An exciting new little family in the bush…Change in plans for the weekend…

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Could the piglets be any cuter? They are the tiniest piglets we’ve ever seen! Way to go, Lollie!

Yesterday morning, Lollie, our resident female warthog, suddenly appeared in her usual spot in the garden with her three newborn piglets! We couldn’t stop smiling and laughing over how such little piglets could run around and jump when they were born only a few hours earlier.

We couldn’t feed Lollie enough pellets and carrots, knowing how vital nourishment is to her now, more than ever. The piglets were too young to eat the pellets or carrots, which I’d cut up into bite-sized pieces in case they tried to eat them. They will undoubtedly start eating the pellets in a few days.

It wasn’t easy to take photos of them since the piglets were terrified of us. These few photos included today were taken from my phone at quite a distance. As they grow, we’ll have more photos. It appears there are two females and one male. We named the boy Leon after our dear friend in the hospital, who is quite a go-getter with a robust sense of humor.

We missed seeing Leon at Jabula last night. If all goes well, by Monday, he should be returning home. We certainly hope the treatment he is on for the blood clot in his leg is working to dissolve the clot. Last night, it wasn’t the same without him there, but all the diners at the busy restaurant were talking about him and wishing him well. Dawn was holding up well, serving the needs of her guests along with her very competent staff and somehow managing to have an upbeat attitude. They both are amazing through this difficult time.

At around 7:15, after we’d finished our dinner, which we ate at the bar as we always do when it’s just the two of us, thunder and lightning filled the skies. We were shocked the power didn’t go out. Anxious to get back to our house to ensure everything was OK in the storm, we decided to leave right away.

David walked us to our car, holding a golf umbrella over our heads. But the wind and rain were too strong to keep us from getting soaking wet. Poor David had to go back inside to work while he was soaked. The 10-minute drive back to our house was treacherous. We were relieved to pull up under our car park roof and get inside the house. We couldn’t get our wet clothes off quickly enough and get comfy in the bedroom to stream a few shows and relax while the storm settled down.

The new router is working well. We only had a few minutes of an outage last night around 8:00 pm, 2000 hrs., typically when many people in Marloth Park are online. But it came back a few minutes later, and all was fine. We appreciate Louise and Tech Connect for getting our WiFi working correctly. It’s been quite a hassle dealing with frequent outages.

Tonight, we won’t be going to Jabula for dinner or going out anywhere. There’s a big rugby game tonight, and the entire park will flood the bars and restaurants where they can watch the game, drink, eat and cheer on the players. Since we aren’t into rugby we’ve decided to stay home, cook filet mignon on the braai, with rice for Tom and salad for both of us, and enjoy another fine evening in the bush.

A bale of lucerne was delivered by Daisy’s Den this morning, but we’ve yet to see many animals, other than a few impalas stopping by to nibble the fresh green hay. It’s the weekend, and due to the game, there are more people here in Marloth Park, causing many animals to stay undercover with the traffic on the roads and people in the bush.

It’s incredible how they are so active only hours after being born.

Many readers have written inquiring about how I feel after the massive medication regime I followed for ten days. I was pain-free for about a week, and now the headaches and facial pain have returned—however, it’s only about 50% as painful as it was initially.

I continue to read how similar headaches have impacted the lives of many who’d had such headaches while suffering from  Covid and continued long after they recovered from Covid. I may need to wait it out. Right now, I don’t feel like going through the side effects of trying new drugs for nerve pain. Nor do I want to go through several tests. Millions of people with long-haul Covid have had countless tests, none of which indicate why they are experiencing symptoms. I believe I fall into that category.

Here is an interesting article about long-haul Covid.

Plus, there’s this:

Overall, 1 in 13 adults in the U.S. (7.5%) have “long COVID” symptoms, defined as symptoms lasting three or more months after first contracting the virus and that they didn’t have before their COVID-19 infection.”
That’s it for today, folks. We hope you have a great weekend. We’ll be back with you soon!

Photo from one year ago today, November 5, 2021:

Notches, also from the Orange house, has found her way here. Her name is a result of the notches in her right ear. For more photos, please click here.

A snake visitor…Don’t be fooled by small snakes…

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The snake, a spotted bush snake, picked up its head to look at us as I took the photo, making it easier to identify.

It’s that time of year in the bush…when the snakes come out of hiding during the cooler months to search for food in the warmer months. Week by week, the temperatures are climbing, and at the same time, the number of snakes to be seen in the bush is increasing exponentially.

Yesterday morning, while I was in the kitchen preparing a salad for dinner, Tom called me to hurry outside and bring the camera. I dropped what I was doing, and rushed out the door with the camera in hand, turned on and ready to go. The small snake slithered in and out of the slats on the wooden section of the deck of the veranda, making photo-taking tricky.

We suspected the snake was venomous. It appeared to be a young boomslang, but we were wrong. Once we got a decent photo, I sent it to Juan de Beers, one of the excellent snake handlers in Marloth Park. Juan has helped us on several occasions when there have been venomous snakes in our garden. There’s no charge for this service, but it makes sense to give him a donation for his expert efforts, which we’ve always done.

Once I uploaded the photo, I sent it to him to see if he could identify it from the photo and thus determine if he needed to come out and remove it. Snakes are not killed when rescued, regardless of the type of danger from a particular snake. They are moved to the river or other wildlife areas, safe from human intervention.

The snake kept going in and out of the spaces between the boards on the deck area of the veranda.

A short time later, I heard from Juan, and he identified the snake as a spotted bush snake, described as follows from this site:

“Full Name: Spotted Bush Snake (Philothamnus semi variegates)

Other Names: Variegated Bush Snake; Gespikkelde Bosslang

Classification: HARMLESS

An alert, day-active snake that climbs well and is often found between the walls and ceilings of outbuildings, where it hunts for geckos and frogs. Sadly this harmless snake is often mistaken for a Green Mamba and needlessly killed.

The body is bright green to copper-green with distinct blackish spots on the front half of the snake but little or no dark marks on the back half. The belly is yellowish to white, and the pupil is orange.

This snake has keeled belly scales, enabling it to climb up the bark of a tree or even up face-brick walls. It is commonly found in suburban gardens, and domestic cats often kill juveniles.

There are a number of harmless green snakes of the genus Philothamnus and they can be quite difficult to tell apart.”

There was no danger to us from this snake. Juan offered to come out and remove it, but we saw no need. It might have been the same snake we saw climbing on a tree in our nearby garden in early winter that made its way to the underside of the wooden deck. Yesterday, a pleasant warm day, the snake may have decided to venture out from hiding to search for food.

Tom had watched the snake interact with a gecko. Perhaps, that was its attempt at a nice little breakfast. Do snakes hibernate? Here is the answer from this site:

“Snakes and hibernation

Hibernation has been described as an inherent, regular, prolonged period of inactivity during winter. Hibernation is a term associated with warm-blooded animals (endotherms) such as mammals and refers to a period of inactivity as well as a shut down in the metabolic system to save energy. Reptiles on the other hand are said to brumate – become less active, but do not shut down and will be active with a slight increase in temperature. The term brumate was coined by Wilbur Waldo Mayhen back in 1965 and referred to research he was doing on Flat-tailed Horn Lizards – he found that even if he heated these lizards up in winter, unlike other lizards, they would still not feed and become lethargic. Strangely, Mayhen’s term does not technically apply to the standard period of inactivity in our reptiles as our reptiles will become active with a slight increase in temperature on a warm winter day.

Snakes in cold regions of the world go into a state of torpor (inactivity) for long periods of time, up to 8 months, and often in dens where hundreds or even thousands of snakes may share the same winter shelter.

In Southern Africa it rarely gets cold enough for snakes to truly go into torpor and although they are far less active in winter, snakes may emerge from their winter hide-outs on a warm winter day to bask in the sun and drink water.

According to Professor Harry Greene, snakes consume between 6 – 30 meals per year and this is in summer. During winter, they do not eat very little or, if they do, very little. Most mammals will die within a few days if they are deprived of food but some snakes are known to have survived for more than a year without a meal. Because snakes are ectotherms and require no food for their heat requirements, they can survive with very little food and a large Puff Adder probably consumes less than 1 kg of food per year.

Prior to winter there is a peak of snake activity in South Africa as snakes build up fat reserves and seek a suitable shelter for the cold months ahead. But some snakes, like pythons and Puff Adders, are actively busy with mating on the Highveld right into the middle of winter.

When seeking a hide-out for winter, snakes will carefully seek a shelter that (a) has sufficient moisture to ensure that the snake does not desiccate and (b) cannot easily be located by predators. As it cools down, the snake may move deeper and deeper into its hole but rarely remain motionless unless the temperature drops to zero degrees C.

With a dramatic drop in snake activity in winter, very few bites are reported and the majority of bites on humans are recorded in the warm summer months of January – April/May.”

It moved close to the pool and then it was gone, probably hiding under the deck or off into the bush to look for food.

We watched the harmless snake slither away, content we had no concern about it staying in our garden through the upcoming hot summer months, when snakes are seen more frequently. Of course, I’ll always say, “Watch for snakes,” when walking outdoors both during the day and at night.

A few years ago we saw a venomous snake on the handrail on the stairs leading to Jabula. As we started up the steps, bystanders hollered to us, “Don’t go up there! There’s a snake!” We were grateful for their intervention. Juan came and removed the snake a short time later.

Our fingers are crossed for our dear friend Leon, who is still in hospital in Nelspruit. It will be weird to go to Jabula tonight and he won’t be there. He and I have chatted back and forth over the past few days and he sounded better than we’d expected. But, in support of Dawn and the restaurant, we’ll still go for dinner tonight and tomorrow night.

Small or baby snakes are not more or less venomous than the larger of the species. The venom is the same and can easily be as deadly as full-grown adults. All snakes must be avoided, respectful of their habitat and avoiding the risk of a life-threatening bite (or spray from a Mozambique Spitting Cobra). It is wise to notify certified snake handlers to remove venomous snakes from human-occupied areas.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, November 4, 2021:

Several female kudus stopped by this morning, including Bad Eye, whose eye is completely healed but looks a bit off-center. For more photos, please click here.

Sad and worrisome news about our friend…

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Three little piglets, nursing from their mom. I couldn’t get closer, or the piglets would have run off. Plus, I didn’t want the one with the bad leg to run needlessly.

It’s been a rough few months. Our friend Jeff passed away in bed in the guest cottage on September 21. A few days later, our friend Bruce died at his home in Marloth Park. And now, our dear friend Leon has been diagnosed with incurable cancer that no treatment can improve.

When Dawn and Leon spent Monday night staying in our lovely guest cottage for a short getaway, we made every effort to make it a peaceful and restful time for both of them with good food, love, support, and friendship. Little did we know that a day later, Leon would be admitted to the hospital in Nelspruit for a blood clot in his leg, a dangerous condition related to his illness. The next few days will determine what happens from here. Our love and prayers are with him and his devoted Dawn.

Of course, we are worried and devastated.  The party they’d planned for all of their friends for this Saturday has been canceled. Jabula remains open with all of their friends that traveled from near and far for the party, some staying at Jabula Lodge with others staying in other nearby holiday rentals. There is nothing we can do at this point.

Giraffes have been stopping by frequently.

Our hearts go out to Dawn when many friends will be flooding Jabula with the best intentions to eat, drink, eat and support the business. But this load falls on Dawn, David, and her staff with the number of people they’ll have to serve over the next several days.  She will spend as much time as she can with Leon at the hospital while managing the busy establishment at the same time.

In the meantime, we also worry about our friend in Hawaii, praying that he recovers from the terrifying diagnosis that prompted him and his dear wife to leave Marloth Park a year ago. We recall the day we drove them to the airport in Nelspruit, saying a sorrowful goodbye, wondering…

Is it our advancing age and the ages of our friends we love, who are leaving this world for the next, often with the dreaded “C” and other terminal respiratory illnesses? We knew these times would come, as they do for all of us who have been gifted with beautiful friendships and face the loss of many of those friends over time. Most recently, it has been too many in one short period.

We love seeing giraffes in the garden.

Our hearts are heavy while we still attempt to maintain a hopeful attitude for the future. Of course, it’s natural for all of us to question the longevity of our own lives and the potential of contracting some awful disease sometime in the future. No, we don’t obsess about this, but it’s hard not to think about it now and then, especially under these current circumstances.

This morning a light rain passed over the bush, brightening the leaves on the trees as the dust was washed away. After several soaking rains, the bush is beginning to sprout new leaves on the bushes and trees, and the animals can finally eat a little more greenery when it was so sparse the past many months.

In about a month, if the rain continues, we’ll be able to stop ordering lucerne and feed pellets as a treat for our visitors. This morning, chopping a bunch of vegetables, I made a big bowl of scraps for what I call “Norman’s Lunch.” He now knows when I ask him if he wants “his lunch,” his ears perk up, and it appears he has a smile on his handsome face. As do many bushbucks who stop by, Nina and Noah also partake in the vegetables.

This one looked at me when I called out.

Bad Leg, a bushbuck with a leg injury, has spent most of his time in our garden recovering. He’s begun to walk better. We brought food to him each time he visited, where he rested by the little wooden fence. We’d give him a mixture of lucerne,  pellets, cabbage, celery tops, apples, and carrots. It’s lovely to see him improving each day.

There’s a mom with three tiny piglets we’ve seen each day since they were born in Louise’s garden last week. One of the piglets has a very bad right front leg on which he hobbles to keep up with his mom and siblings. She tends to lie down when they visit to give herself a rest from the strain of walking and running. It’s so sad to see, and we hope she heals soon.

Norman was fluffed up when he spotted some Big Daddies in the garden.

Based on the number of warthogs in the park, the rangers and vet don’t spend time or money on warthogs and their offspring. It’s heartbreaking to see warthogs suffering from horrific injuries. But, if they lived in Kruger National Park, there would be no help for them. there either. It’s a sorrowful situation for wildlife.

Let’s face it; Life is hard. There’s no easy answer for those suffering, whether human or animal. We can only pray for the comfort and peace of those dealing with Life’s impossible challenges and do whatever we can to ease those we love in the process.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, November 3, 2021:

Often, other animals clear out when a Big Daddy arrives. For more photos, please click here.

Frustrating nights without WiFi…

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Look at the number of kudus visiting us!

Recently, we’ve been having serious WiFi issues. We’ve been able to get through the day with only a few outages. But, after dinner, when the insects are too awful to sit on the veranda, we head to the bedroom to prop ourselves up with pillows on the bed and stream a few hours of various TV series.

We tend to prefer series to movies and are constantly checking for new series that may appeal to us. Tom doesn’t care for science fiction or fantasy-type series, and I don’t care for war documentaries. As a result, we don’t watch either. If something pops up that one of us wants to see in these categories, we can watch it on our own. During the day, Tom often streams parts of recent football games from teams other than the Minnesota Vikings, which he watches entirely, usually in bed on Sunday nights.

