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| Ken set up the camera on a timer to take this photo of all 10 of us! Fantastic! |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Fork-trailed drongo Ken was spotted in the garden. |
It was quite a night. A fabulous time was had by all. Per my expectations, the food all came out well, and everyone kindly gushed over the vast array of options and flavors.
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| Rita loved being silly with all of us at her birthday dinner party. |
We included the menu in yesterday’s post. If you haven’t seen it, please click here. It was a lot of work making all the menu items in the sweltering heat and humidity, which has finally cooled down a bit today.
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| Rita and I pose for more silly photos. We’ve built quite a lasting friendship in only a few short months. We both feel fortunate for all of our beautiful friends. |
With Linda’s efficient help, we managed to get through all the food prep, and later, both she and Louise jumped in to help with dishes. Tom kept loading the dishes, and soon, all will be completed, perhaps even before Zef and Vusi arrive, who are always willing to do dishes when they clean the house each day.
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| Danie, Leon, Tom, Gerhard, and Ken, from left to right, toasting a good evening. |
Somehow, we don’t feel right leaving them piles of dishes from the previous night’s dinner and party, and we make every effort to clean up as much as possible. By 8:00 am this morning, I had the second load of laundry washing, Tom had the dishwasher emptied and put away, and we were ready to begin a new day.
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| And the girls, from left to right, Louise. Dawn, me, Linda and Rita. |
Most likely, this will be the last dinner party that we’ll host in Marloth Park. With only 28 days remaining until we leave the park, we’ll begin chipping away at the food we have left instead of buying large quantities of food for future entertainment purposes.
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| Linda and Louise took on dish duty. |
And what a party it was! It was a perfect compilation of personalities, the ability to laugh, and the commonality of our mutual love of the bush. The evening passed so quickly. We were disappointed when it was over.
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| We celebrated with one toast after another. |
Yes, we worked hard, but it was worth every moment. Today, my legs are tired from being on my feet for almost two days, standing on the ceramic tile floors. The awful weather, humid and hot, made the prep all the more taxing.
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| The boys were toasting once again. |
But I can’t wipe the smile off my face in recalling the fun Rita, Gerhard, our other friends, and Tom and I had last night. Of course, adding to the night’s good humor was the constant flow of some of our favorite warthogs who stopped by to see what all the commotion was about, and yes, check out the pellet situation.
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| We had no idea why the fingers were on our heads, but Ken, who took photos, thought it worth a shot. |
We saw “Little,” Mike and Joe, Sigfried and Roy, Mom and Babies, and not surprisingly “Basket, The Bully,” who stopped by for a while to show off that he, too, could be good-natured in a social setting.
Initially, I’d planned to serve the meal in courses, but when we got a late start with the food since we were preoccupied having fun, we narrowed it down to only three courses instead of four. It all worked out as well as we could have wanted.
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| Rita and Ken pose for silliness. |
Today, Linda and Ken are heading to Kruger for a few hours, and soon, we’re off to the dentist for my second to the last appointment. Then my teeth will be done, done, done until our next cleaning in some other country down the road, wherever that may be.
Tonight, we’ll dine on leftovers which we’ll particularly enjoy at a leisurely pace with Linda and Ken. Perhaps, after dinner, on the veranda, we’ll play a few more rounds of their dominos-type game while seeing who stops by to say hello.
Have a fantastic day!
Photo from one year ago today, January 17, 2018:
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| There are also many historical hotels and buildings in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For more photos, please click here. |