Comfort is key…Creature comforts…


A pair of blue waxbills are sitting in a tree by the birdbath.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 11 warthogs
  • 15 bushbucks
  • 8 kudus
  • 1 wildebeest
  • Frank and The Misses

It is so nice and cool now; we can hardly believe it. This morning when we stepped outside in the 55F, 13C, it was refreshing with no heat or significant humidity.

Kudus often stop by.

Since I no longer have any warm clothes, I dressed in jeans, a long-sleeve tee-shirt, and one of Tom’s two sweatshirts. He’s wearing his zippered sweatshirt, and I’m wearing his over-the-head version. I guess this will be our daily attire over the next several months.

Last night it was so cool that this morning I asked Louise to have Vusi or Zef bring us a heavy duvet, suitable for the size of the bed. The two blankets we’ve been using are too short and too narrow, and now that it’s cooler, bundling up requires a bigger blanket.

Kudus are beautiful and handsome animals.

We chose to use those two smaller blankets when dust mites were an issue. But now that winter is fast approaching; the dust mite issues are over for several months. The mozzies are also at a minimum right now since they don’t thrive in cold weather. So I’ve just about stopped using repellent other than at dusk when we’ll be on the veranda when we see only a few mozzies buzzing around.

Being free of outrageous heat so common in Africa, we’re especially enjoying this period of time. However, the difference in our comfort level is palpable. There have been many places in the world where we stayed over the past almost nine years that were grossly uncomfortable.

Bushbucks in the side yard watching to see if we’re offering pellets.

I always espoused the concept of “adaptation.” We chose this life and must always be willing to adapt to discomforts common to the areas/countries in which we’ve lived. There have been many, which we’ve mentioned in prior posts.

The greatest discomfort generally revolves around uncomfortable weather, especially when there is no aircon in the bedroom.  Also, for me, particularly, have been issues with dust mites, no-see-ums, mosquitoes, biting flies, chiggers, and ticks. These are certainly not exclusive to Africa. Some of the most annoying flies had been in Bali and Australia.

Four wildebeest in our driveway; Hal and Broken Horn, Willie and Willard.

The worst no-see-ums, blood-sucking gnats were in Belize in 2013. There was no escape from them, especially when screens aren’t used on windows, not there and not in many countries.

In Bovelgio, Italy, in 2013, the WiFi was horrible, and the biting flies were relentless. The hallway to the master bedroom had a ceiling lower than either of our heads, and we often bumped our heads. It was summer and hot; the bed was only a double and lumpy. There were no screens, and we were constantly chasing flies out the windows.

They moved back to the garden after spending time in the driveway.

One of the least comfortable locations was Marrakesh, Morocco. The riad was beautiful, but all the furnishings were stuffed with what felt like sand. There was nowhere in the house we could sit comfortably, not even the dining table with the mosaic wrought iron chairs. The lounge/living room furniture was so uncomfortable we could barely sit there and work online.

We struggled in Morocco for the 2½ months, me especially, due to the sand fleas. I never slept well for the entire period we lived in that property when I was itching all night. Tom never experienced any bites. While there, we weren’t able to find any repellent in any of the shops.

A lone giraffe in the area.

Now, here in South Africa, we are as comfortable as we could be in cool weather. The house provides everything we need with ease, especially during these cooler winter months; fewer insects, fewer snakes, a comfortable bed, aircon as needed, excellent WiFi, and more wildlife visitors than we could ever imagine.

Sure, now and then, there’s load shedding (power outages). But we’ve managed to figure out how to deal with them, planning activities, meals, and food safety accordingly.

Comfort is surely a factor in enjoying our world travels. Fortunately, in most cases, we’ve managed to work our way through any obstacles we encounter along the way, always remembering that we chose this life and that, at times, it may not be ideal.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, May 27, 2020:

Four “Big Daddy” kudus stopped by with one female, all vying for her attention.  They were more interested in her than pellets. For more photos from the year-ago post, please click here.

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