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| This is what I heard flying around in the empty second story of the house in Diani Beach, Kenya, which proved to be an owl, |
Today’s photos are from the post in 2013 after returning from safari to Diani Beach, Kenya. For more from this date, please click here.
Nothing has changed. We’re still in this hotel room, attempting to make the best of it every day. This morning, Tom’s omelet was overcooked, and his bacon was undercooked. He called the restaurant and asked for “crispy bacon,” a seemingly complex food item for Indian cooks to get right who don’t eat bacon. We try to be patient. They sent up a new batch.
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| The moon is a crescent on the bottom portion when this close to the equator. Who would have ever thought of this? No, we didn’t watch the toilet flush in the opposite direction as it does in the US. |
Each day, each evening, the identical items we’ve ordered are different than the day before. Tom finally gave up ordering dinner. Instead, he eats a big breakfast. I haven’t been having much in the way of breakfast after becoming tired of the same things, day after day. I focus on my dinner of grilled chicken parts, broccoli, and sauteed mushrooms, periodically changing the vegetables for variety.
I’ll order the grilled salmon from time to time, but the portion is so small I end up hungry after the meal, often containing two hard-boiled eggs to round it out. We never realized how eating for pleasure was so crucial until this situation. We both long for variety to no avail.
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| Diners at Madafoo, in Diani Beach, and most other resort properties are welcomed to sit outside, near the beach, and in some cases by their pool. |
This morning, I felt out-of-steam walking my first mile. Maybe today, I need to take a day off, the first time since I began in March. I slept well last night but wondered if the repetitive nature of this same old, same old, walking path in the corridors, hour after hour, may finally be getting to me. I’ll continue on tomorrow but need a change of pace today.
Often, I’m tempted to say this is comparable to being in prison, but I don’t, realizing prison would be much worse. The bed here is divinely comfortable, and we have a private bath. We have a flat-screen TV and can stream shows, although they stop every seven or eight minutes for a few minutes, to the spinning red wheel when the signal is poor.
While we sat near the ocean at Madafoo’s, a few vendors approached us, relentlessly trying to encourage us to make a purchase. Watching the windsurfers was fun but seemed more befitting the younger crowd. We only observed one person, possibly over 40, partaking in this activity.
Two days ago, I forgot to mention that when I left to get cash from an ATM for the package, it was the first time I’d been outside the hotel in seven months, except for a few occasions I stepped out the main door to collect an item from Amazon India when we’ve ordered basic toiletries and pharmacy items. Since then, I’ve asked the hotel staff to please collect our packages and bring them up to our room.
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| The sunbathers left as the sun began to set, and we moved to the restaurant for dinner, |
I would never have imagined not going to a market, a pharmacy, or any store for over seven months. How peculiar that is. During our last foray in the US, I stopped at Walgreens at least once a week for an item or two. Now, not at all. Amazon India has many things but different qualities, prices, and actual products. Also, each item is shipped individually, resulting in lots of monkeying around, including:
- Sending me a text with an OPT (one-time password)
- The driver waits for me to respond, and if I don’t respond immediately, they cancel the shipment.
- If I do respond immediately, I have to enter the OPT.
- Then, the package is left with the guard at the distant gate, who calls the front desk staff to collect it.
- Then, the front desk called our room phone to inform us the package had arrived, asking if we wanted to get it or have it delivered to our room. We always request, “Deliver to our room, please.
- Within 30 minutes, the item arrives at the room after the doorbell is rung. I get up to answer the door and take the package.
This adorable guy, a part-time resort resident belonging to one of the windsurfing trainers, hung around with us during our dinner looking for morsels. Once we gave him several bites and saw our plates were clean, he moved over to the table of other diners with full plates.
My single bottle of TUMS antacids didn’t arrive yesterday, falling short at item #3 above. I didn’t see the text until it was too late. The article was canceled, and now I have to reorder. Shucks! The nature of the beast.
Ah, I don’t mean to sound down or sad. Yes, it’s better than prison, and for this, we are grateful. But, regardless of how busy we stay, how much we get done, how many shows we stream, and how many podcasts we listen to, this is not easy.,
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| The moon at Madafoo’s second night we visited upon returning from the safari, then on October 15, was almost complete. |
Ultimately, we are grateful to avoid becoming infected with the rampant virus here in India, especially in Mumbai. In no time at all, India will surpass the US in the number of cases, and probably already has, with the poverty here and the thousands, if not millions, of unreported cases and deaths.
We remain safe in this cocoon, and for that, dear friends, we are grateful. Nothing has changed.
Thank you for being at our side, continually offering so much love and support, which means the world to us.
Stay healthy and hopeful.
Photo from one year ago today, October 19, 2019:
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| Ken and Linda set up our camera timers for this photo of the four of us in front of Raglan Castle in Wales. For more photos, please click here. |