No words can express how relieved we are to feel rested. This was the most prolonged period (five days) that either of us was tired and had difficulty sleeping after the two-day journey to South Africa.
Although I woke up several times last night, I got about seven hours of sleep and feel great today. Tom has also recovered after almost sleeping through the night. We only needed to sleep for one or two nights in past visits to feel well again. It must be due to old age.
Last night, we had an excellent time at Jabula. As always, the food was fantastic, as shown in the photos below, and Dawn kept us busy introducing us to guests we’d never met and seeing a few we knew from the past. There was never a dull moment. We arrived at 5:00 pm and had dinner at 7:00, sitting at the bar.
Dawn was as thoughtful as ever, ensuring they had my favorite light wine, South Africa Four Cousins Skinny Red. We ordered a bottle for me, and last night I drank two glasses, and tonight I will have two more. There will be a little left which we’ll take with us when we go “home.”
“The recognized size for a standard pour of wine is around 5 ounces. So, if you’re doing the math, a bottle should yield about five glasses of wine. Of course, individual preferences might vary the pour, but as a general rule of thumb, expect five (5-ounce) glasses from a 750-milliliter bottle.”
Tom drank his favorite, Lion Beer, which he can only get in South Africa. This week, we received an order from Takalot, South Africa’s version of Amazon, for a case of 24 cans of Lion Beer, 17.6 oz (500 ml) for Tom for ZAR 289, US $15.83.
We also received a case of 12 bottles of Four Cousins Skinny Red wine for ZAR 729, US $39.94. This is an average of US $3.32 per full-sized 750 ml bottle, which is typical for wine made in South Africa. In the US, we paid at least $15 for a similar bottle of red wine.
We’ll head to Komatipoort tomorrow to go grocery shopping at the larger Spar Market. That Spar Market has a considerably more extensive inventory than the new SaveMor Spar recently built in Marloth Park. The local store is perfect for picking up a few items but doesn’t fulfill our grocery shopping needs.
It takes about 20 minutes to get to Komatipoort, but we never mind the drive along the sugar cane fields. We’ll most likely shop every week as we’ve done in the past.
Kathy and Don safely arrived yesterday, exhausted from an even more extended trip than ours. They will undoubtedly spend the next few days recovering before we see them. We are both looking forward to reuniting with our dear friends after three years.
We return to Jabula for dinner again tonight, feeling much more alert and rested. Dawn is having the kitchen staff make a leg of lamb for me, which I haven’t had since we were here almost two years ago. A leg of lamb, creamed spinach, a Greek salad, and a glass of red wine sound perfect.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, March 8, 2015:
