Sunset cruise on the Chobe River…A huge hit with animals and people…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 25, 2022 with 0 Comment

Our favorite mom and baby elephant photo was taken while cruising on the Chobe River.

When a driver picked us up yesterday to take us to a resort down the road, we were a little surprised we’d be boarding a boat on the Chobe River from Chobe Marina Lodge, not Chobe Safari Lodge, where we were staying. The three-minute drive down the road and the 30-minute wait to board the boat were no big deal.

Male Cape buffalos heading to the water from an island in the Chobe River.

We were seated at a table for four on the pontoon-style boat in no time, ready to embark and begin the sunset cruise lasting three hours. As soon as we sat down, we were seated across the table with a lovely couple, younger than our adult children from Milan, Italy. Andrea and Jenny spoke good English, and we chatted endlessly, later meeting up for dinner at the restaurant up the hill from our resort.

Two fishermen on a small boat on the river.

Unfortunately, the photo I took of the two of them ended up being obstructed by a person walking by, and I could not post it, much to my disappointment. I should have checked the camera, but I caught up in the lively conversation with this adorable and intelligent Italian couple and failed to see if the photo came out. It was an oddity that this happened.

Waterbucks and a few Egyptian geese were foraging on the island.

We enjoyed the time spent on the boat with them and later for dinner up the hill. While on the boat, we met another couple, who were friends, and the man, Dwight, lives in the suburbs in Minnesota, leaving us with endless stories to share, especially with Tom, a native of Minnesota. Christie was from Denver. It was also fun talking to Americans whom we seldom meet in this part of the world.

Seeing the elephants on the island in the Chobe River was such a joy.

The three hours passed quickly, and before we knew it, we returned to our resort to meet up with Andrea and Jenny later. We shared a delightful day and evening while taking many beautiful photos, some of which we’re sharing here today. Many more will follow in days to come. We haven’t put a dent in the pictures worthy of posting but have plenty of time to do so in the days and weeks to follow.

Two young male elephants were practicing sparing.

This morning, we had a nice breakfast in the resort’s restaurant buffet. We never had dinner at the buffet since there were few foods suitable for my way of eating. In our last post for this trip, we’ll share food photos and final expenses for our one week away from Marloth Park.

As always, we’re a little tentative about getting another 90-day visa stamp when we return to South Africa in two days and go through immigration. If we are turned down, we’ll have to devise a plan which, of course, if that happens, we’ll share here. Each time we get another 90 days, we sigh with relief. The law is vague in this regard…are we required to return to our home country each time? The answer isn’t clear. We’ll see how it goes one more time.

In a little over an hour, our trusty Chris from Chris Tours will arrive at this resort, who will drive us back to the border between Botswana and Zambia, and then take us to the Protea Hotel by Marriott we’ve stayed many times in the past. It’s a pleasant hotel, with good breakfast included, lovely rooms with comfy beds, and free WiFi.

A crocodile lounged on the grass on an island in the Chobe River.

We will check into our ground floor room, unpack a little, and within a few hours, be heading out to the Zambezi River for another sunset cruise, this time on the Lion King boat with live entertainment. This will be our second time on this boat. We enjoyed the scenery, the included drinks and snacks, and the African music last time and looked forward to this repeated event.

Elephants are excellent swimmers, using their trunks as a snorkel. Cool, eh?

When the boat ride has ended, Chris or his staff will pick up up to take us to the Royal Livingstone Hotel, where we will dine tonight and again tomorrow night, overlooking the Zambezi River. We’ve embarked on quite a few adventures this time, more than in the past, and have had nothing but great experiences.

We couldn’t take our eyes off the swimming elephants.

Saturday afternoon, after a late checkout, Chris will transport us to the Harry Mwanga Nkumbula Livingstone Airport for our short flight (less than two hours) back to Nelspruit. At that point, we’ll go through immigration and see how it rolls out again. After getting a great rate at the US $15, ZAR 253 a day, we’ll collect the rental car at Budget and make the hour-plus drive back to Marloth Park.

The water was shallow in this spot, and he could stand up and walk the rest of the way.

By 5:30 pm, 1730 hrs., we should be back at our holiday home in Marloth Park to decide if we’ll dine in on frozen leftovers or head to Jabula for dinner. We’ll play that by ear, providing all goes well with our return.

Yesterday, I attempted to process the ZAR 196, US $11.64 customs fees due on our UPS package from the US. For some odd reason, UPS’s system wouldn’t accept an international credit card, like all of ours. Only South African credit cards can be used. Louise was so kind to help, using her card, which we’ll reimburse when we see her next. All went through Ok, and we should receive the package sometime next week.

We are packed and ready to leave in about 40 minutes, so I’d better wrap this up and get it uploaded so I won’t have to rush later this afternoon when we have plans.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 25, 2021:

This is my new toy, a JBL Bluetooth speaker that works with voice activation from our phones or laptops. The sound is fantastic! We use this every day! For more details, please click here.

