Who’s in the garden this morning?
- 11 warthogs – inc. Fred, and Ethyl, Tiny and Little, Benny, Henny, Lenny, and Penny
- 6 bushbucks – inc. Chewy and Thick Neck
- 1 wildebeest – Broken Horn
- 8 kudus – inc. 1 Medium Daddy, 1 mom, and baby, Bossy and Notches
- 6 hornbills
- Frank and The Misses
It’s not surprising to us that we don’t have water. It’s either no electricity issues due to downed power lines, load shedding, or no WiFi when the power is out, or a tower is damaged, and now, no water. Not a trickle. We don’t fuss over this. There’s nothing to be accomplished in doing so.
Last night, we put our dirty dishes in the dishwasher after carefully scraping the plates. Then, we brought in a big bucket of pool water to flush the toilet. This morning, I warmed up bottled water from the water machine in the microwave to take a “sponge bath.” Tom made for the big spouted pitcher. We have plenty of bottled drinking water, ice cubes, and ice tea.
This morning, Louise sent the following message:
“[05/31, 08:05] Denis Gofinet: The water tanker will be at Marlothi Shopping at 09:00 this morning. You can fill up your containers. Waiting for an update on the Eskom repair. We will keep you posted. [05/31, 08:06] Denis Gofinet: Message from the Muni: Hectorspruit, the treatment plant, is pumping currently. Marloth Park is still not pumping. I believe Eskom is still busy replacing stolen components. We have also arranged for a water tanker to assist Marloth park with some water until Eskom has completed their work and the Marloth plant is running. Thanks.”
We do not need to fill up containers from the water tanker, which is certainly not intended for drinking or bathing. The cleanliness of that water could easily be questionable. Many locals have adapted to the local water over the years and won’t get sick from drinking it. For us, that’s not the case. We take no chances.
Based on Louise’s above message, the entire water issue results from the theft of various components Eskom, the electric company, used to run the pumps. This is not unusual in South Africa. Crime is rampant, and this part of the country is no exception. However, corruption is considerably less prevalent in Marloth Park than, let’s say, in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, or other big cities.
This little haven in the bush does provide an element of safety compared to many other areas. We are very grateful for this, yet we’re always “on-guard,” utilizing our security system, keeping doors locked day and night, and keeping out a watchful eye.
When we spend time outdoors on the veranda, as we’re doing now as I write this, we bring all of our equipment indoors if we so much as go to the bathroom or to get a glass of ice tea. There have been countless cases of residents leaving their laptops and phones on their veranda table, only to wander indoors for a few minutes, to return and find their equipment is gone.
Each week, there are burglaries of TVs, digital equipment, and household goods of any value. Weekly, we see the reports on Facebook. So when Tom leaves me alone at the house, I stay indoors, lock the doors and set the alarm. Fortunately, the local security company responds quickly when an alarm goes off.
Yesterday, when we uploaded the post, we had water. An hour later, we did not. So, continuing today on Day 2, we are without water. It could be a few more days or longer until it’s restored. In the interim, we are fine. I am still recovering with considerable improvement daily. I should be able to go to the river with Rita and Gerhard tomorrow afternoon, but at this point, we’re playing it by ear.
Today, it’s cool and cloudy. We are still wearing sweatshirts with long pants. Tonight, we’ll hunker down for a nice steak dinner cooked on the braai. We have power. We have WiFi. We’re content.
Be content and healthy!
Photo from one year ago today, May 31, 2020:
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| In Abu Dhabi in UAE. This looks similar to an ATM, but it’s actually a gold dispensing machine, not an ATM. For more photos, please click here. |