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| Notice this little three-point design on this zebra’s upper leg. Each zebra has a unique pattern of stripes. Each animal has its distinctive markings and distinguishable features, making it easy to identify repeat visitors. |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Tom’s favorite, Ms. Bushbuck who insists on eating directly out of the pellet container. She adores Tom, and I think he likes her too. She visits several times each day. |
Last night’s dinner guests, Gail and Mark, were a total delight. Their vast experiences in Africa and their fantastic story, as described in this post combined with our stories of world travel, created some engaging and thought-provoking conversations that lasted well into the evening.
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| Waterbucks along the river. |
With all the dinners we’ve shared with locals, we could easily have dinner guests every week or more. We can’t recall ever having had such a busy social life. Unfortunately, we occasionally turn down local events since we need a few quiet evenings at home, which we also thoroughly enjoy.
Today, after we’ve uploaded the post, we’re heading to Malelane to pick up our permanent Kruger entrance pass, which for some reason ended up at the post office there.
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| Female kudus and babies in the yard. |
Malelane is about a 40-minute drive from our property in Marloth Park. However, we’ve decided to make the most of it and do some shopping while there. The stores have a more incredible selection of items. We’ll stop at the larger Spar market to see if we can find a few things we haven’t been able to find in Komatipoort.
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| Big Daddy and zebras seem to get along while munching on pellets. |
Also, our friend Kathy explained we could purchase pellets there for a much better price at the Obaro store by asking for a senior discount. Feeding wildlife can get expensive, especially with the number of visitors we see each day and night.
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| It’s dangerous to hand feed Big Daddy or get too close. One could easily be seriously injured by being stabbed by these massive antlers, unintentionally, of course. |
Daily, we cut up apples, carrots, and any scraps from vegetables we’re preparing for our meals. It seems the female kudus love the leaves on bunches of celery, although the males turn their noses up at it. The warthogs prefer pellets and won’t eat many carrots or other vegetables.
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| Lizard crossing the road while we are driving in Marloth Park. |
Even the finicky Helmeted Guinea Fowl love the bird seeds we toss out, like the pellets as they peck and peck at them to break them into smaller manageable pieces.
The zebras, not surprisingly, love apples, carrots. None of them get enthused about the cabbage but will nibble on it if it’s available. And lettuce. Based on my gastrointestinal issues, we’ve been buying lettuce instead of cabbage which doesn’t digest as easily.
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| Baboon in the bush. Please stay away from our house! |
Feeding the animals each day has changed our entire activity level, which is excellent. It was easy to sit most of the day, taking a walk at some point in the past. But now, as we feed the animals, we’re on our feet constantly.
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| Not necessarily a clear photo, but this female kudu had her foot stuck in her ear while she scratched and scratched. |
Whether we’re cutting up vegetables, feeding the visitors, walking through the yard or the neighborhood to see what’s transpiring, or following a sound we’ve heard, we’re much more active than we’ve been in quite a while.
While driving in Marloth Park almost daily, we’re often out of the car, walking on rough terrain to get into better positions to see wildlife and scenery. This has been good for both of us.
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| There are so many species of birds in Kruger. We’re not always able to identify them. Any comments on this bird we spotted at the Crocodile River? |
As much as I’d love to work out at a facility, it’s just not possible while living in the bush. It’s not as if there’s a health club I can join that’s less than a 90-minute drive which would be back to Nelspruit, where the airport is located. Instead, we take advantage of every opportunity to be on the move.
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| Mutton Chops sniffing Scar Face’s wounds. |
In two more days, on Saturday, we’ll be posting information and photos about our exciting upcoming African adventure next February. We can’t wait to share this with all of you!
Have a fabulous day!
Photo from one year ago today, April 19, 2017:
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| A night view of a few of the buildings in Circular Quay, Sydney, taken from the Manly Ferry. For more photos of Sydney, please click here. |