Yesterday, over 12 hours without power…The security alarm woke us this morning, set up by ugly animals!…Scary looking visitor in the garden with photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on July 14, 2022 with 0 Comment

Juan, the snake handler, informed us this is a spotted bush snake which, until we knew what it was, concerned us that it is venomous. Luckily, it is not!

A truck hit a power pole in Marloth Park, resulting in several hours without power. Then, load shedding kicked in, and we spent almost 12 hours without power. We put the metal bowl filled with ice in the fridge, so I believe all those perishables survived. But, numerous packages of meat defrosted in the freezer, and we’re wondering if we should toss them. They stayed cold but not frozen. I’m always uncertain under those conditions.

Then, there was a load of dark clothes in the washer that stopped working when the pole was hit, and we were never able to restart it. It was not worth going outside to the laundry area in the dark, so we waited until this morning. Load shedding was supposed to start again at 9:00 am, so I am busy trying to get the two loads done before we lose power again.

We ate dinner at the dining room table in the dark with the rechargeable lanterns on the table. Tom did the dishes by lantern light, after which we headed to the bedroom with the one lamp connected to the inverter outlet, allowing us to charge equipment and use the one lamp on my bedside table.

We streamed a few shows and finally headed off to sleep only to be awakened, hearts pounding, when the security alarm went off. We both jumped up and led to the glass doors to the veranda. Baboon invasion!!! They tried to get into the house by jiggling the door handles and triggering the alarm.

Tom noticed this snake climbing up this tree and chasing a rodent.

They got into everything we had on the veranda, mainly repellent products. After finding no food in any container, they were about to give up when Tom opened the doors and scared them off. I had to call the alarm company to let them know we were safe, or they’d send out a security vehicle to check on us. There’s a fee for false alarms. We reached them in time. They’d be here in five minutes if we hadn’t called.

Yesterday afternoon while I was inside the house recharging my laptop, Tom asked me to come outside to show me something. He had just taken a few photos, which he showed me on the camera. First, he heard a “plop” on the ground after the snake had fallen from one tree, trying to get to another tree to chase the rodent. Quickly the snake slithered up the tree, barely giving Tom enough time to get the camera and take the two shots he got.

How exciting! I was sorry I missed it but happy he got the photos. There are several bright green snakes here in the bush: a green mamba (highly venomous), the green tree snake (mildly venomous), the boomslang (highly venomous), and more, as listed below from this site:

This is the third snake that visited us at a holiday home in Marloth Park. A venomous Mozambique spitting cobra at the Hornbill house in 2014, the boomslang at the Lovebird’s nest house in 2021, and now at the Ratel house, a yet-to-be-identified green snake. I sent the two photos to a local expert snake handler, Juan de Beer, and I’m waiting to hear back from him on which snake this is.

We didn’t see any point in contacting Juan to remove the snake. We weren’t in danger since the tree was less than four meters from the veranda. However, we must keep a watchful eye out in the event the snake decides to come onto the veranda or get into the house, which is a common scenario.

The veranda and the entrance to the house is at ground level with only a small step to enter the house, a step a snake could easily maneuver. Snakes commonly climb full flights of stairs. “Snakes are flexible movers with between 200 and 400 vertebrae with just as many ribs connected.”

We are watching for the snake, easy to spot with its bright green color, but we will feel better once we know what type it is…or will we feel better?

I just heard back from Juan. Yeah! It’s a spotted bush snake…. nonvenomous!

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, July 14, 2021:

Our waiter took the family photo at Maynard’s in Excelsior, Minnesota, last year on this date. For more, please click here.

It was a lovely Father’s Day in the bush…The animals are already back!!!…Check out today’s new video, taken moments ago!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on June 20, 2022 with 0 Comment

This morning, they returned from the busy holiday weekend. The animals, I mean. As I type this, there is a forkl of kudus, two Medium Daddies whose horns are halfway to full-grown, three moms, and three babies, one of which can’t be more than a few weeks old.

Also, a herd of impalas joined in on the excitement, and in moments, we had 20 or more animals in the garden, inspiring me to make the above video. It’s such fun for us to see so many wildlife in the garden. We never tire of greeting the latest to arrive.

Lollie is munching on pellets with them. The animals have become used to her being a permanent fixture in our garden, allowing her to “dine” with them. She’s a little bossy also, never failing to let the other visitors know, “this is my house!” It’s hilarious that she is here almost all day and night.

Last evening, during sundowner time, the mongooses arrived, cackling, running like crazy, ensuring we knew they were here. The band of about 50 crazy little critters piled atop one another in the side garden, waiting patiently while I cut the paloney (a large baloney type roll we buy at Spar) into bite-sized pieces, ensuring enough for all of them.

We had a pleasant Father’s Day!. No, we didn’t do much since the park was packed with tourists, and we didn’t want to deal with the Crocodile River crowds. or the groups on the bumpy dirt roads, but today, it’s quiet again since most of them had left. The school holidays will begin in a few weeks, and it will be busy, maybe for the entire three weeks.

Something has been on my mind about our posts the past few days. We’ve mentioned this in the past and will repeat it here today. Sometimes, nothing is going on to write about. After almost ten years of living in other people’s houses, visiting all seven continents, countless countries, cities, towns and villages, and hotels, we sometimes like doing nothing.

That’s not to say we don’t have many exciting plans. But, without a doubt, the pandemic has significantly impacted us. Thousands of flights were canceled worldwide last week. Cruises are being canceled right and left. Prices for transportation, including airfare, rental cars, taxis, and Uber, have skyrocketed. Even the cost of living in Africa has

Some world travelers are on the move right now, certainly more frequently than we have been in the past few months. But considering how much we did in the two months we were away from Marloth Park, we feel a break is in order. Also, we consider the time spent in booking the following, which also contributes to our desire to stay put for a while:

Flights: 4 trips, 9 flights
Cruise: 1 (plus canceled 1 cruise due to contracting Covid-19 on the first cruise)
Transatlantic crossings: 4
Hotels (plus one period staying with friends): 6
Long distance driver, taxi, Ube, limo: 5
Rental cars: 4

In two months from today, we’ll be on the move again as we make our way to Zambia and then on to Botswana where we’ll stay for a week with many bookings required for that trip.

But, in between times, especially considering all the problems still encountered due to the pandemic, and the difficulty we encountered in those two months, we don’t hesitate to take advantage of this quieter time. As a result, sometimes, we have little to share.

We think about how dull it would be if we lived in a country without the constant stream of wildlife at our door, after we’d done a fair share of sightseeing and taking photos, as we’ve done in many countries worldwide. Right now, we are happiest here.

Also, we don’t forget that in five months, we’ll be off on another six-plus week adventure while we cruise for 42 nights from Athens to Cape Town. We won’t be short of any photos to share and stories to tell. So, in the interim, please bear with us with our mundane stories and lack of exciting new photos. Yesterday, we posted a recipe. Who knows what we’ll post tomorrow other than photos of wildlife and the nuances of our daily lives?

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 20, 2021:

We had set Frank’s seeds on the table to keep the warthogs and bushbucks from coming onto the veranda to eat them. Suddenly four hornbills decided to dig in. For more photos, please click here.

Today is our wedding anniversary…We’re celebrating with the animals…Off to Kruger National Park…

Posted by worldwide-admin on March 7, 2022 with 0 Comment

Bossy makes sure we see she is here for a visit.

Today is our 27th wedding anniversary, and we’re off to Kruger for a self-drive safari. When we arrive in Lower Sabie, we’ll have lunch at the Mugg & Bean Restaurant overlooking the Sabie River, hoping to see Cape buffalos, hippos, crocs, and more.

Sometimes a trip to Kruger proves to be uneventful. We hope to spot elephants on the long drive, and if we experience “safari luck,” we might encounter big cats and other exciting species. If we see a lot, we are grateful and excited beyond words. We are always prepared for that eventuality and take it with a grain of salt.

Yesterday, we grocery shopped for what may be the last time before we leave South Africa in a mere 16 days. If we run low on groceries, we can always dine out or make a run to the local meat market and the little shop for a night’s meal. At this point, we are trying to use up as much as we have on hand as possible as the days wind down.

I am working hard to get in as much of my walking as possible before leaving. I hope to have half of my usual goal accomplished before heading out the door soon. If we return by 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs, I’ll be able to finish the other half before dinner. I already prepped everything for tonight’s dinner except the salad I’ll make when we return.

We’d dined out twice in the past five days, and after lunch at Mugg & Bean, we thought dinner at home would be fine. We’re having bacon-wrapped filet mignon, fresh green beans, and salad, with rice for Tom. It will be a perfect way to celebrate our special day.

Off we go! We will be back tomorrow with photos from Kruger National Park.

Have a happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 7, 2021:

We waited quite a while to pick up their heads for a photo, but they were preoccupied. For more photos, please click here.

Birthday festivities have ended…Back to pleasure in the bush with friends and animals…

Posted by worldwide-admin on February 23, 2022 with 0 Comment

Today is a busy day, so I’ll need to hurry through today’s post and be on my way. At 11:30 am, Rita is picking me up, and we’re heading to Malalane for her chiropractic appointment, and then we’ll head to lunch at a popular restaurant, The Deck. I can’t remember the last time I attended a “girl’s lunch” although I’ve had several “girl’s breakfasts” at Stoep Cafe with Kathy and Rita.

Tom and Gerhard are driving to Nelspruit to drop off the rental car for Tom to pick up another, which will be the last car we’ll need until we depart four weeks from today, on March 23. Time flies by quickly as we savor every last moment in the bush.

We hadn’t seen Slyvia for a while, and now she’s also returned. Could they have been off giving birth to their young? We’ll find out soon if they return with little ones.

Most likely, when we return in December, we won’t be staying at this house. The animals we know and love most likely won’t find us at the next house, a few miles, km, from here. But Little found me when we arrived here after a two-year absence, so maybe, he’ll find us again.

The animals can wander an area of a few kilometers each day, so we never know who we may see again when we return in December to a house we hope to rent, owned by Louise and Danie and recently remodeled.

Broken Horn’s face is muddy from digging for roots.

Lately, Hal and Broken Horn have become quite a source of delight for both of us. Although they may appear simultaneously, most often, it’s one, then the other, as was the case this morning. Their personalities and demeanor are uniquely different. Hal is more easy-going with the piglets and moms, while Broken Horn doesn’t hesitate to show them his horns.

He never hurts them, but an injury could happen. We often see mature warthogs with severe injuries from messing with wildebeests and kudus. The bushbucks back off entirely when a larger animal is near. We’ve never seen a bushbuck with one of those gaping holes due to an angry larger animal. Overall, the animals get along well.

Broken Horn also steps up onto the veranda and can stand there for an hour waiting for us to “do something.”

We are cautious when tossing pellets to ensure no unnecessary competition between species occurs. Of course, there are occasional scuffles within each species, mainly just chasing one another off. We humans need to avoid inciting any disharmony between the wildlife. Their lives are hard enough to have humans making it worse.

This morning, I am on a more frequent walking schedule, hoping to get in as many steps as possible before Rita gets here. I haven’t missed a day since I began, shortly after the start of the new year. I’ve managed to meet or beat my prior week’s number of steps each week. At this point, 8000 to 10000 steps per day seems to be the number that works best for our lifestyle and available time.

This band of mongooses has been hanging out for hours each day, staying in the shade when it’s been so hot.

When we get to Florida, I will be able to walk outdoors. There are plenty of birds and marine life photos I’ll be able to take since we’ll be situated right on the water. Of course, I’ll be taking my phone or camera if I see any alligators. It has been over two years since we’ve been close to the sea in India in 2020/2021.

So that’s it for today, folks. I have to get a few things done before heading out, including some photos to this post and wrapping it up.

It’s good to see Holey Moley once again. She’s been busy elsewhere lately.

I hope you have a great day wherever you may be in the world.

Photo from one year ago today, February 23, 2021:

Frank and The Misses were trotting over to the veranda for some seeds. For more photos, please click here.

Marloth Park has suffered a sad loss of a beloved animal…

Posted by worldwide-admin on January 3, 2022 with 0 Comment

Not our photo. Fluffy, male, and Dezi at the Impala Dam on January 15, 2021.

After a good night’s sleep, I awoke this morning at 7:30 and began my day by checking out the world news, my email, messages on Messenger, text, and WhatsApp, and finally checking out the most recent new posts on Facebook as I always do. I love knowing what’s going on in the world. I also listen to podcasts when getting ready for the day. But more on that later in this post.

When I read the following post this morning that popped up on Facebook, it brought tears to my eyes. Not only was it beautifully written and heart-wrenching, it was sensitive to the reality that few of us in Marloth Park had ever seen Dezi, but that didn’t mean we didn’t love her.

Many nights, we’ve sat on the veranda and listened to hers, and Fluffy’s roar permeates the air. Last night, the roars we heard must have only been Fluffy’s since, by then, Dezi was no more.

Please read the following unedited, beautiful tributes to her and her sad passing.

May be an image of big cat and nature — Not our photo. Fluffy and Dezi at the water’s edge in Lionspruit.

“A TRIBUTE TO QUEEN DEZI by Gerrie Camacho.

The roar from the Lionspruit lioness, also known as Dezi, will no longer be heard as she has spent her last night under the Lowveld skies. As of last night, she will no longer join her mate of the past 16 plus years in the always familiar duet of lion vocalization, claiming Lionspruit as their territory. She was a quiet legend and was most probably one of the oldest wild living lionesses but at the age of twenty years had to quit the African bush life.

Few people were privileged to spend time with her, many were lucky to see her, and most owners and visitors had the regular privilege to hear her at night time. After her radio collar transmitted from the same area for the past few days, it was pertinent to go find her on foot in an area too dense to enter with a vehicle.

She was hardly responding to any stimuli of the sound of humans and paid no attention to our approach on foot. A winding pathway was established from the nearest road to approach her by vehicle. Here she was darted and taken to a workable area where she was examined by Doc Peet.

We can only pay tribute to this female who kept a fighting spirit to survive until the last minute. Doc Peet who has been serving the Marloth community voluntarily and diligently over the past couple of years had the sad task to let her pass on as humanely as possible. This task could have been performed more easily, but he chose to help her out of this life with as much dignity as possible. Thank you to all those involved in finding her. Thank you Doc Peet for the professional, compassionate and respectful manner you once again showed while working with this magnificent beast in her last moments under the Lionspruit skies. R.I.P. Dezi!“

Also, on Facebook was the following message further explaining her passing:

“Marloth Park Honorary Ranger

Dezi

It is a sad day indeed for all of us who love our own Lionspruit lions.

