As we are situated on the veranda with me sipping a delicious mug of iced coffee, we’re listening to the symphony from two frogs, one in the rafters of the veranda roof and the other on the edge of the birdbath. They go back and forth with their melodious chirps and then chirp simultaneously from time to time. It’s music to our ears.
Today’s a bit cooler with an expected midday high of only 93F, 34C. What a relief! We can handle that easily, compared to the fierce heat of the past many days, even weeks. Summer won’t officially begin until eight days from today. We’d better brace ourselves.
We are grateful to be here in South Africa rather than any other place in the world, even with the heat, the insects, and mozzies. As much as it’s rained in the past month, we’re surprised the mozzies aren’t any worse than they are. But, it’s early days. They will come.
Three times a day, I reapply Tabard roll-on insect repellent. Without it, I’d be covered in bites. Although this product has DEET, the risks of which I am well aware, it is the only repellent that works for me. Over the years we’ve spent in South Africa, I have tried many “natural” repellents only to discover they don’t work for me. It’s a toss-up…risks of DEET or chances of contracting malaria. I chose to take the risk of DEET.
When applying, I don’t put it all over my body, only on the exposed skin such as my legs and feet when wearing short pants, hands and arms up to my sleeves, and the neck area. I wear closed shoes until bedtime, which prevents getting bit on my feet, after carefully applying the repellant to my ankles, where mozzies particularly love to bite. On a rare occasion, I get a bite under my clothes.
Due to allergies, occasionally, I get red itchy patches on my skin, usually on my arms or legs. Calamine lotion seems to be the only product that helps with that type of itching.
The inconveniences from the awful heat, humidity, insects, and snakes are incidental compared to last Christmas when we were stuck in a hotel room in Mumbai—living in a hotel room for ten months, never knowing when the international airport would open. Each day, we thought, maybe tomorrow? Each day, we were disappointed.
But now, we are content to be here, enjoying our animal and human friends, making great meals, having sundowners on the veranda regardless of the heat, while having little responsibility other than to cook, do dishes, wash laundry, grocery shop, and manage financial matters.
It’s reported on the news today that President Cyril Ramaphosa has Covid-19, most likely the Omicron variant, which is currently raging like a wildfire in all of South Africa. It is also reported that 27% of all Covid-19 tests are positive here. According to some reports, all people in South Africa and many other countries will test positive for Omicron in the next several months.
We are hoping Cyril will extend visas once again, which will prevent us from having to fly anywhere in the next few months. Only time will tell.
After being in South Africa for almost a year (as of January 13th), we realize that our posts are redundant and relatively dull. We apologize for that. Of course, we’d love to have exciting adventures and stories to share each day. But, right now, like most of you, we’re living one day at a time. We are waiting to see when travel makes sense for us and the status of our upcoming booked cruises.
Have a pleasant week as we roll into the holiday season.
Photo from one year ago today, December 13, 2020:
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| This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #265. The locals performed their Bollywood routine on Saturday nights in Fiji in 2015. For more photos, please click here. |