Video…Visitors…Viewing the Crocodile River, impossible with many tourists…

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The white below his nose is his mustache, not his teeth. I’d have preferred to get out of the car to get closer to them, but their shyness would have caused them to run off.
Having the freedom to come and go as we please has enhanced the quality of the experience in Marloth Park. If, that seems possible when we’re already having the time of our lives. 
The kudus were so busy chomping away, it was hard to encourage them to look our way.
With the little pink India-made vehicle in our possession for less than two days, we’ve certainly been out and about, spending only a few daylight hours at home, long enough to post yesterday and sleep at night.
The kudus were in dense bush in our yard having their hearty breakfast. We wondered if they would have come closer to us had we been on the veranda. Now, every time we leave we’ll wonder if visitors come that we’ll have missed.
To tell the truth, I’ve already begun to miss our time outside on the veranda, from early morning until dusk, anxiously awaiting the arrival of yet another visitor. From the short periods we’ve been home over the past 2 days, it appears the pace may once again be picking up and they’re returning to visit.

Saturday, while halfway down our long driveway, we were thrilled to see three male kudus happily chomping at the treetops. Although kudus are not as tall as the giraffes, their enormous height makes it possible for them to munch on the tops of many trees. 

While driving in Marloth Park yesterday morning, Tom yelled to me, “Hurry, get the camera.  This dung beetle and his wife were crossing the road with this huge piece of dung. I was able to take this very short video when cars behind us required us to move along. We would love to have seen how they maneuvered the rocks that were in their way.
Yesterday, while we were gone, Louise stopped by to pick up the cooler we’d borrowed, to find our veranda a horrible mess with baboons having taken over. Again, they’d moved the furniture, taking more of the seat cushions pooping everywhere.  
The beautiful Crocodile River.
She cleaned it all taking the dirty cushions with her to be washed. Thanks, Louise! When we returned hours later, apparently the Baboons had returned since she’d cleaned, and left another mess.
Once we put away the groceries, we cleaned the veranda, wrote, and posted it indoors. With many tourists in the area for the holidays, our connection was slow, making it difficult to post our photos, taking twice as long as usual. 
The vegetation around the Crocodile River is lush and green now that it’s summer.
Suddenly, it was time to leave in order to get to the Crocodile Overlook before sunset and later to Jabula Lodge for dinner. To our disappointment, the overlook was jammed with tourists making it difficult to get a good spot along the railing for photo taking. I must admit, the crowd spoiled the experience and we took very few photos.

After New year, the crowds will disperse, and once again, it will be peaceful and quiet in Marloth Park. We’re looking forward to this time, but will make the most of these crowded the next 10 days.
On our way to dinner, we spotted giraffes lumbering into a yard.
Last night, returning after another great dinner at Jabula Lodge, we checked out the pool for the status of the tadpoles. Nothing yet, but we continue to see the little swirls of water where they’re swimming. As we stepped to the side of the pool both using our mini flashlights, we saw a scorpion jump into the pool, a definite suicide mission. Today, he lies dead at the bottom of the pool.
Later today, we’re going on another game drive in Kruger Park with 18 tourists in the huge open-sided vehicle, followed up by another bush dinner. We’ll do our best, taking photos, and sharing our experiences tomorrow.

Guess I’ll be wearing my boots again tonight with my Bugsaway pants tucked tightly into the pants!

We have wheels…Lots of “extra” charges and fees…Local markets.. Losing a dear family member…

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Early this morning, our dear our sister-in-law Lee Lyman, wife of Tom’s brother Jerome, passed away in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Although a vibrant 85 years old and a great-great-grandmother, Lee gave so much of herself to her beloved husband, children, grandchildren, and family. We offer our heartfelt love, prayers, and sympathy to Jerome and all who were blessed to love and know this fine woman. She will be dearly missed.

On the way to Nelspruit with our driver Okee Dokee, she stopped to buy lychee nuts from this adorable girl, who was selling them on the side of the road with her mom.
Having just returned from shopping, we’re late writing today’s post, but as promised, we planned to post after we returned with the rental car.

 

Yesterday, our plan was to pick up the car, check out the town of Nelspruit, grocery shop, buy more data at the Vodacom store, and find a store in order to purchase white socks. All we accomplished was sock purchase at a sporting goods store and a portion of the groceries.

By the time we drove away from the Mpumalanga/Nelspruit airport with the car in our possession, it was already 2:30 pm. We’d hope to get our errands done, have dinner at the popular Hamilton’s Restaurant in Malelane and be back on the road before dark.  

There was captivating scenery along the way to Nelspruit but the heavy flow of traffic during the start of the weekend before Christmas prevented us from stopping.

Although there was no line (referred to as a queue outside the US) at the Budget location, considerable time was spent as the rep explained all of the “extra’ charges over and above the basic car rental fee we’d prepaid online of ZAR $5300, US $519.47.

Notice the scowl on Tom’s face as he’s opening the door to the driver’s side on the pink rental car.

Renting a vehicle for a week or two is no big deal. Renting a vehicle for over two months is tricky since the rental car companies don’t want to honor the great online rates from outside travel sites beyond a 28-day period.  

If yesterday, when picking up the car, we’d chosen to extend the rental beyond the 28-day period, the cost per day would have jumped from ZAR $189.26 US $18.55 to ZAR $310, US $30.38! With a total of 41 days remaining until we go back to the airport to fly to Morocco on February 28, 2014, the additional cost would be ZAR $12,710, US $1,245.70. 

Getting another rental car at another great online rate is an option but the taxi fare with tip is ZAR $950, US $93.12 plus it takes a half-day of time with the long drive each way.

On the return drive from Nelspruit this sky caught our eye.

On top of all of that, Budget withheld an additional ZAR $11,733, US $1150 for damage, and other miscellaneous against the credit card we used which annoys us. On top of all of that, much to Tom’s dismay, the car turned over to us, the only car available, was PINK! Yep. Pink.

After using it today to finish our uncompleted errands from yesterday, we both decided the pink wasn’t so bad after all. We quickly moved through the Marloth Park security gate with a breeze the second time and, it was easy to spot it in the busy parking lot when we did the errands today in Komatipoort.

On Friday afternoon, we decided to only partially grocery shop, finishing today to allow us time to get to the restaurant, have dinner and get back on the road. After one of the best dinners we’ve had in a restaurant, it was worth the monkeying around.  

Must be a free-range chicken walking around the restaurant.

Although a 40 minute drive to Hamilton’s in Malelane from our home in Marloth Park, we’ll definitely return to Hamilton’s again.  Check out the photos of our fabulous dinner. With one beer for Tom and bottle water for me, plus tax, plus tip, our entire dinner was a paltry ZAR $274, US $26.86!

My dinner was a moist and tender filet with a side of seasoned butter, a small salad, and stir fried veggies. We look forward to returning to Hamilton’s soon.

This morning, we decided to finish our errands, taking off in the pink car down our long driveway to be delighted to find three male kudus munching treetops in our yard. Wow! What a way to start the day!

Marloth Park has a few small strip mall-type shopping areas. Before heading to Komatipoort, a 25-minute drive to the closest large grocery store in the area, we thought it a good idea to check out the Marloth Park shops, as we’re always interested in supporting local businesses.  

Tom enjoyed his tender sirloin steak with mushroom sauce, stir-fried veggies and fries.

Although the tiny local grocery store didn’t carry many items we normally purchase, we knew we’d use it on occasion for staples. But, the separate little meat market was perfect for us, with grass fed meat at unbelievable prices, for example, a 680 gram, 1.5 pounds, Filet Mignon for Christmas Eve was a mere ZAR $110, US $10.71! We purchased enough meat to get us through another week.

The butcher store where we purchased all of next weeks meats.

The Farmer’s Market with fresh-picked, organic produce is a dream come true.This will serve all of our vegetable needs going forward. With both a meat store and produce store next door to one another, we can avoid going to the larger Komatipoort grocery store more than once every few weeks.  

We’d rather spend our time exploring than shopping.  We returned home to put the meat and produce away and took off to Komatipoort to finish. We purchased more data, finished the grocery shopping, found the local “chemist” to purchase, contact lens solution, got Tom a few more bottles of brandy, and returned home to find our veranda a mess.

The baboons had visited while we were gone, taking three cushions off of the outdoor furniture with them. When it cools down, we’ll wander around the yard to see if we can find them.  lus, they pooped on the veranda after literally moving around the heavy Adirondack chairs. 

The cozy storefront Farmer’s Market.
The interior of the local Farmer’s Market with organic produce arriving from the farm regularly.

None of the other animals have bothered or damaged anything thus far. But Louise and Dani warned us to expect this. We’re surprised it took this long before they wreaked havoc.

The small grocery store in Marloth Park has basic food supplies.

The tadpoles are still swimming around in the pool, although still not visible to the naked eye. After reading at length about tadpoles, I am concerned they may not survive due to the chlorine that was already in the pool when the eggs dropped. Apparently, any type of chemical will prevent the life cycle. We’ll keep you updated.

Soon, we’ll dress for dining at Jabula tonight, another of our favorite dining establishments. On our way, we plan to stop at the Crocodile River overlook for happy hour. Tomorrow afternoon, we’re going on yet another Kruger Park game drive and bush dinner with a group of nine.  

The chair cushion we found in the driveway, apparently taken by the baboons while we were out shopping.


Gee, we’re so busy in Marloth Park! Living in the bush warrants “never missing a thing!”

Have a festive pre-Christmas weekend. We plan to do the same and we’ll be back tomorrow with more photos from our visit to the Crocodile River!

An exciting discovery in our yard…Foam attached to a tree appeared overnight…What is it? Please see NOTE at end of post!

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Yesterday morning, we spotted this white mass in a tree hanging over the pool, only 15 feet, 4.5 meters from where we sit each day, waiting for visitors. 

While busy preparing yesterday’s post, we both continued to look around the yard every few minutes, which has become our usual practice, scanning our surroundings with the hope and expectation of sighting visitors. As mentioned in the post, we’ve had less visitors this week than the prior two weeks since arriving in Marloth Park on December 1st.

Although each day we do have some visitors including warthogs, Helmeted Guinea-fowls, duikers and an endless array of birds and insects. This past week, we’ve seen dozens of baboons, as described in an earlier post, who continue to watch our activities hoping that we’ll eventually bring food outdoors.

I took this photo while sitting at the outdoor table.  The white foamy ball can be seen on the left of this tree, opposite the bush baby house on the right. It is from this vantage point that we’ll keep a watchful as the life cycle of the tree frog unrolls before our eyes.

As yet, we haven’t dined outdoors for a few reasons; one the insects are fierce at night and two, by not bringing food outdoors during our extended stay, we can keep the monkey population under control in our yard. Monkeys of varying species can be annoying, dangerous and destructive, although we continue to revel in their entertaining behavior that easily occupies us for hours.

As I was working my way through finishing the post by adding the photos, a time consuming process with the somewhat slow Internet connection, I happened to look at the tree above the pool and noticed something “white” situated on a branch, spilling over onto smaller branches.  

This tree frog was waiting on the outside ledge of a window in a sunroom in a house Danie built-in Marloth Park. The house was gorgeous. The tree frog was interesting to us at the time.

I pointed out the white glob to Tom. Moving closer to the tree we were trying to determine what it possibly could be.  Suggesting it was a white plastic bag that blew into the tree, Tom immediately dismissed my thought with a round of laughter, “That’s no plastic bag!  Look closer!”

Inching closer to the tree while standing on the narrow ledge of the pool, preferring not to fall in, I too, began to realize this was no white plastic bag. I couldn’t grab the camera quickly enough.

Downloading the photo to my laptop, I immediately sent the photo attached in an email to Louise anticipating she’d undoubtedly know what it was. In her usual one minute or less response time, she wrote, “It’s a foam tree frog nest!”

Fascinated by this anomaly, (to us anyway), we both immediately began searching online for more information such as:
1.  How many eggs are in that white foamy ball? 500-1200
2.  How will they hatch? They’ll drop from the foam ball within a week falling into the pool as Tadpoles.
3.  Did the female make this foamy nest overnight since we hadn’t seen this on Wednesday? Yes, it takes seven hours to make the foamy nest at night.
4.  Will the Tadpoles swim in the pool before the metamorphosis begins and they become Tree Frogs? Yes! 
5.  How long does this process take? It could be as quickly as 24 hours. 
6.  Will we have the opportunity to watch and photograph this process? Hopefully! We’ll certainly try.

Here’s an interesting site with photos and more information.

The opportunity to witness this fascinating life cycle, one we all learned in biology, is such a coincidence.  Tom says it’s more of our “safari luck,” which for us is construed as, “Interesting wildlife observations serendipitously becoming available during the most opportune period, as we travel the world.”  

We’ll make every effort to take photos and videos as this life cycle transpires. How convenient that the foam ball is within 15 feet, 4.5 meters of our line of sight! At this point, we are unsure as to what the frogs will look like but it may be similar to the photo of this one (see above photo) that I took last week. Stay tuned for the details as they occur.

In a few hours, we’ll head to Nelspruit (a 75 minute drive each way) to pick up the rental car, do a few errands ending with grocery shopping. Louise and Danie loaned us a giant cooler to take with us today enabling us to shop first and then head to dinner in Malelane. 

We’ll be back tomorrow with details and photos of our “road trip” which most likely will include photos of beautiful scenery and wildlife along the way.

NOTE:  As I’m finishing today’s post, getting ready to upload it, I heard a “plop” into the pool! Some of the eggs have dropped into the pool! At the moment, we can see 100’s of little swirls of water as the minuscule (yet too small for the naked eye to see) tadpoles begin their life cycle. We’ve turned off the pool filter to avoid them getting sucked into the filter and asked Zef, our houseman, not to clean the pool for a few days so we can take videos as they grow, if possible. Amazing!

Holiday postings update…Please stop back by tomorrow…Something very strange occurred while writing today…

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Of nine members of this warthog family, there are two moms; one with four babies and the other with three babies. From watching this family almost daily over a period of 18 days, we believe the mom shown above is the mom of the three babies, which if you look closely are all nursing. (It’s hard to see the third). Thus, the baby on which she is resting her chin belongs to the other mom who is nearby and seems comfortable with this situation. We couldn’t have laughed more when the fourth baby, whether hers or not provided this neck resting spot.

With the holidays imminent, we imagine that most of our readers are busy with preparations and events, leaving little time for our daily musings and photos. We will continue to post each day presenting an abbreviated version that can easily be perused and caught up after the holidays if you so choose. 

The “three little pigs” quit nursing and took off following the other mom as she’d had enough of us for one day.

However, tomorrow we’ll pick up our rental car, and with that, begin exploring, offering what hopefully will be exciting new content as we venture out beyond Marloth Park. Also, we’ll commence on our own game drives in the area, including Kruger Park (which we’ll visit after the holidays).

Notice the size of the anthill behind Tom, located in our yard where there are several.

The thought of entering Kruger Park in a tiny, economical vehicle is a little intimidating when we’ve seen photos of elephants knocking cars on their sides. But, we certainly won’t antagonize any of the wildlife which is often a precipitating factor in any angry animal behavior.

On our way out to dinner on Tuesday night, these wildebeest were hanging out in the front yard of a house.

We’ve heard that Kruger has increased the vehicle limits over the holidays due to the increased number of tourists in the area from 500 per each of the 11 entrance gates to 700 per gate. Over the holidays, vehicles will be backed up on the narrow roads inside the park. We prefer to wait to visit Kruger until after the first of the New Year.

The fees for “internationals” to enter Kruger Park are ZAR $248, US $24.31 per person, per day.

One of the first things we’d like to do shortly is to return to the Crocodile River overlook. Alcoholic beverages are allowed and Tom can enjoy a cocktail while I sip on my ice tea for a delightful “happy hour,” as often as we’d like. There is no fee to enter the overlook area.

Why all these zebra butts were facing the wildebeests escaped us.

The prospect of freedom of driving ourselves is refreshing. After we pick up the rental car, run a few necessary errands in the larger city of Nelspruit, we’ll dine at the popular Hamilton’s located in the cozy town of Malelane (pronounced mal-e-lawn). The distance from Hamilton’s back to Marloth Park is 42 km, 26 miles.

Nothing is close to Marloth Park. Okee Dokee is driving us to Nelspruit from Marloth Park tomorrow at 12:30 pm at a distance of 95 km, 59 miles. Stopping for wildlife sightings certainly lengthens the normal 75 minute driving time.

Tomorrow will be a busy day of driving, which we don’t mind at all. With our newfound ability to stop and take photos along the way at our leisure, we’re both looking forward to being out.

More wildebeests gathered around the clump on the ground.  There was harmony with the zebras.

This past almost three weeks of waiting and watching for visitors has been glorious. Now, with Marloth Park jammed with holiday tourists, we’ve noticed a decline in the visitors over the past four days.

Danie explained that the animals roam from spot to spot foraging along the way. As the rains come (it’s rainy season now as summer begins on December 21st) and more vegetation grows, they move on to the next prolific location, returning to past locations in a period of time.  

This makes sense to us, but I wouldn’t be surprised if all the extra cars driving on the roads and people at the resorts and vacation homes could certainly have a bearing on the wildlife moving about as freely, considering how cautious they are around us, humans.

It appeared that the zebras and wildebeests were sharing some tasty morsel on the ground.
Over these past few days, the warthog family of nine continues to visit, playful, and funny as ever, while an occasional duiker stands ground, staring at us or a baboon skitters by checking out the status of food on the veranda. The birds, including the three Helmeted Guinea-fowls, make a daily appearance. 


Again this week, we got a glimpse of the elusive monitor lizards whose home is near the pool, as they slither in and out of their holes, much too quickly for another photo. 

Tomorrow morning, before taking off for Nelspruit, we have an exciting story to share of an anomaly we found in our yard this morning after writing today’s post, with photos, of course. Please stop back later!

On Saturday, we’ll be sharing photos of our travels outside of Marloth Park, our first big trip to a grocery store, the much-anticipated purchase of socks and the dinner at the popular Hamilton’s. Our course, we’ll include all of the costs, including the car rental.

Enjoy the holiday festivities!

Come see the gifts we’ve received for Christmas…Tom’s Irish Cream Recipe…Christmas in the bush…

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With no Poinsettias for us this year, we revel in the beauty of this flower that we encountered on a walk in the area.

In our old lives, Christmas was a time to celebrate life, family, friends, and the powerful message the holiday season represents for many. There was nothing spared in the preparation of this special time of the year. 

A flaming sky at sunset is a gift.