Yesterday we lost Dezi. It has been a long week of hoping against hope that she would recover from age-related injuries that she recently suffered whilst still living her best lion life. But unfortunately, she was losing ground day by day. Dezi indeed lived to a great age for a lion.

We would like to thank Doctor Peet Venter for his caring, professional input. He concluded yesterday that Dezi was suffering, and it was time to let her go. Thank you also to Gerrie Camacho from MTPA, the Marloth Park Field Rangers, and the Honorary Rangers for this last day of care. A special thank you to Joce Gordon for the time-intensive monitoring, especially over the last few weeks.

Genie Retief, Chief Honorary Ranger.”

It is amazing that those of us who love wildlife can feel so deeply for an animal they’ve only heard but never seen. That’s the magic of living in Africa, or anywhere there is free-roaming wildlife. We fall in love with their beauty, uniqueness, and mystery, although we were never able to get too close to her or ever see her at all.

If we are so touched by the sound of a lion, living only meters away from Lionspruit, which abuts our holiday home in the rear, it is easy to understand how connected we become with the animals we see almost every day, who look into our eyes, with trust and interest and depend on us, in the leanest times, to toss some sustenance their way.

Soon, the holidaymakers who came to the park for the Christmas and New Year season will be leaving to return to their homes in other parts of South Africa and, for some, other parts of the world. When they are gone, the vast numbers of animals that routinely visit us will return to us in abundance.

Now, with the rich vegetation for the wildlife to eat after weeks of rain, they no longer need much in the way of pellets. And yet, day by day, they return, much to our joy and appreciation. Sure, we still toss a few pellets their way, the same way you’d offer your dog or cat an occasional treat, knowing with or without this offering, you are still loved, still important in their lives.

In the future, the lion roars we hear at night will only be those of Fluffy and, of course, the remaining five lions currently residing in our presence.

The holiday has ended, but our hope for the future is only just beginning. May the New Year bring all of us peace of mind and comfort.

Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #284. Festival in the street in India. “Meena Sankranti is an important Hindu festival observed on the auspicious occasion of the sun’s transition from Pisces to Aries. Known as Meena Sankramanam in South India, the festival will be celebrated on March 14 (Saturday), 2020, all over India. Celebrating a Sankranti is often marked with the donation of various things. According to specific personal needs, the people celebrate the event at the onset of every month. Some Indian states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala observe the occasion at the beginning of each month. In contrast, states like West Bengal celebrate the festival during the latter half of the month.” For more photos, please click here.

A long ago memory with relevance today….Four lions spotted in Marloth Park…Are the animals hiding?..

Posted by worldwide-admin on November 13, 2021 with 0 Comment

On a walk in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2012, shortly before we left the US to travel the world, we stumbled across this saying on a large slab of stone.

Around this date in 2012, Tom and I went for a walk in the Old Towne area in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were staying there in a lovely condo for a few months while we wrapped up all the seemingly endless details of preparing to leave the US for our anticipated years-long journey.

We chose Scottsdale in an attempt to determine if and when, in the future, we may decide to settle somewhere. Would Scottsdale be an option? After spending two months there, we found it wasn’t quite for us. But during those two months there, we enjoyed ourselves as our first foray away from Minnesota, where Tom grew up, and I’d lived for over 40 years.

A male waterbuck at sunset on the bank of the Crocodile River.

During that time, we set up all of our new digital equipment, continued making bookings into the future, and handled insurance and other business matters that required attention before we left the US on January 3, 2013, from San Diego, California, on our first cruise. Oddly, the memories of that time are as fresh in our minds today as if it was yesterday.

Today’s main photo popped up from one of the clouds we use as a “memory.” It made us laugh when we remembered encountering this message on a stone slab during the walk that day in Scottsdale. At the time and even now, we perceived it as an omen that we would enjoy our travels together in the upcoming years, knowing the depth and quality of our relationship. We’ve never been disappointed.

Sunset from Kathy and Don’s third-floor veranda.

At that time, nine years ago, we had no idea how long we’d travel, if we’d enjoy it for the long term, after facing many of the challenges we’ve encountered along the way. We knew our desire and commitment were firmly in place along with our established criteria which we’d fined tuned during the ten prior months that we’d spent conducting research.

If you find the sign difficult to read, the quote from Mark Twain reads: “I have found that there is no surer way to find out if you like people or you hate them, than to travel with them.”

How true that’s been for us and surely is for other couples who travel, whether they are partners or friends. Never once in the past nine years have either of us questioned we are with the “right traveler,” the “right companion,” or the right “love partner.”

