This morning, I am so behind in posting. What slowed me down was a result of two things; one, I had trouble downloading photos for some odd reason (probably WiFi related), and two, I spent no less than an hour in a chat with Emirates Airline to get a US $20, ZAR 284.31 refund for one seat assignment when we flew from Dubai to Johannesburg. We upgraded my seat from coach to business class.
By upgrading one of our seats to business class, our prior seat was canceled, for which we’d paid US $20 extra when there was an up-charge for all seats (go figure). By switching to business class (my seat only, when we couldn’t buy an upgrade for Tom), we paid an additional US $700, ZAR 10309. But, in the process of producing the extra for the upgrade, we still had yet to receive a refund for the seat assignment we’d given up.
Leave it to Tom to think of this. Leave it to me to spend an hour in a chat with Emirates Airlines to get the refund. But, we were bound and determined not to let them keep our $20. Why it took so long baffles me. They made it so tricky. It would have been easy for any customer to say, “Never mind!” But, not me, I stayed. The course and finally got it done.
So here it is, almost well after 1:00 pm when most often, I’m done with the daily post and able to continue with our typical day. Today will be different. Fortunately, we have most of tonight’s dinner prepared due to a good-sized portion of grilled chicken we made yesterday.
There’s little else to do today other than continue to take photos of visiting wildlife while offering them their treats of choice. They’ve eaten all the bananas and sweet potatoes, which we will restock at a later date. However, no doubt, we have plenty of pellets and birdseed to last for the next several days. The pellet-guy should arrive on Friday with a new shipment. This time, we’ve left enough money with Louise to buy us four big bags when he shows up at their Info Centre.
Finally, Tom got a haircut at a salon at the local Bush Centre with the same stylist who’d cut his hair during our prior stays in Marloth Park. We were both concerned about the risk of Covid-19 by visiting a salon. But, Tom assured me they exercised the utmost caution when he was the only customer in the shop during his appointment, and the stylist wore a very secure mask that fits tightly on her face.
He was thrilled to finally be rid of the bad cut he’d done for himself in that hotel room in India. Based on the fact, I don’t possess good “small hand” skills; he refused to allow me to cut his hair which was probably a good decision. I can manage all of my own spa/salon needs but not his! He was happy with the result, as was I.
With a 30% tip and tax, the total cost of his haircut was US $8.84, ZAR 130. Unreal! Tom said he’d never gone so long without getting a haircut in his life. But, then again, whoever spends almost a year of their life stuck in a hotel room? Not too many, I suppose.
At this point, I am beginning Day #3 of the two types of antibiotics I am taking for the tooth abscess. I am not feeling like myself while taking these strong medications, but I had no choice. I look forward to finishing off the prescribed dosages on Saturday. By Tuesday, eight days later, when I’m feeling better, I can have a glass of my favorite low-alcohol South Africa wine, Skinny Red by Four Cousin. That will be nice, along with feeling better after finishing the meds.
Our friends Linda and Ken will be coming to Marloth Park at the end of this month. We look forward to seeing them soon. We haven’t seen them since our get-together in Wales, UK, in October 2019. We saw them in Marloth Park in 2018/2019, and before that, we got together in Sydney, Australia, in March 2017. How wonderful to have friends who are as mobile as we are!
With friends Kathy and Don waiting for their Covid-19 vaccines in Hawaii and numerous other special friends in the US and the UK soon to come to Marloth Park, we look forward to the days to come while we continue to revel in the treasures in front of us, day by day.
Be safe. Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, February 10, 2020:
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From this site: “Indian Statesman and Spiritual Leader. Mohandas Gandhi, who come to be popularly known as “Mahatma” (Great Soul), was born a colonial subject of the British Empire. He studied law at University College in London and was admitted to the bar in 1891. In 1893, Gandhi took a position as a legal advisor for an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa (then also a British colony). Appalled at the racism against South Asians there, Gandhi became an activist for equal rights. However, Gandhi stained the violent tactics often employed by socialist and anarchist activists, however, cited new forms of nonviolent resistance, collectively known as “Satyagraha” (truth and firmness). Influenced by traditional Hinduism as well as the works of Jesus, Leo Tolstoy, and Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi’s methods stressed change by noncooperation with the colonial authorities, including disruptive (though nonviolent) demonstrations and general strikes and boycotts. For more, please click here.
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How far is your current rental home from the Orange house? Is it close enough to possible get visits from your same animals as before?
Even though we are both vaccinated, we refuse to let our guard down and be in any contact with others. This might sound silly, but do your stores have curbside pickup or delivery? There still is no way we would ever set foot inside of any business here in Texas. We have made a few trips to doctors when we couldn’t zoom with them, but were extremely uncomfortable. This type of self quarantine isn’t for everyone, but it works for us. Stay safe, Jan
We are about 1 mile from the Orange house. It is entirely conceivable we will see the animals we saw there. Unfortunately, a number of animals were either moved to Lionspruit or culled in the past year.
Jan, I am so happy to hear you were able to be vaccinated! The stores here do not have curbside pickup although restaurants do, so we’ve done that a few times. Yes, it is so worrisome. So far, we’ve been to the dentist and the eye doctor. But they were very meticulous about social distancing and sanitation. The dentist only allows one patient in the door at a time. Ah, it’s challenging in any case.
Please continue to be cautious and stay well.
Warmest regards,
Jess & Tom