Busy lucerne morning.

Over the past ten days or so, we have yet to be able to stream a single show on Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime without the WiFi going out every 30 seconds or so. This has prevented us from watching anything, although we’ve continued to try each night. Louise reported this to Tech Connect, the provider in Komatipoort, which generally has provided good service.

I’ve spent hours texting back and forth with the provider, trying to figure out a solution. From the start, I insisted it was a router problem. Routers go bad, and the same router has been in this house for years. But they insisted it wasn’t the router after trying many other fixes. I persisted, and finally, the company ordered us a high-grade enhanced power router which has yet to arrive, and they’ve reported to us each day. They’ve been very responsive except on this one point.

Another visit by Louise and Danie’s francolin family. Are they scoping a new location for their fast growing chick, maybe here with us? We’d love that!!!

We’re hesitating to go anywhere because we fear the router will come in, and they’ll want to install it immediately. I’m sure they want me to get off their back, although I’ve always been gracious and appreciative of their help, and they, in return, have always been very nice.

Years ago, in our old lives, we had constant problems over a few years with cable TV from Mediacom, the provider in our area at that time. From what I hear, in the US, cable TV isn’t used much anymore with the availability of many streaming services. Upstairs in this house is a flat-screen TV with Netflix, but we prefer not to go upstairs at night since it’s hotter up there, and we’d have to use the aircon. Also, I prefer not to go up and down those steep steps, especially in the dark during load shedding.

Zebras quickly devour the lucerne.

We never watch TV in a holiday home unless we visit the US or if they have Nat Geo, which we may keep on in the background from time to time if there’s a TV in the living room/lounge. But that has not happened since we were in Fiji in 2015, a long time ago. We have never watched TV while in Africa, instead streaming a few favorite shows when we head to bed.

Last night, in desperation, we watched a movie we had on the hard drive Rita and Gerhard gave me for my last birthday, “A Dog’s Purpose.”  I loved the movie, but Tom thought it was “hokey.” I even cried a few times, which I do more in dog movies than others.

A mom and youngster kudu enjoying the lucerne in the garden with Nina and a bushbuck.

We’ve seen most of the movies on the hard drive, or they are science fiction, fantasy types, or action heroes, another theme which Tom doesn’t care to watch. I will watch any movies, but I am not fond of films about the 50s and 60s, the years I was growing up. Go figure.

It’s a miracle that we’ve been able to upload the posts and photos each day, although from time to time, I have been unable to upload photos or save the post as I am working on it.  At that point, I copy and paste everything I’ve typed and move it to a Word document to save on the hard drive for when the WiFi returns, so I don’t have to re-write the entire thing. Nothing is more frustrating than losing everything I’ve done.

That’s it for today, folks. Have a fantastic day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 2, 2021:

Farmers burn sugarcane crops before harvest to remove the leaves and tops of the sugarcane plant leaving only the sugar-bearing stalk to be harvested. For more photos, please click here.

We had a fantastic 10-year anniversary celebration with friends…Spring is in the air!…

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This is starling Vega’s partner. They are building a nest. Female starlings look very different from males, which is not uncommon.

I was so distracted ensuring our friends had a pleasant evening and dinner I failed to take any photos. We apologize for failing to take food and people photos. We have found that some occasions are less about photos and more about living in the moment.  Bear with us during those times.

With a new lucerne bale arriving at noon, the animals came in droves, and Dawn and Leon enjoyed every visitor along with us. Mom and three piglets visited, along with Norman, Noah, Nina, Lollie, Earl, Bad Ear, Bad Leg, and many more. It was a delightful time.

But even more than the joy of the visiting wildlife, the light rain, our bonfire, and our homemade Asian food, the conversation was meaningful and treasured by all four of us. They are such good friends. They are living through such hard times. We are right beside them through the entire process.

This is Vega taking a bath before he meets up with his girlfriend.

The food was, no doubt, a lot of work. Asian food requires a lot of chopping and dicing, organizing spices and sauces, and getting the taste done to perfection. I only  needed to use a recipe for the batter for the fried tenderloin pieces, combining corn starch, flour, eggs, and salt. I wanted to ensure the measurement was accurate for a light, fluffy batter. The rest I knew in my head from past experience.

This had been the first time in years I’d deep-fried anything. But, the meat for the sweet and sour pork must be pre-fried and kept hot while the sauce is stir-fried separately with carrots, green peppers, garlic, and fresh pineapple chunks. The pineapples I purchased here in South Africa look very different from those in the US and other parts of the world.

We love this little bird. I need help finding information on its species.

They are smaller with less “meat” and more skin and dark spots. I was surprised by how little there was after I cleaned the two pineapples. The remainder of the vegetables were fine. The sauce is made using chicken broth, sugar, pineapple juice, soy sauce, red wine vinegar and spices and thickened with cornstarch mixed with cold water for a smooth thickened sauce.

It seemed to take the sauce quite a while to thicken sufficiently. It’s quite a balancing act to deep fry the meat (it took four batches) while preventing the oil from having too many loose bits of the batter and cooking the sauce simultaneously, watching each pot carefully.

Fortunately, I’d already made the fried rice which is a half-day operation, considering I wanted to make a big enough batch to send them home with plenty and to be able to freeze at least a dozen containers for Tom. Each night we can take a batch from the freezer to defrost in the refrigerator overnight for the following evening’s meal.

Another dung beetle and his mate. We now see them every day!

I’d made the spicy prawns and asparagus dish earlier in the day which I easily reheated in the same pot while the sweet and sour dish was cooking. Of course, I made a mess of the stovetop and planned to let Vusi clean it this morning. But, once I looked at it when I got up, I cleaned it myself. We can, but don’t leave dishes and pots and pans for them to clean.

We always do such tasks ourselves, grateful that we have Vusi and Zef to wash floors, make the bed, clean the bathrooms and c the veranda. We try not to make extra work for them.

Hornbill, up in the trolley birdfeeder. He also has a girlfriend with whom he’s building a nest. Spring is in the air! Love is in the air!

Dawn and Leon were comfortable staying overnight in the little cottage on our property. This morning, they came over around 9:00 am for breakfast. I overslept a bit and got up, showered, and dressed at 8:00 am. I rushed to make the egg, mushroom and sausage flan, and banana coconut bread from scratch. By 8:30, I had everything in the oven, but the banana bread takes an hour to bake so we didn’t eat until a little after 9:30. They had an appointment and were able to get out the door by 10:30, after which Tom did the breakfast dishes. Everything from last night’s dinner was washed, dried and put away.

We have fantastic leftovers for tonight’s dinner. Also, I made a keto cheese pie which Tom and Leon didn’t like, but Dawn and I put a good dent in. There was plenty left to send Dawn home with a piece for tonight after their leftovers. Luckily, I made enough of everything so we all could have leftovers tonight. They even took some of the banana bread home for later.

We put an egg out for this monitor lizard, but he never found it. Instead, the mongooses found it the next day and shared it.

Since I don’t eat sweet and sour pork or fried rice, I made a salad to go with my spicy prawn stir fry, and that was all the more prep I had to do today. It is too damp to do laundry since it rained and the clothes never dry on days like this. Tomorrow, will be drier and less humid, so I can tackle that job then.

We had a wonderful 10-year anniversary, doing precisely what we wanted to do…spending it with friends. We have so much to be grateful for and never forget it for a day. And, of course, we have all of you to share our lives and ongoing journey, which picks up once again in three weeks when we take off for Seychelles.  Thanks for all the heartfelt anniversary wishes!

Happy day to all.

Photo from one year ago today, November 1, 2021:

Big Daddy was chewing on the core of a massive head of cabbage. He loved it! For more photos, please click here.

Today is our ten-year travel anniversary…

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It was hard to believe we were there in 2013 at the Great Pyramids. See the post here.

When we received a notice from the provider that WiFi was out in the entirety of Marloth Park as of Sunday, I panicked, knowing I had to upload a short post and write a new post for today’s tenth anniversary.  There was no way I’d have time when our guests are arriving at noon today.

From our first anniversary in Kenya. I suppose I should have zoomed in as he did when taking mine. Look! You can see my shadow as I’m taking the photo. Too busy to edit photos right now! See the post here.

Mentioning my concern to Tom, he expressed the usual, “TIA, “This is Africa” and this is what happens here…no power, no water, no WiFi.”

Our first anniversary walking on the beach in Kenya on the Indian Ocean. Tom shot this appearing footless photo of me. Actually, I was wearing those ugly water shoes, grateful they were hidden in the surf. See the post here.

I nodded my head in acknowledgment. But I must admit I was frustrated thinking I wouldn’t be able to upload the tenth-anniversary post on the day of the anniversary, October 31. Thus, I decided to write the entire text offline on Sunday using Word and hoped that by today, I’d be able to load it into the WordPress editing section of our website.

Plumerias are often used in making leis. We spent our second anniversary in Maui, Hawaii. See the post here.

Initially, we’d planned for the anniversary post to include a new itinerary. But, after considerable research and a degree of uncertainty around what we’d like to do over the next few years, we have to forgo that thought which we’ll return to sometime in the future.

Inside the reception building, we asked a staff member to take our photo at Namale Resort & Spa in Fiji, as we celebrated our three year anniversary of traveling the world with a tour and lunch at the world renowned resort. See the post here. See the post here.

We know this…we’ll be here in Marloth Park, except for our upcoming trip to Seychelles on November 24, followed by the cruise of the islands beginning on November 26 until next June, one way or another. After the cruise, when we attempt to return to South Africa on December 4, we’ll hope to be able to receive a new 90-day visa stamp to  be able to stay.

Our ship is shown behind us off the top of the hotel on our fourth travel anniversary, See the post here.

This time, we are prepared if we aren’t allowed to re-enter the country when we get to Johannesburg. We’ll immediately book a flight back to the US and stay a few weeks visiting family in Minnesota, earlier than we’d intended.

October 31, 2017, our fifth anniversary of traveling the world, taken on the veranda at the villa in Atenas, Costa Rica. See our post here.