For almost 20 years Tom made his well-received over 100 bottles of Lyman’s Irish Cream (see recipe below) to give to friends and family while I spent endless hours decorating, sending cards, wrapping gifts (mostly purchased online), baking, cooking, and entertaining.

A baby duiker on wobbly legs warms our hearts.

Each year we’d receive tons of cards, which we displayed during the Christmas season, saving them until the following year. The next year, I’d cut them into shapes befitting the card’s design punching a small hole in a corner, inserting a satin ribbon for them to be used as gift tags. 

A curious baby zebra at our door.
We all have traditions that bring us comfort in their familiarity. As a family, the participants in the traditions, look forward to their implementation with little concern for their redundancy or silliness.
A mama duiker, standing watch.

Last year, we spent Christmas in Henderson, Nevada, renting a spacious vacation home, with 19 in attendance on Christmas Day. It was a memorable time, as we were only days away from leaving the US to begin our worldwide journey on January 3, 2013. 

A Giraffe we encountered on the road on a cloudy day.  Notice the three Oxpeckers (birds) on its neck eating off the insects and one flying off its head.  Seeing this was a gift.

Tom’s birthday is on December 23rd, an unconscionable time of the year for a birthday. Over the years, I made every effort to make it a special time for him as well, wrapping his gifts in birthday, not Christmas paper, planning festivities unrelated to the holidays, often not easy to do. 

A rank of impalas, very sensitive to sound and movement, kept us practically holding our breath when they appeared in our yard.

He shared the same birthday with our dearest friend and neighbor Chip whom we lost a year and a half ago.  Over the years, together with his wife Sue, the four of us celebrated birthdays, times we’ll never forget.

This is the cactus plant from which we took the above flower photo.  In our old lives, our Christmas cactus would often bloom.  This will do as an alternative.

By this time each year, all the festivities were planned, the gifts were wrapped and under the tree, the cookies were baked and placed in colorful tins and Tom had attended or was about to attend his railroad union Christmas party. My various annual “girlfriends only” Christmas luncheons had occurred and all that remained was the sharing of the meals with family and friends as Christmas edged its way in and of course, the always fun-filled gift opening.

A glimpse of the sunset from our veranda.

So, here we are, Christmas in the African bush, the South African bush to be precise, surrounded by nature, a Skype call away from contact with family and friends without a single card or gift, decorated tree, or homemade cookies. 

A joy to behold such beauty.

This is our first Christmas outside the US. How do we feel about that? We don’t feel alone. We’re surrounded by nature. If someone had told me years ago, that I had to forgo all of my usual holiday activities to sit at home without family around us, a tree, gifts, or homemade treats, I’d have gone kicking and screaming.

Certainly no “partridge in a pear tree” we delight in the simple beauty of this bird visitor.

Now, here in Marloth Park at Christmas time and for Tom’s birthday, we are at peace. The thought of all the work we used to do makes us cringe. The thought of being with our adult children and their families next year in Hawaii makes us smile. Yes, we are at peace.

Not quite, “Three French hens,” instead we have three Helmeted Guinea-fowl that visits us daily.

Living in Marloth Park is a gift, God’s creatures all around us, nature at it’s finest. We are thankful that in our senior years we are given an opportunity to engage in an entirely different Christmas season, one that isn’t about our somewhat selfish objectives to “get everything done” based on our own outrageous expectations.

The sun finally came out to reveal the moon and blue sky.  Heavenly.

Instead, we simply watch, wait and marvel as the visitors and lush vegetation surrounds us whether we’re lounging on the veranda as we’re doing at the moment, on a short drive to dinner, on a game drive, a bush dinner, or a walk in the area. For us, this is the gift that keeps giving… and giving… and giving.

Merry Christmas to all.

Tom Lyman’s Irish Cream (Bailey’s)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 pint half and half cream
3 pasteurized eggs (important for safety)
1/8 teaspoon coconut extract
1 T. chocolate syrup
1 cup whiskey
Blend in a blender for 2 minutes, then add the 1 cup whiskey. Blend for another 30 seconds. 
Pour into a clean glass bottle with tight-fitting cork. (Use your empty wine bottles after they’ve been washed in the dishwasher).
Make 1 1/2 wine bottles, enough for sipping while making. Recipe doubles for more easily.

Keeps fresh for 30 days in the refrigerator.

Photos of our house in Marloth Park… The nuances…How much is our rent?

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These photos were taken a few years ago by Louise and Danie. But the condition of the house has remained constant and these photos are exactly as we are experiencing this house. As a newer house, there is more vegetation close to the house at this time. The veranda to the right in this photo is where we spend most of our daylight hours.
There’s a veranda off of the living rooms on each level with another outside the kitchen door.

The only reason we’ve hesitated to post photos of our house in Marloth Park, South Africa is the same reason that most women will understand: Who wants to take photos of the interior of your house, room by room, without tidying every inch of space?

Dani takes care of finishing touches as they photographed the house, now all cluttered with our foodstuffs and miscellaneous supplies.

No, we’re not that messy. But, everything we own is strewn about the house in a reasonable state of tidiness, but by no means, to the degree that I’d love to have photos taken. 

It’s a pleasure to have use of all of the kitchen amenities, making cooking a breeze. 

We could take the time to go from room to room, of which there are seven, and organize it all, making it photo-worthy. Or, we could let the chips fall where they may and take “as is” photos. Not gonna’ happen! 

Currently, this bread keeper contains matches for starting the stove (required everywhere we’ve lived outside the US so far) and a few of our own kitchen gadgets.

Posting “as is” photos here isn’t as if only a few people will see them. With our rapidly growing worldwide readership, I cringe to think of how many readers would actually see our mess. No, thank you. I may be wearing socks with holes and only own a few items of clothing but my dignity is still intact. 

The stainless steel double sink has been a real boon for my favorite dishwasher, Tom. Having lived without a microwave for a year has made it of less interest to us now.

The first thing we’ll do when we get the rental car this Friday is to find a store to purchase socks. We’ve been told that they sell them in Nelspruit although selections are limited. Tom also needs socks. Who goes 14 months without buying a pair of single pair of socks or underwear? How weird is that?

We’ve moved some of the furniture to accommodate our needs, including the bar stools on which to set my laptop for movie viewing and some side tables to act as TV trays.  Thus, we can dine while sitting on the sofa, rather than on the backless bar stools.

Anyway, back to the house. We either had the choice to clear everything off of the shelves or, to use the photos Louise and Danie had used online that attracted us to this house and this location in the first place. We chose the latter.

Ah, a comfy sofa with ottomans. Indoors, none the less!

Thus, only a few of these house photos shown today were taken by us. As we’ve mentioned in the past, anytime we use a photo taken by others, we will disclose it. 

To the right in this photo are the sliding doors to one of the three verandas, two of which have the iron gates, as do all of the accessible windows, to protect us from animals entering the house or in the event of theft which is a rare occurrence in Marloth Park.
Here is the door from the living room to the master bedroom which we keep closed at all times to keep the insects out. Keeping the outside doors shut at all times is vital to keeping the interior insect population under control. There are no screens, but the three AC units make this less of an issue when inside.  Plus, we spend most of our day outside on the main floor veranda, fearful of missing any of the action.
The second-floor loft/living room.

This isn’t to say we won’t post photos that we’ve taken of the house of insects, creatures, and unusual situations we encounter indoors, for instance, the photo of the live bat, I found in the kitchen sink yesterday morning which has been saved for the next “Small Things” post for next month.

Our photo of the second floor bedroom which I use as a dressing room.  What a luxury!

 

The master bedroom on the main floor where we sleep is almost identical to the upstairs bedroom which I use for storing my clothes and as a dressing room. With two en suite bathrooms, we avoid bumping into each other. There are two beds in the master, full size and a twin size. We sleep in the full size which is the smallest bed we’ve slept in thus far.
Main floor en suite master bath.

We like this house. It’s small but has everything we need; two stories, two bedrooms, two en suite bathrooms, two living rooms, a well equipped modern kitchen, three verandas, a plunge pool, and fabulous bedding and towels. 

The second-floor soaking tub which I’ve only used once. Soaking in a bath has always appealed to me.  However, the brownish colored water, although safe for bathing, makes doing so unappealing. 

It’s clean and well maintained. A few odd items require a “workaround” such as;  the main split Dutch door from the kitchen to the veranda sticks, making opening and closing tricky; the pool has a slow leak which requires refilling each day; the location of the light switches and lack of easy access outlets is tricky; the kitchen windows are too high to see outside (to prevent monkeys from trying to get in) making it impossible to see the driveway from the kitchen. 

The veranda off of the second-floor living room.

Most homeowners often have a number of annoying items in their homes, many of which after a period of time are simply ignored.

Excellent views from this second story veranda.

Twice weekly, Zef arrives to clean the house, change the linen and towels, clean the verandas, the pool and take our latest batch of dirty laundry to be returned the following time. There’s always lots of gecko poop everywhere. Zef gets it all.

To the left are the steps from the kitchen to the main floor veranda we use most often.  We’ve yet to use the outdoor grill since most of the food we’ve made has required stovetop cooking.

The house aside, Louise and Danie are the most attentive, helpful, kind, and responsive hosts one could imagine. On a dime, they’ll rush over if we need assistance, as in the time we locked ourselves inside or, on the hottest day thus far when one of the three AC units quit. They were here in minutes from our reporting it. 

The small pool, although lovely, has more appeal to the wildlife than for us. 

Where does one get this type of service? Their dedication to all of their guests in the many properties they own and manage in Marloth Park is astounding. When they made the food for the Bush Braai after the game drive in Kruger Park, they cooked everything suitable for me. I won’t let this happen again!!!

As has been the case with most of our vacation rentals, we’ve been able to negotiate excellent rates for a couple of reasons; first, we usually stay for extended periods, and secondly, during the extended stay, we’ll continue to promote the property. 

This is a sizeable boon for a property owner with our extensive (and growing) worldwide readership, often motivating them to offer us a more reasonable price than the “going rate” which ultimately proves to be more befitting to our budget.

Here is our previous photo of the outdoor Braai area. With so much rain lately, we’ve yet to use it. It fills with rainwater from which the visitors drink. The hose is held in place by the rock on the ledge of the pool keeping it easily accessible for adding more water each day. I couldn’t resist including this photo without a photogenic visitor! 

The usual nightly rental rates for this house in Marloth Park ranges from ZAR $1500, US $147 to ZAR $2000, US $196, (during high season which is now). Most vacation homes are rented for shorter periods resulting in nightly “hotel’ rates.  

Almost two years ago, when working with Louise to determine this special “long term” pricing, we settled on a nightly rate of ZAR $350, US $34.30. This appreciated and affordable rate has resulted in a budget allowance sufficient for a rental car and the expenses for game drives, bush braais, and visits to other areas.

Included in the rent are the twice-weekly cleanings, paper products, cleaning supplies, laundry service, all utilities, cable TV, and the most attentive host and hostess in the land. And of course, included is the endless stream of visitors stopping by on a regular basis.  How can we ever put a price on that?

There’s nothing like a good laugh, a good meal and another night in the bush…Photos and a video today…

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A first glance, these could be a fashion-forward pair of women’s black boots. Nope. They’re the hind legs of a Warthog. Actually, all four legs have these spiky heels. This made us laugh.
 We took this video a few minutes ago. Every time that we run water into the pool, due to a slow leak, the nocturnal bushbabies make lots of noise, making us laugh.
We laugh easily. Tom, over corny jokes and puns, befitting a situation and me, over the irony of daily life. Put us together and one will incite the other into a good chuckle many times a day. 
Warthogs are always on the lookout for a morsel.  Notice how they get on their front knees when discovering a morsel. We howled over this when on safari in the Masai Mara and now, again here.
Baby butts up on the air, on their knees, eating the vegetation around this tree.

Living in the bush, in a constant state of awe of our surroundings, we find humor in the most mundane of events or in the interesting activities of the wildlife surrounding us. 

Butting heads while the third baby stands by, awaiting a turn.
Moments later, he got his turn to butt heads while the former participant wandered away.
The determination of a dung beetle is laugh-worthy as its female counterpart stays atop the ball of dung, running feverishly as he anxiously moves it along using his back legs to push and his front legs to gain a foothold on the ground. Or, the face of a zebra that stands at our railing with what appears to be a smile on his face, inciting a comment and chuckle out of us.
When we first arrived, we noticed a baby warthog lying still on the driveway. Several of the others stopped by, sniffing it and walking away. The mother sniffed it and walked away. We panicked thinking the baby was dead. Suddenly, it jumped up, engaging in play with the others. Now, we observe this as a common occurrence, perhaps a behavior of dominance.
These two kissed and sniffed each other while lying down.

The vegetation stuffed cheeks of the giraffe when he takes a break from his treetop munching to check us out, making eye contact, not only warms our hearts but makes us laugh. Mother Nature has a sense of humor.  Surely us humans, are funny with our rituals, habits and, actions. 

This baby did the same as the others as if playing dead.
This mother stopped to look at me.  The way warthogs make eye contact and listen to my voice, makes me laugh every day.

We’re not laughing at them and, I won’t use the standard phrase that they are “laughing with us.” They aren’t.  But, why we’re laughing is due to the fact that they are like us in so many ways: stomping their feet when they want attention, snorting when dissatisfied or annoyed, reacting sexually when visually stimulated, constantly thinking about food, needing warmth, comfort, and love and for many, the desire for companionship with their family and friends.

The standing baby was trying to nurse the lying baby.

God, a Higher Power, or Mother Nature, whatever your beliefs, made us alike in many ways so that we cohabit in this world together. And, at times, that likeness, combined with our differences, can incite a bout of laughter, a smile on our faces, or merely a twinkle in our eye leaving us feeling a sense of happiness and fulfillment. 

Without cause, they’d finally had enough of us and began to take off onto one of the many animal worn paths at varying points in the yard.

How fortunate we are to embrace this? Whether we laugh from the antics of our dogs or cats which is one of the main motivators in including pets in our lives or, the playful shenanigans of an animal in the wild, it is the same warm, fuzzy feeling that brings us laughter, pleasure and a sense of belonging, if only for a moment, in their world.

Goodbye, warthog family of nine with a few yet to catch up. We’ll see you again soon. 

Today, we share with our readers, some laugh provoking moments with one of my favorites, the maligned warthog, whom by now many of our readers may say, “Enough already, with the Warthogs.” Humor me. They, by far, have made us laugh more than any creature in the bush, especially when these events shown in the included photos occurred a few days ago.

Some say that their ugliness is off-putting. Certainly, they are no more ugly than Elwood, the Chinese Crested Chihuahua, who warmed the hearts of millions as the World’s Ugliest Dog in 2007. We enjoyed Elwood because he was ugly. Thus, we enjoy warthogs for a similar reason. Add their playfulness, their intensity, their determination, their curiosity and they easily become a favorite.

We ended the delightful day with this meal. My plate is on the right with the Brussels Sprouts which, of course, Tom would never eat. At least he’ll eat the green beans and coleslaw.

After their lengthy visit, freely allowing us to take photos of their most intimate family fun, the heat of 100F, 38C weather drove us indoors to the AC, another delicious homemade meal, a movie, a good night’s sleep.This morning we awoke to a live bat in the kitchen sink.

Life in the bush is hot and humid, filled with unbelievable insects and critters (we’re adapting). But we find it to be exciting and often humorous. 

Do you know what is really funny? That two senior citizens, former homebodies, conservative and cautious, are sitting here in the bush to tell about it!  

First time visitors….We were surrounded…Tom carries a big stick…Caution is advised and exercised…

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While this “infant” baboon was perched in a tree checking us out, her/his parents were busy making themselves at home in our yard.

A few days ago while on a walk in the neighborhood, a baboon crossed our path, holding up its “arm” as if injured and with a huge bloody looking injury to his torso. Concerned that he could be dangerous in this injured state, we contact Louise. She, in turn, contacted the Marloth Park game warden with the hopes that they could locate this baboon to handle the situation as necessary.

We saw him in the single-file line as they made their way toward us. Obviously, he is the dominant male again as shown below.
He sat on watch duty the entire time they were here staying in this general area. If a 6 foot tall, 1.83 meters, human sat next to him, they’d have been of equal height. As with humans, baboon males also have nipples.

We’ve yet to hear if the baboon was located.  On Friday night while dining at Jabula Lodge, owner Leon (he and his wife Dawn are our new friends) explained how we must protect ourselves from dangerous animals in the wild. 
Leon explained it was imperative to do the following:
1.  Don’t run.  Back up slowly to safety.
2.  Try not to show fear.
3.  Wave and hold your arms over your head to appear larger.
4.  Do not leave any animal “cornered.”  Back away slowly to provide an easily accessible path for the animal to take.
5.  If possible, keep a large stick or branch handy at all times, especially when walking, if an injured animal is in the area.
6.  Never, in vulnerable situations, (walking in the bush, during bush drives, lounging or working outdoors) allow ourself to become complacent, failing to stay on alert.

They wandered about the yard looking for a shady spot to relax.
Some nibbled at vegetation in the yard determining if our greens were more appealing than other locations.

Yesterday, Tom removed the thick wooden handle from the pool net and now we’re equipped. From that point on, he’s kept that handle within easy reach at all times when we’re outdoors.

Scratch that itch!
Baboons can mate throughout the year. The notoriously red butts are an indication of mating readiness in the female and an attractive point for the male.  Although it looks inflamed and painful, it has few nerve endings and is not a sign of infection or discomfort.

The first indication of the arrival of the baboons was a loud sound on the roof above our heads. Very loud. Tom grabbed the big stick (thanks Leon!) as a giant male baboon stood 15 feet, 4.6 meters from us on the carport roof as he swung down from the roof. Without a doubt, he was here to check us out and to see if we had any possible food sources. 

Infant looking at mom for guidance.
Although this photo could be construed as kissing, in reality, the smaller one is grooming the face of the larger female.

He was huge and intimidating. Tom stood up, holding the 8 foot, 2.4-meter stick, waving it in the air and yelling.  I grabbed for the camera knowing Tom would cover my back. But, the adventure had just begun.

This other male watched the activities while sitting at the edge of the swimming pool.

The huge baboon, startled by our display of dominance, took off running toward the back of the house, the opposite side of the veranda to join the remainder of the large troop of baboons surrounding us. There were dozens of them, following along a worn-by-the-animals path that makes its way around most of the grounds.

Our resident zebra hung around while the baboons visited.
Grooming and babysitting continue.

Through the trees and bush, we could see the single procession of one baboon after another of varying sizes, walk along the path, making their way into the yard. The dominating males were clearly evident.

Picking on a hangnail, perhaps?

No less than a dozen made their way into plain view of us, parking themselves in comfortable spots with a clear view of us and then, much to our surprise, proceeded to entertain us with their usual antics and interaction with one another.

This photo further illustrates the enormous size of the dominant male.  This female to his left appeared to be a similar size of the other full-grown adults.

Although Tom kept the stick in his hand, there was no further need to wave it or show dominance. No more than a minute or two after they got themselves situated, a single zebra appeared, parking himself near the veranda.  In a funny way, we almost felt as is he was here to protect us although neither the baboons nor the zebra appeared threatened by one another.

Infant in the tree while mom sat below playing with her fingers.

During this entire period, I was taking these photos while Tom maintained a careful watch. We took no chances by walking off the veranda onto the driveway. The heavy railing does offer us some protection which we haven’t ignored. Although some of the wildlife appear relatively comfortable with humans in the general area, they are none the less, wild animals. 

A few stragglers had stayed behind for a few minutes as the others made the scattered mad dash to keep up with the dominant male. Our male zebra left minutes after the last baboon. It was the first time, he’d visited on his own.

Tourists and locals have been injured or killed by animals in the wild, most often as a result of carelessness and ignorance. Also, on occasion, members of The Big Five have been known to enter Marloth Park resulting in rangers and residents immediately alerting one another.

One must exercise caution from the many breeds of animals that naturally live in Marloth Park. A few days ago, two enormous roaring wildebeest ran through our yard, much too quickly for us to take a photo. They can weigh as much as 600 pounds, 272 kg, certainly large enough to kill or maim an unsuspecting human in their path.  The same goes for the giant kudus, weighing as much as 750 pounds, 340 kg, again large enough to cause serious damage. 

In general, most of the wild animals in this area aren’t known to attack unless provoked. On rare occasions, baboons have been known to attack for no reason at all. It’s best to consider all wildlife as potentially dangerous and to enjoy them from a reasonable distance, respecting their size, their strength, and the fact that we are intruding in their territory.

Today, the watch continues to see what wonders, if any, will come our way in the heat. With temperatures expected now at 100F, 38C, we wonder who may actually stop by. We’ve been outdoors for almost four hours now, as we write today’s post, sweat pouring off of us. But, we hesitate to venture inside to turn on the instant-on AC for fear we may miss something. That’s life in Marloth Park!

As we’ve learned in our travels, “the bigger the motivator, the more discomfort we’re willing to accept.” Need I say, we’re highly motivated?

Most extraordinary day yet…Is this really happening?…

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On Thursday morning as I stepped outside onto the veranda, camera in hand, this was the first thing I saw. Quietly alerting Tom, who was still inside the house, he rushed out to witness this same sight. And then, in minutes they were everywhere. No words can describe our elation.
At first, we thought there may only be a few when we saw only this one. Giraffes hang out in groups, often changing to a new group every few hours with no special loyalty to any grouping, other than moms and a baby of which only one is born at a time.
Walking out onto our driveway we were able to see the others arriving.

It won’t always be this exciting. After a while, we’ll have shared more and more new photos of visitors that have already visited us in the past. But for us, this is only the beginning of our adventures in South Africa. 

As they entered the yard, they scattered about, making it impossible to take photos of more than a few at a time. 
They enjoyed nibbling on our untouched tree touch, full and flavorful from recent rains.  On December 21st, summer begins in South Africa. In the winter, the leaves will be gone, and everything turns parched and brown, leaving less food for the wildlife.
Scratching an itch.

In six days, we’ll pick up a rental car to use for our remaining days in Marloth Park. With many plans on the horizon over our remaining over two months, we’ll have much to share.

They often stopped dining to look at us. We kept our distance, not wanting to disturb and as an inducement for them to return another day with little intrusion from us.
Nice pose with the right leg bent.
Tom with three giraffes behind him.

We’ve found it’s best not to get into “what we’re considering doing” as opposed  to “what we have locked in, via dates and reservations.” Doing so prevents us from feeling pressure to follow through on the possibilities as opposed to the realities. This is low-stress living, right?

Adding a frame of reference in the driveway.
Reaching for a low lying morsel.

A lone warthog wanted in on the excitement. No problem. You’re in!

Tentatively, we present these photos today knowing full well that it will be a tough act to follow. Living in the bush anything exciting can happen at any moment, as we’ve already witnessed. We sit back in watchful anticipation, welcoming magical moments our way. 

Perhaps a bit of romance brewing? Check out the eyelashes on the female on the right, definitely involved in the flirting process.
The “togetherness” continued.
“Stop with photos already.  I have to fill up the right cheek with these tasty greens.”

We call it our “safari luck” that began when we went on safari in the Masai Mara in early October and saw the “Big Five” in the first ten hours in the vehicle with Anderson. Even he commented on how lucky we were. On the little plane when upon departure, many other travelers commented that they’d only be able to see four of the Big Five and their subsequent disappointment. Yes, we were lucky. 

This male was sitting in the yard taking a break from being so tall.

That same “safari luck” has been with us since arriving in Marloth Park only two weeks ago. This is evidenced by today’s photos. From the day we arrived, we longed for the Giraffes to visit, the visit Louise and Danie assured us would definitely transpire over a period of three months. And they did come. All 12 of them on Thursday morning, a day we’ll never forget.

“Please,” says Mr. Warthog, “one more photo of me and the tall ones. I’m always camera ready”

If this was a typical two-week vacation/holiday as most travelers plan when visiting Marloth Park, we would have had a rich and memorable experience. But for us, the fact that we have the opportunity to reach out and grab more of this magic leaves us humble and grateful.

We counted 12 giraffes as they gathered for their joint exit after their hour-long visit.

This morning when once again, the family of nine Warthogs appeared, standing in the bush partially hidden by low lying brush as if waiting for us to come outside. As we stepped to the railing to our veranda, they freely marched toward us, all nine of them, two moms and seven babies ready to make us laugh, ready to entertain us, and ready to respond to my goofy high pitched voice welcoming them. 

Thanks for the visit giraffes!
But somehow, we knew they’d return.

Not for one second, did we ever feel we’d had enough of them or that we’ll ever tire of their visits. If we have “safari luck” and the giraffes to visit another time, we’ll be in as much awe as we were this first time.

Your visit meant the world to us!

There is no doubt in my mind that when these three months come to a close, it will be difficult to leave all of this behind. It will be difficult to no longer constantly scan our surroundings for a hint of movement, the sound of hooves, a snort, a growl, or a gentle call. 

For now, we let those thoughts waft away to allow ourselves to live in the moment, knowing in our hearts that this, dear readers, is “Why,I always dreamed of Africa.”

“Small Things”…a world of miniature wildlife and vegetation…Finally we found a Dung Beetle with his “dung ball”…plus the biggest insect ever!

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Zef, our houseman, held this monstrous insect Tom had fished out of the pool with the net.

It would be easy to sit back waiting for wildlife to visit us as we lounge on the veranda. But “easy” doesn’t always ensure the excitement and adventure of discovery. With our curiosity and passion to explore we’ve found a world of small things as intriguing as the big things.

It’s difficult from the photo to determine the enormous size of this insect swimming for its life. We may have saved its life getting it out of the water. It took a full day of hanging upside down on the tree limb to finally fly away. We might have thought it was a bird if we’d seen it in flight.

It all started with this photo of the most enormous insect we’d ever imagined possible that apparently fell into the pool after Tuesday night’s rain.

After Zef gently placed the monstrous insect on a limb on the tree, it grabbed hold of the branch, hanging on for nearly a full day.

Tom tapped me on the shoulder, saying, “Don’t be scared. I have to show you something.”  It was still in the pool, swimming feverishly for its life. Much to my surprise, when I saw it, I wasn’t scared, just curious, and anxious to take a photo.

A frog on the outside of a window.  Most frogs are active at night. We frequently heard them, but seldom saw them.

Zef, our hard-working houseman was here cleaning, prompting us to ask him what this huge thing was and if it was poisonous. He assured us it wasn’t poisonous, just huge. Tom then fished it out of the pool with the net. 

Not all small things are alive. Thank goodness, this Scorpion expired in the pool during the storm.

Without giving it a thought, Zef picked it out of the net, holding it up for these photos. After we’d taken a few photos, Zef placed it on a tree, where it hung for a full day (see above photo), perhaps recovering from its lengthy swim in the pool. We kept an eye on it, but 24 hours later it was gone. We haven’t seen it since. 

This blue flower, a less common color in the wild, caught our eye in our yard.

We must have spent hours researching information about this giant insect to no avail.  Perhaps, one of our worldwide readers will be familiar with it. If so, please post a comment at the end of today’s post.  We’d love to know more.

These tiny birds, the Red-billed Oxpecker (Tick Birds) eat insects off of the giraffes warning them of potential dangers. 

It was this discovery that prompted us to begin the process of finding “Small Things.” One could easily spend a lifetime, as some do, finding the many small curious creatures and plants in this wildlife and vegetation rich tropical climate. All we ever need to do in most cases is simply take the time to look.

Geckos are everywhere, both inside and outdoors.  Louise showed us how to identify their poop which contains a small white bead in the center, often found on stone floors, on countertops, and on furniture throughout the house.

Last night, we got this shot of the underside of a gecko as it crawled on the outside of the sliding glass door in one of the living rooms. (Gosh, in Diani Beach, Kenya we had no living room. In Marloth Park, South Africa we have two living rooms and we spend all day outside. 


We borrowed this photo (the remainder of the photos here are our own) from this website to illustrate the sticky nature of the gecko’s feet.

As the search for “Small Things” began, we were surprised to find many more interesting plants and creatures. 

This was our first photo of a dung beetle, yet to create his dung ball. 

My mission, since arriving in Africa, has been to find the dung beetle, an objective now fulfilled, as evidenced by these photos. They are everywhere. One need only look along the driveway where the animals enter our property where there’s plenty of dung and subsequently, plenty of dung beetles, such interesting creatures.

This was our first photo of the dung beetle in action. The female often sits atop the ball of dung while the male moves it along using his back feet while his front feet grasp the ground for stability. The female lays eggs in the ball so she tags along as he rolls as they search for an adequate hole in which to bury the ball. The ball is used as sustenance for both of them as well as the maturing larvae.
“Ah!” he says, “Let’s get this dung ball into this hole before someone decides to steal it from us.” Dung beetles have been studied and they are known to steal the dung balls from one another.

I know this is hard to believe but Dung Beetle navigate using the Milky Way. Here are some interesting facts about dung beetles. In addition, there’s this amazing fact about the dung beetle:  

“The individual strength record goes to a male onthphagus taurus dung beetle, which pulled a load equivalent to 1,141 times its own body weight. In human terms, that would be comparable a 150 lb. person pulling 80 tons!” 

Another dung beetle couple aiming for a hole for their growing family.

In our research regarding the dung beetle, we discovered a fact that made us howl with laughter.  While in Italy and Kenya, we ran and hid whenever an enormous black hornet buzzed us, assuming it was in the hornet/wasp/bee family. With both of us allergic to bees, wasps, and hornets, we were terrified of being stung.

With no specific landscaping in our yard, it’s interesting to see an occasional flower. In Marloth Park, the homeowners are to keep the natural bush environment to ensure abundant vegetation for wildlife.

It’s loud buzzing noise alerted us several times a day that it was in the vicinity. We’d quickly take action to get out of its way. We’d researched without luck trying to find information about what we’d assumed to be an enormous black wasp.  

Millipedes are commonly seen in this area which are harmless to humans although they emit a poisonous secretion that when coming in contact with human skin may cause an itchy rash. For the various insects it eats, this venom proves deadly.

Last week, while visiting with Louise and Dani, they explained that the loud black buzzing thing is in fact a dung beetle in flight (without its dung ball in tow). What do we know? We’ve only been traveling the world for over a year. Now, when we hear that loud buzzing sound, we look and laugh, no longer fearful (although we’ll continue to keep a watchful eye for hornets, wasps, and bees).

These mushrooms are growing in our yard.  Of course, we won’t eat them without knowing if they’re safe for consumption.

With over two and a half months left for us to live in this wildlife and vegetation rich location, we’ll continue to gather information and photos of the “Small Things,” which we’ll share with our readers from time to time. We need only to remember to look down or around us for the “Small Things” that God/Mother Nature created, all with the purpose of nourishing the earth and its inhabitants.

As Tom would say, “At least we’re no longer like the dung beetles hauling all their sh_ _ with them everywhere we go!”

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with our most extraordinary day yet in Marloth Park with visitors we’d find only in our dreams. Then again, every day has been magical.