As I continue to deal with the side effects of two antibiotics, we’re laying low with me spending a few hours each afternoon in the bedroom with the air-con on. It continues to be hot and humid, and right now, as I feel this way, the heat is less tolerable than usual. Load shedding continues for no less than seven hours a day, in the middle of the day, late morning, and again at night from 1900 hours to 2130 hours, 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.
I keep thinking of how generous Louise and Danie are for providing us with an inverter that gives us sufficient power to run the router, charge our digital equipment, and operate fans in the bedroom when the power is out during the night. This helps so much that load shedding isn’t as big an issue for us.
During the power outages at night, we’re still able to stream TV series or movies on my laptop through Hulu, Prime Video, or Netflix, making the 2½ hours without air-con pass more quickly. The past few nights’ load shedding occurred between 3:00, and 5:00 am.
As soon as the air-con stops, we both wake up, and one of us gets up and turns on the fan. When the power returns, the air-con comes back on by itself, which again wakes us up. Sleep is fitful, but we’re managing. Again, it’s the “nature of the beast,” in other words, “life in the bush.”
This evening, friends Uschi and Evan are stopping by at 1730 hours, 5:30 pm, for social distancing sundowners, although I won’t be drinking alcohol due to the medication, I’m on. By Tuesday, which will be eight days since I began the five-day course, I will be able to have a glass of my favorite, low alcohol wine.
Of course, we’re waiting anxiously for the opportunity to get the Covid-10 vaccine. But, now, with the world talking about South Africa and UK variants, the rush to get the vaccines out has been completely halted. The new stats for South Africa are as follows. Please click the South Africa link below for the full article:
“SA records 3,159 Covid-19 cases and 276 deaths in the past 24 hours
After two days of less than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases, health minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said on Wednesday night that the number of infections in 24 hours had breached the 3,000 mark.
Mkhize also reported 276 new Covid-19 related deaths, taking the total death toll from the coronavirus in SA is 47,145.
Of the new deaths, 126 were in Gauteng, 34 were in KwaZulu-Natal, 33 in the Eastern Cape, 31 in the Western Cape, 21 in Mpumalanga, 20 in the Free State, eight in the Northern Cape, and three in Limpopo.
To date, 1,367,247 recoveries have been recorded, at a recovery rate of 92.7%.”
This morning, when we headed to the Bush Centre for meat and biltong (delicious South African jerky), we noticed how few people were socially distancing and wearing masks. I still don’t understand why people don’t take this virus seriously when there have been several deaths here in the park over the past few weeks. I was wearing a face mask, face shield, and rubber gloves (which I only use for one wearing before tossing them).
As more and more cases come to the forefront, we find ourselves, back into a semi-state of isolation, even here in the bush with relatively few people around us. Nowhere in the world is exempt, including Antarctica, which we visited in 2018 and now has had several cases of Covid-19.
The more we discuss our visa options, the more convinced we’ve become that we need to apply for visa extensions instead of flying to another country through multiple airports and crowded spaces. Our best bet is to stay put, continuing to exercise the utmost caution, avoiding restaurants and any potential public gatherings. Who knows when any of us can relax and fully enjoy life once again?
Photo from one year ago today, February 11, 2020:
One year ago, on this date, my laptop crashed, and we weren’t able to prepare a post or upload photos. We were able to post on February 12, 2020, so please check back tomorrow for the year-ago picture.