If we have to leave right away, even if they give us seven days to depart, we won’t bother to return to Marloth Park and, instead, leave from Joburg, arriving in Minnesota in cold weather with only summer clothes in our duffle bags. We’ll head to a discount store such as TJ Maxx and purchase jackets and a few cold-weather items to get us through the few weeks we’ll spend there.

After a few weeks, we’ll fly back to Marloth Park. By being in the US, our home country, we’ll be able to get another 90-day visa without an issue.

Saying goodbye, our final photo was taken this morning with Tom and Lois! It’s been a fabulous three weeks, we’ll always remember. It was our sixth travel anniversary. See the post here.

In any case, we’ll leave South Africa around June for our upcoming Azamara cruise on August 1, 2023, followed by another cruise a few days later, eventually returning to the US (Boston) on August 30. We have yet to decide where we’ll stay from June to August. We are still conducting research.

The New York skyline on a cloudy day, viewed from the ship on our seventh anniversary. See the post here.

It’s easy to see how so much is up in the air with the number of cruises canceled in the past few years. We hesitate to book too much since we’ve already lost a lot of money from pandemic-related cancellations.

Each morning, I listen to cruise podcasts, only to discover that some cruises require masks to be worn outside the cabin. As much as we’d like to believe the pandemic is over, it is not, based on behaviors on some cruise ships and some travel venues

Camels were walking along the beach along the Indian Ocean. During our eighth anniversary, we were in lockdown in Mumbai, India and had no new photos to share. See the post here.

We are not fearful of travel for that reason but face the pandemic’s impact on availability and pricing for ongoing journeys.

Once we leave here in June 2023, we won’t be keeping this house and will pack up entirely, leaving a few bins of kitchen items here with Louise in storage. Most likely, we won’t be returning to Marloth Park for nine months to a year, perhaps longer. We shall see.

The two of us, posted on our nine-year anniversary at Tom’s retirement party in 2012, about one week before we began our travels. See our post here.

The next country/continent visit will be South America. We still have several places we will visit, including Galapagos Islands, The Pantanal, and the Amazon River, both upper and lower regions. All of this will require cruising to some extent. We’re excited about these options.

Of course, good health is always the determining factor as to how much longer we’ll be able to travel. But for now, we’re feeling well and able to continue.

Photo of us at a cell phone store a few days ago, before our tenth travel anniversary. See the post here.

As for the past ten years, we have no regrets. Yes, we’ve experienced some ups and downs, but we’ve never questioned our decision to carry on. We’ve loved this life, its vast experiences, and the depth of the joy and love we experienced together and with the many people we’ve met along the way, let alone the vast array of wildlife and nature that have been blissfully bestowed upon us throughout the world.

We’ve considered doing a recap of each year, but that would be redundant. On many occasions, we’ve reiterated our travels, year after year, particularly when we were in lockdown in Mumbai, India for ten months in a hotel room. Instead, we’re posting some photos from prior anniversary years  and other dates from various locations including their links, which you may have already seen or not. If you have seen the photos, excuse our redundancy.

Yes, it’s been ten years, and we’ve aged in the process, but we are both grateful to be together and live this extraordinary life. Every day has tremendous meaning to us, and we joyfully continue to share it with our worldwide readers.

Thanks to many of our readers who’ve already extended our warmest wishes to us as this anniversary approached. Your kind words mean the world to us. Your continued readership and comments also mean the world to us. Ten years? Hard for us to believe. For those readers who’ve been with us since the beginning, we imagine its hard for you to believe its been ten years. Please keep reading. We’re not done yet!

Photo from one year ago today, October 31, 2021:

Selfie of us in India in February 2020, before lockdown, excited to be on our way to the palace and Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India. Little did we know what was ahead, at that point. For more, please click here.

Short post today…Busy prepping for our Asian dinner…And, working on our 10-year anniversary post…

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If you know what type of bird this is, please let us know. Our trail cam picked up this photo early this morning.

I’d considered preparing a normal-sized post today. Once I started chopping and dicing for tomorrow’s Asian dinner with Leon and Dawn,  I realized it would take me longer to do the 10th-anniversary post. I needed to do it today, so I am free tomorrow to prepare the two complex dishes and spend time paying total attention to our guests as we always do.

They plan to arrive by noon and are staying in our guest cottage overnight for a much-needed break away from the responsibility of running a very busy restaurant. David and the staff will hold down the fort while they are away and we aren’t going to allow them to lift a finger; not wash a dish, not clean up after dining, and of course, no cooking. We are handling all of that!

I went through every page in our bird book and could not find this species.

We’re preparing the Asian dinner and then breakfast the next morning. Thank goodness, we got the fried rice done yesterday. Otherwise, we’d have been too rushed today and Monday. Asian stir-fry dishes should not be prepared ahead of time in order to taste fresh and not be overcooked from reheating. The only item we’ll reheat is the fried rice which reheats quite well in the microwave.

On November 1st, we’ll post food photos and the menu. So, dear readers, I’m signing off on today’s post to continue to prep for the big meal and to start working on the anniversary post which we’ll upload tomorrow morning.

