click here. |