After hearing about our ten months in lockdown in India, many have commented that they’d be at each other’s throats being stuck in one room for so long. We comforted each other and provided support and encouragement to one another during the challenging time. In the end, it only made us stronger individually and as a couple. Go figure. Who knew we’d spend 10% of our travels stuck in a hotel room? We are very grateful we didn’t get Covid-19 and that we came out in good spirits.

As for the lions in Marloth Park, four have been sighted over the past several nights by rangers and others. Two males and two females are obviously on the move and hunting for food, which is plentiful in Marloth Mark, perhaps even easier to find than in massive Kruger National Park.

A male impala grazing on vegetation on the bank of the river.

A weird phenomenon we’ve observed these past three days since the sighting has been the lack of wildlife visiting our garden, less daily than we’ve seen since we arrived last January. While in the national parks in India searching for tiger sightings, the rangers explained that the various antelopes, particularly the Sambar deer, give off bark as a warning sign for all animals when a tiger is in the area.

Is it possible our antelopes here in Marloth Park have given off such notice to all wildlife that their lives are in danger with the nearby lions roaming through the park? We feel confident this is the case. Not even Little, other warthogs, or our usual 10 to 12 bushbucks are stopping by. We’ve only seen bushbuck Gordon Ramsay each of the past three days, but he is very skittish and nervous, constantly looking around.

Frank and The Misses don’t seem concerned about the lions in the park. They aren’t much of a meal for a lion.

Word is out not to feed the animals since it will cause them to gather in groups making easy prey for the lions. With no animals in the garden except for the mongooses, that’s not a problem for us. We haven’t tossed pellets in days while we wait for this scary time for the animals to come to an end.

Hopefully, the lions who’ve arrived from Kruger, from the other side of the fence between the two parks, will return from whence they’ve come. But, if they find the pickings are good here, they may not leave for quite a while. In the interim, we all must be diligent about being outdoors at night and during the day. Lions may prefer to hunt in the dark, but we’ve seen them with “kills” during daylight hours. Of course, we are being cautious when outdoors, day and night.

Well, folks, that’s our news for today. Please stop by again tomorrow for more.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, November 13, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #235. This photo from Maui, Hawaii, almost looked like a scene from New England by the sea. For more photos, please click here.

Off to the dentist once again…Busy morning in the bush…The animals are hungry!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on September 13, 2021 with 0 Comment

In a few minutes, we’ll be leaving for my dentist appointment when finally, I’m having that recently root-canaled tooth pulled. It just wouldn’t stop hurting, and there was no point in adding a crown to a painful tooth. Since it’s the last molar on the bottom left and won’t be visible when I smile or laugh, pulling was the best option.

Since I had the root canal only a few months ago, Dr. Singh explained it could require “surgery” to pull it out if it doesn’t come out quickly on the first try. I am not looking forward to this.

Thick Neck/Bad Leg hangs around most of the day and night.

My plan today was to start preparing today’s post, hoping to complete it when we return. Hopefully, I will feel fine and will be able to finish the post. If not, I will write a short update, add what I have written thus far, and be back with more tomorrow. I am hoping I don’t need to take more antibiotics. I’ve had enough of them in the past year with the teeth issues.

Once I am done today, if all goes well, I won’t have to return to Dr. Singh until we return in December 2022, when I still have one silver amalgam filling in my mouth. I want to be removed, once and for all. Over the years, I’ve had all of them replaced with white porcelain.

Kudus and bushbucks in the garden this morning.

This morning was quite eventful in the garden. At one point, we had no less than 20 wild animals in the garden. Without rain yet, the bush is so dry the animals have nothing to graze upon and are subject to people like us feeding them. Several bushbucks live in our garden, always looking at us for more food. It’s heartbreaking. We can’t possibly give them enough food to get them through the day.

However, they will make it to the rainy season, from what we can tell. They all look healthy and surprisingly well-fed. On Friday night at Jabula, we met Gary, one of our neighbors, and he sees and feeds many of the same animals we see and feed. We laughed over their characteristics. Each animal has its unique personality, and it’s often easy to distinguish one from another. We all laughed about Broken Horn, This Neck/Bad Leg, and Holey Moley.

Lots of animals were looking at us this morning.

Gary wasn’t quite sure who Little is, but then again, he may not have been looking for his distinguishing marks and characteristics, which for me is hard to miss. When he approaches, he always heads to the side of the veranda, closest to where I sit. He’s very bossy and will come up onto the veranda if we don’t respond to his visit. Gosh, soon we’ll be gone, and he’ll have to find someone else to pester several times a day. (Not that I mind at all).

A few readers have written inquiring about how hard it will be on the wildlife when we leave. Once the rains come in the next month or two, everything will be green, and eating pellets and vegetables offered by humans won’t be necessary to survive. But, they are resourceful and will wander to other locations where residents are feeding.

We couldn’t toss out the carrots and pellets quickly enough.

At that point, any pellets tossed their way are comparable to treats one would give their pet, not necessary for survival but fun for us humans to show our love and devotion.

Last night, we cooked burgers on the braai, directly on the grates. This morning, a dozen or so mongooses climbed up the back of the braai and started nibbling on the remnants of the meat and fat. Soon, Vusi or Zef will arrive and clean the braai as they do each day after we’ve used it. But it’s always funny to hear the mongooses moving inside the gas braai. It’s another of those humorous experiences we discover in the bush.

As I looked out the window in the kitchen, I saw the kudus in the front garden.

Right now, three mongooses are drinking from Frank’s little container of water. As carnivores, they don’t eat seed or vegetables, but on occasion, they’ll run off with a piece of cabbage, celery, or carrots, playing with it but not eating it.

Right now, only 15 minutes before we depart for Malalane, Tom is watching overtime for last night’s Minnesota Vikings Game. If it’s not done in time for us to leave, he’ll watch it when we return later on.

When they heard the commotion in the back, they moved to the rear garden with the others.

We have returned from the dentist in Malalane. I’m not up to writing much now, but I’ll be back with more tomorrow. All went well, but right now, I think I’ll take it easy and watch the latest episode of Season 11 of The Walking Dead and lay low for the remainder of the day.

It’s a beautiful warm, not hot, sunny day. The animals returned when we did, and they were looking for pellets and seeds. We are attending to them now. Tomorrow is another day, and surely I will be fine by then.

Three kudus in the front garden munching off a little tree with greenery.

Have a pleasant day!

Photo from one year ago today, September 13, 2020:

One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #174. As we were sitting in our outdoor living room in Kenya that morning in 2013, while writing, seven goats jumped over their stone wall behind our garden directly into our garden, only a few feet from us. They decided to dine on the lush leaves of the hibiscus bushes in our yard. For more photos, please click here. For more photos, please click here.

An exciting morning in Kruger National Park….A favorite animal hidden in the bush…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 11, 2021 with 2 Comments

This was the final photo I took of the leopard; although unclear, we were grateful to get it.

When I bolted out of bed this morning, feeling much better, after not coughing all night and getting adequate sleep, I said to Tom, “Let’s go to Kruger as soon as we’re ready to go out the door!”

In a matter of minutes, I was showered, dressed, and ready to go. Tom filled out the required entry form, grabbed the passports, filled our mugs with iced tea and ice while I grabbed a second-charged battery for the new camera, and we were out the door.

This was the first photo I took today of the leopard, obstructed by brush and vegetation. I was determined to get a better shot.

Knowing we have the interview at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs, with the reporter from the newspaper in Minnesota, we knew going as early as we could be a must. Also, we wanted to leave ample time for me to prepare today’s post and hopefully upload a few photos from our self-drive safari.

Many visitors prefer to enter Kruger in the early morning as soon as they open at dawn. For us, we are less picky about the time we go since we’ve been fortunate (i.e.safari luck”) to see plenty of wildlife in the latter part of the morning and often during midday. One never knows when and where the animals will wander about the massive national park.

We were hoping for a good experience. But, as all of us know, getting great photos in Kruger is unpredictable. We always prepare ourselves for the possibility that time in the park can prove to be uneventful and disappointing. That wasn’t the case today! At times, inclement weather can be a deterrent, but today, the sun shines with only a few scattered clouds.

This was the blurry second photo I got of the leopard eating her kill.

No, we didn’t see the Big Five, as many strive to achieve. We saw two of the five; a leopard as shown in today’s photos and a few elephants, which will be shared in the next few days as we go through all of our photos. As mentioned in the past, for us, seeing the Big Five is not necessarily a goal. We achieved this many times in South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia on prior visits.

These days, we don’t think in terms of the “Big Five.” We’re often looking for unique and unusual sightings, a lofty goal that is seldom achieved. But today, we had some thrills, especially our included photos of a leopard eating a kill near the Sabie River, not too far from Lower Sabie, where we always stop for a bathroom break or lunch at the Mugg & Bean Restaurant.

With my new camera in hand, which I still need to learn more about, I had the basics down pat, sufficient to get a few good shots. But, the reality remains that wildlife is not always advantageous for amateur photographers, such as me.

After we were on our return drive toward the Crocodile Gate with no less than an hour until we’d reach the exit, we noticed about a half dozen cars poised on the side of the road with passengers holding cameras in hand in an attempt for a good shot. It was tricky. The leopard was deep in the bush, obstructed by vegetation and branches, and I didn’t feel hopeful for a shot.

This was the third photo I got of the leopard, hoping for a better shot, the best of which is the main photo.

With Tom’s expert maneuvering around other vehicles and my sheer will and determination, we found ourselves in a prime position where we stayed only for a few minutes to allow others to take whatever photos they could get. But, even in this choice location, regardless of how steady I held my hand, getting these few photos were far beyond my expertise.

Subsequently, I am sharing all that I managed to eke out, however blurry that may be. There was no time to sit there and focus for better shots. The people behind us were impatient and also wanted to take a few photos. So, dear readers, here they are.

Over the next few days, we’ll share many exciting, albeit clearer, photos we managed to take along the way. Please check back for more over the next several days.

Have a fantastic and rewarding day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 11, 2020:

One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #140. The Mona Lisa was encased in thick glass with lots of heads and cameras in the way of taking photos. If not impossible, it was challenging to manage a good photo through the glass or the crowd. We chose not to wait for a better opening. For more photos, please click here.

We can hear the helicopters rounding up our animal friends…The close proximity of sightings…

Posted by worldwide-admin on June 21, 2021 with 0 Comment

Who’s in the garden this morning?

12 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Girl, Fred, and Ethel, Peter, Paul, Mary, and more
10 bushbucks – inc. Chewy, Thick Neck/Bad Leg, Spikey, Big Spikey, and others
7 kudus – inc. Bossy, Notches, Little Daddy, and others
1 wildebeest – inc. Broken Horn
19 helmeted guinea-fowl
2 Frank and The Misses

The sound of the helicopters overhead is making me cringe. But, with seven kudus in the garden right now along with Little, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Fred, and Ethel, and seven bushbucks, we’re hoping they’ll hang around with us today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. If they stay nearby, they may be safe, according to Louise’s input.

The male bushbuck we call Bad Leg stood close to us on the veranda.

Animals are amazing. If they stay in this general area, they are less likely to be herded to their demise. Nevertheless, it will be a tense three days on this end. Now, here comes Broken Horn, with lucerne hanging from his mouth. As he approached, he stepped on the long grass in his mouth and pulled hard to get it out.

We underestimate their intelligence. But, then again, do we? As we sit here day after day, totally enthralled, watching them and their behaviors, we’re continually in awe of their innate ability to communicate with one another, let alone with us from time to time.

For the first time, gray louries pecked at Frank’s seeds.

Yesterday, while observing dozens of birds who’ve become regulars, we commented to one another how each day is different from the next. So it’s no wonder it’s difficult for us to feel a need or desire to go away for the day. Even visiting Kruger National Park, which we’ve promised ourselves to visit more frequently when we return from the US, doesn’t consistently deliver the thrills we encounter right here in the garden.

No doubt Kruger has its array of thrills; seeing the Big Five is only a tiny part of it. The endless videos we’ve made and photos we’ve taken over the years of extreme sightings in the national park have left us reeling with wonder. We often refer back to them, astounded by what we’d seen.

The gray louries are typically shy around humans. So it was fun to see them up close.

But, the garden is another matter, requiring no hours-long rides in the car without seeing anything and often managing to maneuver for a good spot when other vehicles are crowded near a special sighting. So, for us, it’s usually about the “little things” we see along the way.

That’s not to say we are tired of game drives. Suppose we could add all of our safaris and self-drives in our visits to national parks. In that case, we could easily say we’ve had hundreds of experiences in several countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Morocco, and most recently, India.

A gray lourie landed on the table on the veranda while we were seated, a first for us.

In India alone, we visited three national parks during our private tour before the Covid-19 lockdown. We counted 24 game drives in those locations, always on a search for the majestic Bengal Tiger. Mission accomplished. The Big Five performed in many of the above-listed countries, beginning in Kenya in 2013.

That’s not to say more thrills aren’t awaiting us on more game drives. Most certainly, they are, and we look forward to those opportunities, in many ways inspired by our commitment to sharing them here with all of our worldwide readers. But, of course, doing so makes the sightings all the more exciting and rewarding.

Unusual. Three gray louries (go-away birds) descended on the grill for the first time.

Yesterday, we focused on the dozens of birds visiting the garden, drinking from the birdbath, eating seeds, and even getting up close and personal with us by landing on the veranda table while we were seated here, as we are now. Whether it is the sighting of a dung beetle rolling his ball, a bird splashing in the birdbath, or a band of mongoose munching on leftover meat and fat from a prior meal, we love it all. The proximity certainly is a factor in our degree of enthusiasm.

Yes, we love it all. And soon, in a mere eight days, we’ll be leaving all of this behind us for four weeks and heading to a world so far removed from what we’ve experienced here on a day-to-day basis. Oddly, once again, it will be a culture shock. I can only imagine the day we walk into a Costco store to buy a few of their popular five-dollar roasted chickens to eat in our hotel with a microwave and full kitchen, and our eyes will open wide in shock over all the “abundance.”

Little, on the left, and Tiny were sitting closer together than we’d seen in the past. They are our favorite pigs, and yet their personalities are so different. Little is pushy and bossy, and Tiny is gentle and accommodating.

Life in the bush is abundant in other ways.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 21, 2020:

The ocean is behind this old vine-covered garage in Campanario, Madeira, Portugal, in 2014. For more photos, please click here.