We’ll be back to you soon!!!

Photo from one year ago today, October 30, 2021:

That morning we had 12 antelopes in the garden, sharing pellets. For more photos, please click here.

Busy chopping and dicing for Monday’s guests…Ethnic foods in South Africa…

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Such an unusual looking animal.

Ethnic food is not particularly popular in this part of the world. Locals like their Pap and Sheba (see a photo here), meat on the braai, and starchy sides. For dessert, they like malva pudding and Melktart (milk tart). For more on South African desserts, please click here. Based on my way of eating, none of these traditional foods fit my way of eating, other than sauce-free meat on the braai.

There are few options for ethnic specialties here in Marloth Park, although Giraffe Restaurant offers sushi, attracting many visitors, including locals and tourists. It’s not that South Africans don’t have a taste for ethnic foods. Mostly, they do, and they seem to love trying new dishes.

A few zebras and a few giraffes came to call.

But, for a restaurant to make a go of it in Marloth Park, local cuisine is the way to go. Otherwise, an ethnic restaurant would have a hard time being successful enough to survive. Thus, when I started shopping for ingredients to make Leon’s favorite Asian dishes, Sweet and Sour Pork and Fried Rice (with Spicy Prawns with Asparagus for Dawn and me). It was tricky finding the ingredients necessary to make these Asian dishes. I ended up placing an order with an online Asian grocer in South Africa.

In my old life, one of my favorite meals to make was what was then referred to as Chinese food. Politically correct or not, it is no longer called Chinese food but Asian food, although I doubt Chinese people have stopped calling it Chinese food, based on the names of restaurants we’ve seen throughout the world in bigger cities.

Zebras were eating the remnants of the last lucerne delivery

Asian food is quite popular in Cape Town.  According to TripAdvisor, there are 74 entries for Chinese restaurants. See here for details. Surely, tourists who visit the beautiful big city seek out all types of ethnics food. But it’s not the case here in sleepy little Marloth Park and nearby Komatipoort.

This morning, I decided to tackle the fried rice, having chosen to make a huge batch. This way, we’ll be able to give Leon and Dawn a good supply “to go” and we’ll freeze single portions for Tom. This way, when we braai, or make other dishes, we can take out one container at a time to accompany his dinner instead of his usual plain buttered white rice.

A baby zebra nibbling on lucerne while resting.

Tomorrow, I’ll start chopping and dicing for the two remaining dishes we’ll cook on Monday. Our guests are planning to arrive around noon so we can enjoy relaxing time on the veranda. With everything cut and ready to stir, preparing the two remaining dishes won’t take long.

Today, we received another bale of lucerne. We scheduled another bale for Monday morning so our friends can enjoy watching the animals with us. We’re hoping all of our favorites will stop by and say “hello.”

We always love it when giraffes stop by.

I am still holding my own with the headache and facial pain. On Thursday, I had the headache return for a few hours but went away on its own. The facial pain is almost completely gone. I am practically holding my breath in hopes the pain won’t return.

Last night, we had an enjoyable evening and dinner at Jabula, as surely we will again tonight, hanging out with Leon and Dawn and other patrons, laughing and telling stories. His attitude is amazing.

On the move…

We just finished making the fried rice and once it cools, we’ll place it in containers to serve and to freeze. After standing in the kitchen for several hours, I am ready to get off of my feet and take a little rest with the fan on. Although the temperature isn’t high today at 81F, and 28C, the humidity is outrageous, and the dew point is tropical once again.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more. Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, October 29, 2021:

We purchased these giant cabbages for the kudus, bushbucks, and duikers, which love cabbage, for about US $0.70, ZAR 10.69 each. We tear off the leaves, break them in half and toss them their way. For more photos, please click here.

Finally, a photo of us!…Getting ready for special guests on Monday on our 10-year travel anniversary…

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Yes, we know Tom needs a haircut. He’ll get one next week. This photo was taken yesterday at the phone store using Tom’s new phone.

We only post a few photos of us. If it weren’t for our readers, who often ask us to post photos of us, we’d post them even less. But, when we look back years later, we’re glad we posted a few here and there.

The only tricky part is looking back and seeing how we’ve aged in the past ten years since we began traveling the world. In our upcoming 10th anniversary post, we’ll include some of those photos from the past ten years. But, a month ago, we’d mentioned posting a new itinerary.

Norman took a rest in the garden, very unusual for him.

But, as it turned out, as much as we tried, we hadn’t booked anything yet beyond the two upcoming cruises next August 2023, less than a year out, after which we’ll spend about a month in the US visiting family, which we missed doing this past May when we both ended up with Omicron and were too sick to see our family while we were in Minnesota and Nevada.

Hopefully, in September 2023, we won’t have Covid-19 again, and we can spend the month enjoying our loved ones in the two states. We have a tentative plan of where we’ll go from there, which we’ll share in the upcoming anniversary post.

Yesterday, I managed to get Tom’s new phone set up. Since the new phone wasn’t another Google Pixel we both prefer, he was okay with purchasing the new phone for US $307, ZAR 5575. As mentioned in a prior post, he’ll use this phone until we return to the US in September and can each purchase two new Google Pixel phones, which don’t come out until October 13, 2023.  We’ll have to play it by ear to see how long we are in the USA.

Norman’s son Noah, also took a rest, along with his dad.

As for our upcoming special guests coming to stay at one of the two little cottages on our property, our dear friends, owners of Jabula, Dawn, and Leon, are coming for a special Asian dinner we’re making with some of Leon’s favorite dishes. Since they are always waiting on us, Monday and Tuesday will be days we’ll be fussing over them.

Leon has been stricken with a horrific terminal illness, details we’ll share later with their permission. We are heartbroken and will do everything we can to be there for them during this sorrowful time. Life is hard. There’s no easy answer as to why these things happen. Lately, our lives have been surrounded by the illnesses and loss of friends we’ve cherished over the years.

Each day, Noah is looking more and more like his dad. Soon he will have the dark brown coat and mane which makes Norman so handsome.

All we can do as friends is provide love and support in any way that works for them. This isn’t about us. This is about the loved ones and dear friends who have been at our sides over the years and how we can support them during sorrowful times. We will share the special menu for Leon and Dawn with food photos.

Load shedding just ended and the washer restarted where it left off. Soon, I will be able to hang the second load that stopped over two hours ago when load shedding started. It appears there won’t be any more outages today but that can change in a minute. Tonight, we’re off to Jabula to be with our friends, at the friendliest and most fun bar on the planet with over-the-top fantastic food.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, October 28, 2021:

One Tusk is becoming quite popular around here. Perhaps, a replacement for Tiny, who never returned after we visited the US in July 2021. For more photos, please click here.

Finally, off to Komatipoort after two weeks…Out to dinner last night…We are lucky to know so many locals…

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We were thrilled to see a dung beetle with its mate a few minutes after we spotted one without a mate!

When we realize we’ve spent 3½ of the past ten years of world travel staying in Marloth Park, it’s not surprising we’ve met so many people. We’ve met single-visit tourists, frequent tourists, and countless locals who live here part-time or full-time. Since we meet many people when we go to Jabula each week, it has been a fantastic means of meeting new people.

Never in our old lives did we make new friends when out to dinner. Unless we were part of a group and were introduced, occasionally, we may have exchanged a few words with other diners who were seated near us, never to see them again. But, here in Marloth Park, we’ve become friends with many people we’ve met.

First, we saw a dung beetle rolling his ball without a mate.

Last night when we went out to Giraffe, a local restaurant a short distance from here, we ran into several people we know, mostly locals. South Africans are very affectionate when greeting people they know and, sometimes, people they’ve just met. Absent during the pandemic, warm hugs and kisses are now tendered with warmth and enthusiasm.

We’ve invited Gerhard to join us at Giraffe if he can after he is done with his vehicle sale details. After we were seated in  the outdoor dining area, Gerhard joined us, sharing the details of his exciting day working with the dealership and how they would send him the funds from the sale of his “bakkie.” Getting money in and out of South Africa is not an easy task requiring many documents.

Baby zebra suckling.

Money laundering is a severe problem in this country, and the government has made it difficult to move money in and out. That’s why we never opened a bank account here and only use an ATM card to get cash and use credit cards to pay for products and services. We don’t want to deal with the red tape.

It was fun to have dinner with Gerhard one more time. Most likely, he’ll begin the long return flight to Bali to be with Rita at the beautiful holiday home where we stayed for four months in 2016. We missed seeing Rita too but knew it made no sense for both of them to come for the vehicle sale.

It’s sweet to watch the connection between the mom and her baby.

We’re taking off for Komati right now and will complete this post when we return in a few hours. Tom’s cell phone died, and he’ll buy a basic smartphone at the Vodacom store a few doors from the Spar Market. Once we return to the US next fall for a visit, we’ll both buy new smartphones. Since he barely uses his phone, whatever he buys will suffice for the next several months.

We just returned from Komati. We bought Tom a new Samsung A31 smartphone, the newest phone they had in the store which came out in the US in 2020. But, TIA, “This is Africa” and what is new to them may not be new to us in the US and other countries. Nonetheless, this phone will suffice for Tom’s needs when all he’ll use it for is a few online games he plays.

This mom and baby stood in that one spot for an hour, resting and perhaps sleeping standing up.

He doesn’t make calls or text on his phone and often uses it for internet searches. As Tom always says, if it weren’t for me, he’d “still have a rotary phone on the wall with a party line!” As a result, I handle all his phone needs, including setting up this new phone today as soon as I upload today’s post and helping him with any texts or phone calls.

This mom and baby also stood still for an hour, never moving.

We did all the grocery shopping after, refilling some prescriptions at the pharmacy. As I sit here now at 12:45 pm, with load shedding starting again soon, all the food is put away and I’m ready to get back to my walking and his phone setup.

Have a great day!

Photo from one year ago today, October 27, 2021:

There’s our boy, Broken Horn. He was so happy to see us. He was shaking his head and moving his feet up and down. Funny, boy! For more photos, please click here.