The social life has begun. Last minute, Louise and Danie stopped by for sundowners on Thursday evening. I put together a little cheese board and the conversation, as always, was lively and animated. We had a lot of catching up to do.
Last night, we commenced our usual Friday night tradition, hanging out at the bar at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant to later order dinner. Based on how cold it is outdoors at night, we dine indoors at the bar. Often Dawn and Leon dine with us. As more and more guests join the “party,” the decibel level increases along with the pop music in the background. It couldn’t be more fun.
Last night, we met a delightful couple from Nelspruit whose upbeat and playful attitude only added to the evening’s festivities. By 8:00 pm, we were both ready to return to our bush home, especially since we hadn’t socialized in so long due to our recent illnesses.
Feeling much better, I drank a few glasses of my light red wine, Skinny Red, by Four Cousins, a South African winery, and Tom sipped on a few brandies and Sprite Zero. Ironically, last night I slept better than I had in the past six weeks. When I awoke this morning, my phone’s battery was still at 93%, indicating how little time I spent playing Scrabble with strangers during the night. Tom also slept well, and we both feel great today.
We feel confident we can start planning more social events, including heading out with our portable chairs to watch wildlife on the shores of the Crocodile River, often an environment for meeting new people and commiserating over the wonders along the river.
Today, we’re staying in, making a lovely dinner, doing some laundry, and observing the wonders in the bush on the veranda. With plans set for what we’ll do for our next visa stamp, we can relax and enjoy ourselves at long last, feeling well and like our “old” selves. We appreciate feeling well more than we can say.
Wildlife visits aren’t as plentiful right now over the weekend since the park is busy with lots of tourists. Either the animals are busy with the newcomers or hiding from the added commotion. One can never know for sure. We often assume they are being fed food not suitable for wildlife that tastes a lot better than the dry pellets, but unaware tourists who don’t realize the harm they are doing feeding the animals human snacks and treats.
Yesterday, we finally found the camera bag that contained the charger for the camera’s battery. We unpacked when we were sick and haven’t been able to find a few items. The loss of the camera bag would have been frustrating, but we felt we couldn’t have lost it or left it behind in a hotel on this last awful trip since we hadn’t taken the bag with us. However, we had brought along the camera, the battery, and the charger.
We never used the camera on this dreadful trip and, thus, would never have a reason to use the charger. We knew it was somewhere in this house, but we weren’t sure where. After going through all the luggage and removing all of our clothes from the shelves in the bedroom, we finally found them tucked away behind some beach towels on a top shelf in the bedroom. We were thrilled.
At that time, we realized we only had one battery that worked for our newest camera. Since we will be going on safari in Botswana in a few months, we’d need another battery. Looking online at Amazon, we couldn’t find the exact model. Instead, I found it at Walmart in the US. It will ship to our mailing service, where we are accumulating another order to be shipped, mainly with enough Crystal Light Ice Tea to last us through this upcoming year. Once the battery arrives on the 17th, we’ll be able to order the package with the help of our mailing service in Nevada.
Once again, it will cost a fortune to ship, but that iced tea is just one of those things we don’t choose to forego in our world travel lifestyle. After shopping for a few items in the US, I realized how many food products we miss using. But, once again, it’s all about adaptation, and we’ve learned to find alternatives for many items we used in our old lives.
Enjoy your weekend, wherever you may be, heading into summer in the Northern Hemisphere and heading into winter, like us in the Southern Hemisphere. What a weird phenomenon that is!
Photo from one year ago today, June 4, 2021:
