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Remembering Marloth Park’s treasures…Stunning photos posted by locals…Upcoming busy weekend with houseguests….

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Photo by Hanlie de Wit. Bushbabies were checking out the action.

Every morning, before beginning the post, I check out Marloth Park’s Sighting Page on Facebook for any new wildlife sightings, not so much to post them but to see what’s happening in our absence. Today, June 15, is the date we’ll return in 2024, twelve months from today.

It’s not that I wish the time to pass quickly while we’re away. We’re enjoying our time in Florida and will surely enjoy the three upcoming cruises. But, no doubt, I think about it often and miss our human and animal friends in the bush. Life is easier here, and the heat, humidity, insects, and other annoyances in the bush.

But, when we are there, all of that is incidental, and we find ways to stay comfortable and adapt to the surroundings since the benefits and joys are many. The weather here in Florida is as hot and humid as in South Africa. The dew point has been higher here many days than we’d ever experienced in Marloth Park in the summer months. The difference here is the whole-house aircon that stays on 24/7, keeping us cool and comfortable.

Photo by Meryl Venter. Lions in our old neighborhood.

It’s impossible to have a whole-house aircon in the bush with all the load-shedding issues and the unaffordable cost of electricity. It’s just not affordable for homeowners providing holiday homes with reasonably priced holiday rentals. Plus, it’s not practical with doors open and no bug screens.

When I checked Facebook this morning, I was thrilled to find the three new photos we posted today, giving credit to the photographers for such fine and unique shots. Taking pictures in The Villages is challenging. The houses are somewhat cookie-cutter from the exterior.

Next week, we plan to look at some houses for sale and prepare a post sharing what we’ve found. No, we aren’t looking for ourselves, but we thought sharing photos and pricing with our readers in a post would be fun. We’ve looked at some houses for sale at different points during our years-long travel journey since it’s interesting to both of us.

Photo by Meryl Venter. A leopard in Marloth Park, one of several.

On another note, we have a busy weekend coming up with two visits from separate couples, friends Karen and Rich on Friday and friends Lea Ann and Chuck on Sunday. No sooner than one couple leaves, we’ll hurry and wash the sheets and remake the guest room bed and clean the bathroom for the next visit.

In both cases, for these one-night stays, we plan to dine out for dinner to show our guests the fun squares we’ve visited in the past. We’ll most likely go to Spanish Springs Town Square and Sumter Landing on each of the two nights and have breakfast here in the mornings.

Soon our Kroger grocery store online order will arrive. We’ve included bread, fruit, and juice for our guests (which we don’t eat), along with eggs and bacon, sufficient for both mornings. Seeing our friends again and enjoying quality time together in this lovely place will be fun.

As for today, we have excellent leftovers from ordering Chinese food last night that was enough for two nights. We’re really enjoying the delicious food from Sunrise Asian Restaurant. It’s too far to pick up the food driving in the golf cart, so we’re taking advantage of the Grubhub free delivery we receive by being Amazon Prime members.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 15, 2013:

No photos were posted on this date, ten years ago. For the story posted, please click here.

Toulon France…Ten years ago today…Why don’t we spend more time in Europe…

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Boats packed the marinas at the popular resort destination. For the text on this date’s post, please click here.

We’re glad for the times we spent in various European countries in the first few years of our travels. We visited more historical buildings, old churches, museums, and botanical gardens than most people do in a lifetime. We spent months in Italy, Portugal, the UK, Ireland, and France.

There are countless other countries we visited as ports of call on cruises, getting the flavor of the country without actually living there. Sure, there are many other countries we could have seen, but as we continued on our worldwide, we concluded that we’d had our fill of old buildings, although from time to time, we still go to certain museums and botanical gardens.

The beaches in Toulon were sparse of sunbathers, the summer season yet to come.                                             

I guess it all boils down to our lack of interest in typical tourist locations that, for us, have become repetitious and all too familiar. Our ongoing journey is about visiting those places that appeal to our senses. Although we appreciate the significance and artistry of historical sites, our interests have leaned toward nature and wildlife…not zoo-type venues.

What often is represented as “rescue or rehabilitation facilities” may manage the care of rescued and injured animals; they are confined to a specific area or in cages. After living in the bush for over 3½ of our 10½ years of world travel, we’ve witnessed firsthand how animals like to wander in search of food, territory, and mating.

47% of Toulon’s buildings were destroyed in World War II, resulting in many buildings of post-war design

For example, Marloth Park is 3000 hectares, comparable to 7413 acres; that is no small area for the wildlife to explore, and yet even that kind of space has its limitations, with newly built bush houses crowding out the natural habitat for the wildlife as years pass. In ten to 20 years, that habitat may be dissipated to the point that the animals are eventually gone.

Confining wildlife in a zoo is indicative of an unnatural environment’s impact on the animals’ well-being. Thus, we find no enjoyment in visiting zoos to get our “wildlife fix.” The end result? We continue to have an affinity for wildlife and scenery, such as oceans, lakes, waterfalls, other waterways, mountains, and deserts.

Although many buildings are over 60 years old, the integrity of the familiar and revered French style was maintained.

It’s no wonder we particularly loved the boat ride with Linda and Burt a few weeks ago and seeing the impressive Dora Canal and its wildlife. Simply boating on a lake holds little appeal after we lived on a lake for 26 years and went boating over many years. Small boats on the ocean don’t appeal to us, but we love cruising on a ship or yacht.

Besides scenery and wildlife, we love meeting new people, which contributes to our joy of cruising and visiting certain parts of the world that are particularly friendly. In some countries, tourists often don’t have much of an opportunity to meet new people when locals perceive travelers as transient and unlikely to build long-term relationships.

Cafes and restaurants lined the boulevard in Toulon.

How fortunate we’ve been that we’ve made such great friends as we’ve traveled, particularly in those locations where we’ve stayed for a few months or more and been able to communicate. We appreciate the vast array of languages spoken throughout the world. Still, the reality is that we can’t learn every language to easily communicate with locals as much as we wish we could.

However, we treasure the opportunity to observe other cultures, their lifestyle, their vocations, and their various diets. Many countries we’ve visited have presented us with an inside look into the people of a nation, including their views, activities, and relationships.

Getting a good shot of our ship with many boats in the marina was difficult.

We’re not so presumptuous as to assume everyone in the world speaks English. They do not, nor should they, for the convenience of English-speaking visitors. If we were to live permanently in a non-English speaking country, we would make it our objective to learn the language as quickly as possible.

Let’s face it. We get to do whatever appeals to us, not what others may perceive as our obligation to do. Traveling the world is entirely up to the travelers regarding locations that appeal most to their tastes and senses. Our ultimate goal is to meet people, observe the culture and revel in the beauty of a country’s wildlife and nature.

Finally, a decent shot of our ship as we walked back to our ship. Security inspected the contents of our mugs containing iced tea to ensure we hadn’t put booze in them to bring back onto the ship, not for security reasons but to ensure we weren’t prevented from spending money on the ship’s $8 cocktails.

In a mere four months, we’ll be living in South America for an extended period with the intent of accomplishing our objectives. There’s stunning wildlife on the continent, fascinating cultures, and scenery we’ll happily share with all of you.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, June 6, 2013:

Not the best photos of us in Toulon, France, but we liked the mime, leaving him a tip in his basket. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…Boating day, Lake Harris and Dora Canal…The differences between an alligator and a crocodile…

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After years of spotting crocodiles, seeing alligators in the Dora Canal was exciting.

Boating with Burt and Linda and Linda’s friend Claudette and Burt’s neighbor Jay was exhilarating. No more than 10 minutes into the boat ride on Burt’s newer pontoon boat, we spotted numerous alligators, which were very exciting. It was easy to see the difference between alligators in Florida and crocodiles in Africa.

But, for those unfamiliar with both of these scary-looking and dangerous creatures, we thought it was important to share the differences.

A young alligator was resting on a log.

The differences are listed below between an alligator and a crocodile from this site:

“Although they may look similar at first glance, the most significant differences between alligators and crocodiles are their overall size, snouts, jaws, coloring, feet, and teeth. Take a quick look at how you can differentiate between the two reptiles. The comparison between the American alligator and the American crocodile shows the unique qualities of adults from each species.

Alligator Crocodile
Size 8.2 feet to 11.2 feet long
400lbs to 800lbs		 10 feet to 20 feet long
300lbs to 2,000lbs
Snout U-shaped snout V-shaped snout
Jaws A wide upper jaw hides the
lower teeth and overlaps the
lower jaw		 The upper and lower jaw are roughly
the same size, allowing the teeth to
interdigitate
Feet Webbed feet allow for better
swimming		 Feet are not webbed but possess
a jagged fringe
Teeth Roughly 80 teeth 66 teeth
Colors Dark gray or black, with a cream underside Olive green or light brown with a mottled pattern

These differences make it easy to identify an alligator and a crocodile. As with many other creatures, the males are larger in both the alligator and the crocodile, but the crocodile is a much larger reptile overall.”

Linda and one of her two dogs, Havana and Luna, who joined us for the day.

After we boated past the first canal, where we spotted the alligators, we headed out to the open expanse of Lake Harris, as shown in the photo below.

Once we exited the canal closest to Burt’s home, we reached the vast expanse of Lake Harris. “Lake Harris Lake in Florida 4.5 60 Google reviews Lake Harris is a lake in Lake County, Florida, United States, 31 miles northwest of Orlando. It is part of the Upper Ocklawaha River Basin, a sub-watershed of the St. Johns River. It is one of seven lakes in the Harris Chain of Lakes or “Ocklawaha Chain of Lakes.” Wikipedia Area: 21.54 mi² Surface elevation: 62′ Fish: Northern pike, Largemouth bass, Channel catfish, Blue catfish, White perch.”

We always enjoyed boating, and when Tom and I met almost 32 years ago, we both had boats, and each of us had owned boats for years. It had been a long time since we’d been on a boat on a lake. The last time was on Lake Minnewashta in Minnesota with friends/neighbors Jamie and Doug in 2017. For that post, please click here.

Our captain, Burt who, joyfully hosted us for the day.

Being out on the water on a perfect weather day was ideal. Mother Nature was kind to us to provide a sunny day without high temperatures and a gentle breeze. We couldn’t have asked for more. Burt’s newer boat was comfortable. We each got a slight sunburn but not severe, and we felt no discomfort today.

Claudette and Jay chatted while comfortably seated on the back bench.

We stopped at a lovely Lake Harris park for a lunch picnic. We found a great picnic table sheltered from the sun, and all six of us took out the various items we shared. We brought homemade chicken salad and coleslaw. Claudette had a big package of croissants to share, and the four of them added the chicken salad to make sandwiches, except Tom and I, who went bun-less, as usual.

There’s my guy, Tom, wearing the hat we got on the Maharajas Express Train in India in 2020, shortly before the pandemic hit.

After lunch, we continued on the journey to see the famous and impressive Dora Canal. We had no idea how gorgeous it would be and we will share photos in the next few days. We took dozens of photos, many of which we still have to share.

Me, wearing my African hat.

A special thanks to new friends Linda and Burt for the beautiful day boating and for sharing your favorite spots with us in the exquisite chain of lakes in central Florida.

Be well.

This map illustrates the chain of lakes where we motor-boated in part yesterday, starting at Harrie Lake and heading to Lake Dora, including the famous Dora Canal.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 28, 2013:

Figuring a little warmth and sun might benefit us; we could only stay outside for 30 minutes in Dubai’s windless, scorching heat. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…Movie Night in The Villages with friends…Friends coming today for three nights…Medical update…

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Tom stood outside the movie theatre moments before we entered.

I made another exact cake I made a few days ago for Wednesday’s dinner guests. I’d purposely purchased two of everything for the cakes. Tom finished it off last night. It was a busy morning with friends Carol and Mark arriving soon, staying for three nights. They are driving from Boca Raton, Florida, and are expected to arrive around 1:40 pm based on a message I received from Carol a few minutes ago.

Before we headed out to the market this morning for ice and a few more items, the cake was out of the oven cooling for the layers of frosting I just added when it completely cooled. Everything for tonight’s dinner is prepped except last-minute cooking and serving.

We finally know our way to the market without using the Maps app. We’re finally learning our way around, especially now that we have a car for the next ten days. Food is expensive in the US, as I’ve mentioned many times in the past. Every quick trip to the store here ends up costing no less than $100.

There are countless bars and restaurants in each of the town squares. Golf carts are everywhere!

Right now, since my heart events, I haven’t been drinking wine, thinking the sulfites in the wine may have been instrumental in precipitating the events, although I only drank low-alcohol wine and small amounts in any one sitting. After extensive research, I found that sulfites in wine may be very high in low-alcohol wine, both white and red.

I’ve always known I was sensitive to sulfites when I had allergy symptoms when eating dried food in my old life, which I haven’t had in the past 12 years. I never had a specific reaction to wine other than knowing that I could only drink a small amount or end up awake all night. I’ve always enjoyed a glass of wine during sundowners or dinner and lately haven’t had any.

Instead, we purchased a bottle of Bombay Gin, and on a few occasions, I’ve had one tablespoon of the gin with a diet tonic and fresh lime. I’ve yet to drink more than two of these gin and tonics for a maximum of two tablespoons in an evening with no ill effect.

Lazy Mac’s Taco Shack and Tequila Bar has half off beer, wine, and margaritas from 3 to 5 daily. This restaurant is located in the movie theatre building. See their website here.

You may say, why bother to drink at all? I’m a light-weight social drinker and enjoy a little something when socializing. However, I still don’t know for sure if the sulfites caused the horrible Afib that put me in the hospital less than four weeks ago and occurred again while on the 17-hour flight from Joburg to Atlanta. I hadn’t had any alcohol at the airport or on the four days after getting out of hospital before we flew away.

As I scoured medical reports online for days, I accidentally encountered a scientific report stating that women over 60 may develop Afib from taking an allergy medication I’d been taking for a little over a month when the events occurred. After considerable research, I wondered if sulfites were, in fact, the culprit. But I continued to research, not 100% sure it was the sulfites.

After digging deeper, I am convinced the prescription non-drowsy antihistamine I was taking was causing the cardiac events. Immediately, I stopped taking the drug several days ago and noticed my pulse has reduced considerably along with my blood pressure in the past few days since the drug is now out of my system.

No doctor has the time to research rare side effects for every drug they prescribe to every patient. I don’t blame the doctor or the pharmacist for such a relatively rare occurrence, which is most prevalent in patients who have asthma, are female, are over 60, and have coronary artery disease, all of which applies to me. I am now convinced that the drug was the cause.

Every afternoon, they have live entertainment, including comedy acts.

However, it’s still vague about the sulfites in wine. As a wine lover, I don’t like giving it up entirely, and there are few sulfite-free wines on the market in the US, let alone in other countries. It may end up being a “trial and errors” process of trying a small amount of wine and seeing what happens. It may have been a combination of the drug with the sulfites. I’ll only know if I try again to drink regular wine in moderation, which I always did anyway.

Do not use my personal experiences as a point of reference. My research found that low-alcohol wine, predominantly white, has more sulfites than regular red wine. If any of this may apply to you, please contact your medical professionals for assistance.

The medical profession doesn’t know everything. Tom always says that’s why they call it “practicing medicine.” We all have the choice to do our own research, not from unreliable non-medical resources and internet chatter but from reliable resources, as mentioned above. Plus, some of us may have a rare reaction to a specific drug resulting in severe consequences.

Many popular chain restaurants in The Villages, such as Johnny Rockets in Sumter Landing.

One only needs to watch the endless commercials for prescription drugs on TV to see the risks many drugs pose to certain people. Most of these warnings are terrifying. And many of these drugs may save lives. It’s up to each person to be their own advocate or, if not possible, to assign this responsibility to a loved one willing to do the work and then present their evidence to their medical professionals, who may or may not agree with the findings.

That’s enough from me today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more and will continue to post with our friends here.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 20, 2013:

This was the final “towel animal” on the bed on our last night on Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. It was an exciting cruise, and we loved every moment. For more, please click here.

Our friends have left…Doing exactly what we prefer to do…The golf cart included with our rental…

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This is the Yamaha golf cart that’s included in our rent.

Late yesterday afternoon, Karen and Rich headed to her mom’s home, a 15-minute drive from here. I have known Donna for many years as Karen’s loving mom, and we plan to visit her in the next few weeks. On Tuesday, we’re taking Karen and Rich to the Orlando Airport as they take off for Karen’ts son Jack’s wedding in Minnesota.

They offered to leave their car with us during the two weeks they are away rather than leave the car in the parking lot at the airport. This works well for us. On Tuesday afternoon, they’ll return and pick us up while we drop them off at the airport, an hour’s drive from here. When they return at the end of the month, we’ll pick them up, and they’ll drop us back at our house. Geographically, this all works out well.

We plan to see Karen and Rich during our remaining time in Florida. They’ve offered to pick us up on another date to spend a few night’s at their fabulous new home in Bradenton, another two-hour drive. Otherwise, they may return and spend a few more days with us here, whichever works well logistically with everyone’s schedule.

The longer we are in The Villages, the more research we do to determine what appeals to us the most. We’ve gone through the list of daily activities, and many don’t appeal to us. We don’t play tennis or pickleball, and although that sounds fun, my weak legs prevent either of these sports from being possible.

This is the only storage area in the golf cart, leaving little room for groceries other than a few bags.

Many of the activities are those that are commonly found on cruise ships. If you like to see what’s available today, click here for the long list of activities. After sharing this list with Tom, he didn’t seem interested in any of the activities, and we accepted the reality that such activities don’t necessarily appeal to us after all.

Sure, we’d like to meet new people and hope to do so when we attend events in the various town squares and dine out each week. But we have a massive list of people here that would like to get together, which alone could keep us busy the entire time we are here.

Let’s face it; our interests have changed over the years of world travel. Also, we spend half of each day working on our posts, future travel plans, and communication with family, friends, and readers. After our walk in the morning, cooking and eating breakfast, doing household chores, and prepping dinner, the day flies by. We enjoy all these activities at the house and never feel bored or lonely. By late afternoon, we feel prepared to socialize, alone or with others.

These two bikes are in the garage, but I don’t think I can safely ride a bike anymore.

Many would say, “Get out! Try something new! Don’t be stuck in the mud!”

But our lives consist of always “trying something new,” and we never feel “stuck in the mud.” If it weren’t for this blog, no one would know what we do and don’t do. And we decided long ago that we can’t live our lives for the blog. The blog represents our chosen life and activities, not driven by it. That would be impossible with a new post uploaded daily. It would be too much pressure.

Our lives are about low stress, as much as possible, and choosing to do what appeals to us the most. Before we went into lockdown in India in 2020, we had embarked on about 20 safaris at three national parks. We never hesitated to do this. We never hesitated to interact with the people or the animals while in Africa. We rarely turn down an opportunity for social interaction.

Helmets are included with the bikes.

We never hesitated to embark on 10-person rubber Zodiac boats to explore icebergs and wildlife in Antarctica. We never hesitated to explore the souks in Marrakesh, Morocco, walk the hilly roads in Boveglio, Italy, or even attend a party where no one spoke English. We never hesitated to stand in the pouring rain, soaked to the gills for over an hour, to see the Gardens of Versailles in France.

We never hesitated to live on farms, learn about farm life, and spend time with farm animals and farmers. We never hesitated to embark on almost 30 cruises in the past ten years to see more of the world than any flights could ever offer us and so much more, the content of which is documented in over 3900 posts.

We’ve continued on when many others may have quit. Since that, too, was precisely what we wanted to do. And that will be the same for us while in The Villages. We are relishing the comfort and amenities of living in this lovely house and will enjoy many social events we plan for our time here. We are having dinner guests on Wednesday, people we’ve never met, and friends Carol and Mark are coming next Saturday for three nights.

Doing precisely what we like to do…

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, May 13, 2013:

Due to our 10-hour expeditions to Petra, Jordan, we couldn’t prepare a post on this date. Stop back tomorrow for the fantastic photos.

Part 1…Our first visitors…Our second meal out in The Villages…

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My mouth watered when I saw these two treats Kristi and Keviin brought for Tom, made through their home business, “One More Bite, Organic Desserts.” I don’t dare try them, but they certainly look delicious.

Yesterday, it was terrific to have Kristi and Kevin visit us from their home in Florida. We appreciated them making the 8-hour round trip, but they both enjoyed a trip away for the day from their usual busy schedules.

They arrived around noon, and after a quick tour of our place, we lounged outdoors at the table on the lanai until, finally, we decided to head out to eat. It was still afternoon, and we hadn’t had breakfast, so we were all hungry and looking forward to a nice meal.

Tom and his nephew Kevin.

Kristi is also conscientious of eating healthy whole foods, making Mexican food a good option for all of us. The restaurant, Los Magueyes, was an excellent choice, and although we’ll try other Mexican restaurants, we’d love to return sometime in the future.

Today, I did better on our walk than I have since we began walking in Marloth Park about a month ago. Also, walking on even paved surfaces is delightful, making walking easier and less likely to result in a twisted ankle or even a fall.

Kristi and Kevin thoughtfully made the eight-hour round-trip drive to see us. We had a fantastic day!

The conversation at the meal was delightful. We all shared stories, past and present, and reveled in one another’s lives. Kristi and Kevin started a fantastic organic home bakery business here in Florida, “One More Bite Organic Desserts,” found on this site. In the future, they plan to ship country-wide. We’ll update the details at that time.

Although I can’t eat any of their delectable treats since they contain organic sugar, they brought two special items for Tom, which he’ll savor in the next few days. They are both dedicated and enthusiastic about having started this successful business and enjoy serving their customers who prefer the option of organic desserts, many of which are gluten-, grain-free, and dairy-free.

There are several Mexican restaurants in The Villages. We chose this location since it was close to a Wells Fargo ATM and had the same 4.5-star reviews as all the other Mexican restaurants in the area. Dining there proved to be worthwhile. Now that I’m beginning to feel better, we plan to get out at least a few times a week and visit some of the other villages in this amazing retirement community.

After we left the restaurant, Kevin drove around The Villages for us to take photos. I hadn’t brought the camera, but after we explored, we found a few areas we’ll return to this coming weekend when friends Karen and Rich arrive, an area we can’t wait to share with hotos. It was absolutely amazing. How fun!

Authentic Mexican decor in the restaurant.

Once back at our holiday home, they decided to begin the four-hour road trip back to their home near the sea. We warmly hugged goodbye and planned to see each other at the end of September when we’ll all be in Minnesota. We’re looking forward to seeing them again.

Tom said his margarita was delicious. He hadn’t had one of these since the last time we were in the US in November 2022.

No words can describe how much better I’m feeling today. This morning, our huge Kroger grocery order arrived, and I had no trouble organizing and putting everything away where I struggled with the simplest tasks only a few days ago. We have enough food to last two to three weeks, only filling in a few items we can order as needed, such as lettuce and other fresh vegetables. The minimum order for free delivery is $35 with the Boost app, which is easy to do when running low on a few items.

Kristi and I had eaten too much of our dishes to take decent photos. We were having such a good time; I forgot to take food photos. My only alternative was to take photos of Tom’s partially eaten taco salad and Kevin’s dish. I ordered a prawn and vegetable dish without rice, beans, or tortillas. It was delicious, but it was a small portion without the rice and beans. Later in the evening, I had a chicken breast at the house.

This house motivates me to stay impeccably tidy and for us to keep it as clean as possible. Also, I finished two loads of laundry and put everything away. In South Africa, with less storage space, we struggled to keep everything in order and dust free, a small price to pay for the joy of living in the bush.

Kevin’s dish of half quesadilla, refried beans, rice, and salsa.

Louise wrote this morning to tell me the awful load shedding has prompted them to temporarily move into our former house with the fantastic inverter system. They are installing the same system in their home, which should be done by the end of the month since they won’t have to suffer with the load shedding. It’s funny they are there seeing all of our beloved animals and, of course, Norman, Nina, and Natalie each day.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more photos.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 9, 2013:

No photo was posted on this date in 2013. To read the text, please click here.

Part 3…Photos and info about our temporary home in The Villages, Florida….Easy living in the US compared to life in many other countries…

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The comfortable leather furniture in the lounge area. The house isn’t huge but has everything we could possibly need.

Finally, I am starting to feel better. Only out of the hospital for eight days, during which I didn’t sleep more than a few hours each day with all the noise and interruptions in ICU, and then the 35 hours journey, only four days later, I was exhausted. Last night, I slept through the night and feel much better today.

My Fitbit showed I slept straight through the night for eight hours and nine minutes, and I feel like a new person today. Then, of course, the Afib bout on the plane set me back after the six-hour ordeal. Since we arrived here four days ago, and after unpacking, organizing, grocery shopping, cooking meals, and doing the daily posts, I was wiped out by yesterday afternoon. I fell asleep several times during the day and evening.

The computer station is located in the third bedroom. The thoughtful owner has ordered a new computer which will be delivered and installed next Tuesday. That works for us! The computer wasn’t working for us to print documents.

Waking up today, I felt like a new person. As soon as I was showered and dressed, I asked Tom if he was up to going for a walk, and he was happy to do so. We were out the door in minutes for easy walking on the smooth pavement to the end of the road and then turning around. It wasn’t very far, but the round trip was a start as we’ll continue to walk each day.

When we returned, we made coffee and sat at the table on the lanai while planning the food for the arrival of friends Karen and Rich, who’ll be here next Friday. We plan to make a few Chinese stir-fry dishes which is an easy meal to make once all the chopping and dicing is done.

The third bedroom is set up as a den with a pull-out sofa and is where we store our empty luggage.

We must purchase groceries online in the future, as is the case for many residents. The golf carts don’t hold much, as mentioned, plus it’s a lot easier to have groceries delivered to the house than the time-consuming grocery shopping process.

We’d used Instacart a few days ago, but the shipping and delivery fees were high and didn’t make sense to us. Instead, we found Kroger with a monthly cost of $7.95 instead of over $30 in fees for Instacart plus a required $95 a-year membership. Plus, the first 30 days at Kroger are free.

The second bedroom is where our guests will stay. The full bathroom is only a few steps outside the bedroom door.

Result? We’ll pay Kroger a total of $15.90 in delivery fees for the remaining almost two months we’ll be here. This made sense to us. Plus, the prices at Kroger seemed lower than those we paid for Publix grocery delivery when many prices were marked up for delivery purposes.

We’ll plan to socialize and get out for dinner tomorrow and Saturday. Once our friends Karen and Rich leave, we’ll begin contacting the many people who contacted us that would like to meet us. Then, our even more active social life will begin. Surely, we’ll enjoy it.

Also, we’re especially enjoying all the conveniences we’re experiencing now. Not only is this house more well-equipped than any holiday home we’ve rented, but the simple convenience of temperature control during the day and night, throughout the house, the tap water we can drink, the massive inventory of household products available for our use and being able to watch local news are delightful.

The view from the entry to the kitchen and lounge. It’s all the room we need.

In holiday homes throughout the world, we never turn on the TV. But here, it’s fun to flick through channels and see what we’d like to watch while we’re busy working on our laptops. The WiFi is steady, the power stays on, and the weather is perfect. We spend several hours a day on the lanai, enjoying the nesting birds who’ve found a home in the perfectly trimmed bushes and shrubs.

No, there are no animals around. Today is trash pickup day, when all the residents leave their large, sturdy garbage bags at the end of their driveway. When we walked this morning, seeing all the garbage bags in driveways, we couldn’t believe that no animals would get into the bags. But, not a single bag had been ransacked for its contents. How unusual this is to us!

None of these differences encourage us to rethink our plans to visit remote locations and countries with fewer conveniences than we’re experiencing here. We didn’t plan our world travels under the premise that life would be easy. We planned to explore new horizons, which we hope to continue in times to come.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 4, 2013:

Palais de Longchamp in Marseilles, France, is not a palace but a tribute to the importance of the water supply in Marseilles. Please click here for historical significance. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…Photos and info about our temporary home in The Villages, Florida….

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The fully-equipped granite and stainless steel kitchen is terrific, although there isn’t a specific cupboard for food storage. I will use the storage closet in the hallway for packaged items.

After an awful night’s sleep, we were out of bed by 6:00 am. We had passport documents on our minds, and knowing we had to start the process today of preparing all the necessary paperwork must have impacted our ability to sleep. Tonight’s another night; hopefully, we’ll both get a good night’s rest.

Shortly after getting up and having our coffee, we began paying for CIBT, a passport and visa processing company we’d used in the past. The cost for both passports was over $1650, including US State Department fees, which were necessary to expedite the passports to ensure we got them sent to us in time for our departure in a few months.

The four-person dining room table is of excellent quality, with beautiful placemats and napkins.

Apparently, like in South Africa, passport renewal services are grossly backed-up, supposedly due to staff shortages from the pandemic. We couldn’t risk sending our applications directly to the State Department, which could take over 90 days to process.

We both cringed about paying such exorbitant fees, which have tripled in the past few years, but this was the only way to ensure we’d get the passports on time. The process is time-consuming and cumbersome, and we still have work to do. But, after this morning, we put a good dent in it. In the next week, we’ll deliver everything to a local FedEx store and send everything to the company.

The queen-sized bed is smaller than we’re used to, but it’s comfortable along with the bedding.

Also, this morning, our first Instacart grocery order was delivered. When the order arrived this morning (we placed the order last night), everything we ordered was there except for a few odds and ends, which we can pick up next time we go out. Again, we cringed at the fees for shopping online, but in comparison to renting a car in Florida when the golf cart doesn’t have enough room for a week’s groceries, it is well worth it.

So far, we’ve spent over $500 on groceries, although we have enough food to get us through the next ten days. We’re planning on going out to dinner on both Friday and Saturday nights, a habit we acquired going to Jabula on both nights. We have a schedule of activities, including live bands in The Village, that occur every night of the week. That should be fun, along with going out to dinner.

It’s a wonderful treat having a walk-in closet with lots of hangers.

We haven’t planned any social events yet, other than with our friends Karen and Rich, coming to stay overnight next Friday. In the next week or so, we’ll start contacting the many locals that contacted us to get together.

We’ve been starting our day on the lanai and ending it there in the evenings. In the past few days, we’ve been spending time on the screened lanai, where we can watch a mating pair of birds, overseeing the care of their chicks tucked into a dense bush in the back garden. It’s small but quite lovely. Of course, there are no animals to observe other than a few birds.

There is one dresser and one chest of drawers in the primary bedroom. I am using the tall chest of drawers, and Tom is using the other. Each had more room than we needed. The en suite bathroom is perfect. Tom is using the second full bath. It’s excellent for each of us to have our own bathroom.

With Florida heating up in the spring, we keep the central air on day and night but don’t change the temperatures the owner sets. It’s actually perfect for us, and we’re enjoying the comfort day and night. We’re both still a little sluggish from lack of sleep but overall are feeling well. With the time difference from South Africa, I have been napping here and there and need to stop doing this to ensure a good night’s sleep.

This house is very comfortable, and we like everything about it. The conveniences are way more than we’re used to. We’re in awe of the simplest things many take for granted. We’ll make every effort to ensure we don’t get spoiled by the extras we haven’t had for years.

More house photos will be coming tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, May 3, 2013:

No photos were posted on this date ten years ago. For the posted story, please click here.

One day and counting!…The packing is in full swing!…

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Bossy and her newborn, born in the past few weeks, came for a visit. The baby was shy and uninterested in pellets. Give them time, and that will change.

It’s down to the wire. The house is a mess with stuff everywhere as we wrap up the packing, which includes everything we’re taking with us and everything we’re leaving behind in the house’s storeroom across the driveway, between the two flats. Thank goodness Louise was more than willing to let us leave several bins of food supplies, the clothing we won’t need with us, and miscellaneous household items we accumulated in the past few years we spent in Marloth Park.

On Tuesday, after returning to Marloth Park, I couldn’t do anything other than make an easy dinner. I didn’t think I was feeling well enough to tackle this entire house full of “stuff,” but somehow, once I got started, I was on a roll. I stopped every hour or so to take a short break and managed to finish most of it in the past two days.

The next day, I started to regain my strength. and began tackling one area after another. Before I knew it, I had it under control. Tom would gladly have helped with the household items, but he didn’t have a clue what was ours and what came with the house. I remembered everything here and what we’d purchased since January 2021. It was easier for me to do it.

As I write here, Tom is in the bedroom packing his clothes and miscellaneous items. He also will pack all of our digital equipment, cords, chargers, inverters, and adapters. I’ll pack the camera and its equipment, all of which we’ll take with us.

Several bushbucks in the garden, including Jasmine and her son Johnny and Tulip and Lilac.

Packing the kitchen was a challenge, deciding on what we can store and the few items we’ll bring with us. There were a lot of spices in the spice drawer, but I remembered what I’d purchased and what was here when we arrived. I didn’t want to lose some of the favorite pans I’d bought in the past 2½ years. I could have left many of those items here in the house for other guests, although we’ve heard that some guests take things home with them from holiday homes… stealing what isn’t theirs.

As for how I feel now, since many of you have written and asked (thanks for your concern and well wishes), which we so appreciate, each day, I regain a little more strength. It was quite an exhausting ordeal, and I am still getting some of the FDA-designed Black Box drugs out of my system, such as a drug called Amiodarone which stays in one’s system for many months and causes me awful side effects while receiving it in the IV while in the hospital.

Hopefully, soon, I’ll return to my usual energized self. Right now, everything I do requires an enormous amount of effort. We have been unable to continue on the walks on the uneven dirt roads. Once we get settled in Florida we’ll be able to start walking on the many paths and trails in The Villages. I’m looking forward to that time.

Bushbucks seem to get along well with one another. However, Johnny is known to nudge another with his tiny horns when jockeying for pellets.

Tomorrow, we’re leaving Marloth Park at 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs. Our flight from Nelspruit is at 5:15 pm, 1750 hrs., and we have a 4-hour, 45-minute layover in Joburg. During that time, we’ll have dinner and play games on our phones while we wait. After the 17-hour flight from Joburg to Atlanta on April 30, I’ll do a new post while we wait for our next flight to Orlando, with another long layover of 5 hours, 50 minutes.

Although jet lag is usually not a problem for us, it will be straightforward this time since the time difference between here, and Florida is only six hours. We won’t even notice that little of a difference. But, we will notice the lack of sleep on the 17-hour flight. Neither of us is ever able to get any sleep on long red-eye flights. However, after one good night’s sleep, we’re always back to our usual eating and sleeping schedule. It may be a little trickier this time since I am still a bit under the weather.

This is the Freedom Day holiday weekend in South Africa, as described on this site:

Freedom Day on 27 April is an annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994. It is significant because it marks the end of over three hundred years of colonialism, segregation, and white minority rule and the establishment of a new democratic government led by Nelson Mandela and a new state subject to a new constitution.  The holding of the first nonracial elections was the culmination of years of struggle and a negotiated settlement which led to the unbanning of the liberation organizations, the release of political prisoners, and the return of exiles, and the formal all-party negotiations which drafted an interim constitution.

The moment which changed the path of South African history came after long and tension-ridden negotiations held between 1991 and 1992. The South African government, the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and other liberation movements engaged in these talks.”

Please take a look at this ultra-dark bushbuck we started noticing recently. We’ve never seen such a dark bushbuck in the past.

Due to the busy holiday weekend, we are seeing very few animals in the garden. The only visitors we’ve had today are the mongooses to whom we gave the last of the paloney. Tomorrow, we’ll leave them the remainder of our eggs after we’ve made breakfast.

I doubt I will have a chance to say goodbye to Norman, Nina, and Natalie. They usually visit many times a day, but we haven’t seen them since Wednesday, when the influx of holidaymakers began. It’s funny how we’ll see photos of Norman on Facebook when he visits holidaymakers for their “exceptional food,” which he loves as opposed to the healthy treats he gets from us. I will miss him and hope to see him when we return in 14 months.

So it goes. Life in the bush. Unique, memorable, and heartwarming. Tonight will be our last evening at Jabula, where some of our friends are stopping by for a final farewell hug. Before we head to Jabula, we’ll stop by Louise and Danie’s place and say goodbye. They are very busy with their holiday rentals and visitors to the Marloth Park Info Centre so we planned this short goodbye before we head to Jabula.

We’ll be back tomorrow with one more post until the journey begins, and post otherwise, as mentioned above. Thanks for all the love, support, and continued readership during this extended stay in South Africa. As we progress in our world travels in the 14 months, we look forward to sharing many more photos, stories, and adventures. While living in The Villages in Florida, we’ll write about what it’s like living in this massive retirement community of over 100,000 residents. It should be fun sharing all of this information with you.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 28, 2013:

Gina and I were in the kitchen of our future rental home in Madeira, Portugal. We can’t wait to sit on the barstools drinking coffee and enjoying the sea view from almost every room. For more photos, please click here.

Day 2, Change in a feature on our site started yesterday…Exciting trail cam photos….About us…

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The genet and Earl had an encounter at the veranda railing during the night.

For those who may not have read yesterday’s post here, we have changed a feature on our site regarding the “Photo from one year ago today…” at the bottom of the page. We’ve now changed it to “Photo from ten years ago today…” Further explanation of this change is documented in yesterday’s post, as shown in the above link. Otherwise, all other aspects of our site will remain the same.

It’s hard to believe it was three years ago, while we were in lockdown in the hotel room in Mumbai, India, that we hired our current web developer to make major changes to the format of our site. It was a time-consuming and frustrating process.

The genet started out on the veranda rail where Tom had placed some cooked chicken.

There couldn’t have been a better time to update the site with so few distractions other than posting daily, finding sources for photos, washing all of our clothes by hand, walking in the corridors, and living a very peculiar life for ten months in a hotel room, unable to interact with the outside world.

We think of this often, wondering how in the world we got through it with the grace we did. We never fought with one another, nor were there ever angry or frustrated tones in our voices to each other. We had a strong and loving relationship going into this odd situation and a strong relationship coming out.

They engaged in a “stare-down” for quite a while.

We’re often asked if it made us stronger as a couple or as individuals. Ideally, we’d say yes. But the reality is that we used the adaptation skills and strengths we acquired throughout our world travels, at that time, over seven years into it. Nothing changed other than our personal affirmation of our resiliency, which both of us have developed over these years of world travel.

We’ve had our ups and downs, although none of them were in regard to the strength of our relationship, which somehow remains interesting, exciting, playful, and fun. We spend almost every day and night together, seldom apart, and we never tire of one another.

Part of that may be because we each do our own thing during daylight hours. Sure, we talk and laugh while reveling in our surroundings. But, once we’ve been in a location for a while and the sightseeing tapers off, those quiet days are easy for us. We never feel frustrated over what one of us is doing or not doing. There’s no judgment or criticism.

We saw Norman visit in the middle of the night. We can tell it’s him by the colors of his legs.

Ultimately, we make happiness a goal for ourselves and each other. With that in mind, we rarely have disagreements except when stressed over travel plans or circumstances. Even that is a rarity. We’re lucky, and we know it. Then again, is it luck? Probably not. It revolves around a sense of self-confidence and emotional security that we’ve chosen for ourselves.

Neither of us operated this way in past relationships, although we each extrapolated lessons we’ve learned from failed past relationships, choosing happiness over “always being right.” Being right doesn’t matter. Making smart decisions does.

Big Daddy at sunrise.

No, we’re not experts and have little advice for others. We’ve only allowed ourselves the privilege of making the most of every single day and night. Speaking of nights, this is when we come together after our daytime forays into activities that appeal to us individually. We listen to music, talk, laugh, tease, and often compliment one another, genuinely and from the heart. This is the glue that binds the quality of who we are together as a couple and as individuals.

As we spend days watching the behavior of wild animals, we often giggle over how much alike we are to them. They share pellets and loving nudges but then, at times, go off on their own, only to return later for more of the same. That’s us. Plain and simple.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 17, 2013:

My friend of 33 years, Colleen, had lived in St Thomas, USVI for many years. I was excited to see her when our ship docked at the Port of St. Thomas for a day. Sadly she passed away a few years ago from COPD. In this photo, she is shown with an oxygen tank, which was always at her side once she developed the awful condition. For more photos, please click here.