Filing paperwork and then more paperwork…We’ll see how it goes…

Posted by worldwide-admin on December 22, 2022 with 0 Comment

Big Daddy was wondering when I’d come out of the kitchen to tend to him.

We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we will never get our bags back. It’s a harsh reality when, for a change, I had a lot of favorite items in that oversized duffle bag. Yesterday late afternoon, we each made a list of everything we could recall in the bags to complete the forms for Ethiopian Air, our first of two such tasks.

We spent no less than two hours mulling over what we’d packed and determining “estimated values” for each item. Of course, we grouped the items, such as “pants,” dress (dressy) shirts,” swimwear,” etc., making the task a little less time-consuming than piece by piece.

We completed a separate list for each of us. Now, as I write here today, Tom is filling out the forms for both of us by hand, line by line, referencing all the documentation we’ve saved in an envelope.

Norman has been busy visiting the holidaymakers. He has been here considerably fewer times per day in the past week. I had to give “Norman’s Lunch” to bushbucks Tulip and Lilac when I feared the vegetables would spoil.

Yesterday morning, I was on hold with the insurance company for the claim we’ve yet to file through our Venture X credit card, where we originally booked the flights using accumulated rewards points from prior use of the card. As it turns out, the insurance for lost bags provided by credit cards is often handled by a separate insurance company, contracted with the credit card companies.

The insurance company in this case is also impossible to reach, whereby the credit card company itself is easy to reach. There is nothing the credit card company can do to expedite this process. Once we inform them of the loss and receive a reference number, it’s out of their hands.

Surely, during the holiday season with millions of travelers, there are more missing bags now than ever. Plus, many companies laid off staff during the pandemic and most likely haven’t rehired sufficient staff to handle this season’s workload. We’re anticipating this could take months to resolve.

Big Daddy pleaded with Tom for some pellets. He complied.

I was sent a link days ago when I reached someone, but now it’s not working, and I tried re-using the previously sent link to start the process over again. Frustrating, to say the least. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had some WiFi issues since the holidaymakers started arriving for the holidays.

Today, we completed the forms required by Ethiopian Air to file a claim but their form has no email address to send the completed form.

Last night for the first time in about ten days we could stream an episode of Yellowstone on my laptop. Every other night, the signal would be lost every 15 seconds, preventing us from watching anything, making the evenings long and tedious since neither of us reads books anymore, and often we’re in the dark due to load shedding.

Of course, I’ve been in frequent contact with the WiFi provider and thanked them this morning for whatever they’ve done to fix the issue. Although we have many plans over the holidays, except for Christmas Day when we’ll be on our own, it is still relaxing to watch a movie or TV series when we wander off to bed. Last night, after watching the one episode of Yellowstone, we started watching the Netflix series on Harry and Meghan and will continue until we’ve seen all the episodes. Interesting.

This morning, I contacted the same law firm we’ve used on two occasions in the past in Cape Town, requesting they start the process for us to file an extension for our upcoming March 9, 2023 visa expiration. We won’t want to fly anywhere right now after all the money we’ve recently lost with the Seychelle fiasco. I’ve already sent them the requested preliminary documents, but many more will follow in the coming weeks. Plus, doing so, will require two trips to the immigration office in Nelspruit over the next few months to get this process completed.

Also, I am making some Christmas/birthday cookies for Tom this morning. There were only a few options with the ingredients we had on hand. However, when he requested his favorite chocolate cookies, I was thrilled to find I had enough supplies to make a double batch. Right now, the dough is chilling in the refrigerator. I have to hurry and get these done when load shedding is starting up again in less than two hours, and the oven is electric.

Tomorrow is Tom’s 70th birthday. As mentioned, we’ll be celebrating with Louise and Danie tomorrow night at Jabula. His birthday’s close proximity to Christmas Eve (one day) makes celebrating with multiple friends difficult although, in 2018, Rita and Gerhard gave him a surprise birthday party (see the post here) for ten of us. It was a fantastic evening we’ll always remember and appreciate.

That’s it for today, folks! Have a lovely day and be well.

Photo from one year ago today, December 22, 2021:

Siegfried and Roy, giving another warthog a “bath.” For more photos, please click here.

Enjoyable Sunday…Family and football..

Posted by worldwide-admin on December 5, 2022 with 0 Comment

From our post on December 5, 2013…Down the road another block, several giraffes were hanging outside one of the houses in Marloth Park. This giraffe was eating, which accounts for the chubby cheeks. The food slides down her throat in a big lump, as shown. See the post here.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day at Greg’s home in Chaska, about a 20-minute drive from here. We stopped at Target to get some football-watching snacks. It was fun to watch the game with Greg and the kids, who wandered in and out of the family room during the three-hour game, chatting with us on each occasion.

When Camille returned from Christmas shopping, it was great to catch up with her. By about 4:00 pm, we were going back to the hotel to make a plan for dinner and put away all the laundry we’d washed and dried at their house. With the clothes we purchased at Target when we arrived last Saturday, we only had two loads of laundry.

It was great to use a clothes dryer. It had been a long time since we had access to a clothes dryer. Everything came out unwrinkled, and nothing shrank. We’d each bought a few flannel shirts to stay warm, and I was concerned they’d all shrink, but this morning I am wearing one of those shirts, and there was no shrinkage whatsoever. Even my flannel pajamas came out perfectly.

We begin thinking about any items we may need before leaving the US, knowing we won’t return for nine months. Saying goodbye this time will be a lot easier, knowing we’ll return next September at the end of two cruises. We’ll also head to Nevada to see Richard and renew our driver’s licenses in our state of residence.

While here, we’ve made several phone calls to see if we qualify for any refunds or credits due to our recent travel fiasco. But we’ll need to wait until we return to South Africa to get the wheels in motion. Ethiopian Air doesn’t consider our bags “lost” until 25 days have passed, so we can’t file a claim until then. Our credit card lost baggage benefit will also require documentation from the airline showing our bags are considered lost. We have no choice but to wait.

Now, my centipede fear has some competition. After a massive storm last night, our pool was filled with dead insects. This morning, Tom fished out this scorpion. Carefully, we tread.

It appears we won’t be able to recover any part of the loss of the cruise fare. This is frustrating, but they consider the obstacle we encountered “our fault.” We take full responsibility for the fiasco but are disappointed with the cruise company, and Intrepid Travel didn’t give us a heads-up when we inquired about any governmental documents we may have needed to enter Seychelles. There’s nothing more we can do. It’s frustrating.

But, as always, we must pick ourselves up and carry on and focus on the positives in our lives for which we feel grateful and fulfilled. Slowly, I am beginning to feel better, but the headache pops up every few days and the facial pain remains. I don’t know if I am going to seek further treatment. At this point, I feel like I have tried everything possible.

Perhaps, I have to resign myself to these lingering Omicron symptoms, and in time, they will improve. It is not debilitating in a manner that impacts our lives, but I am aware of it each day. I make a concerted effort to stay cheerful and take extra good care of myself. I am still using the various nasal treatments which, luckily, I had in my carry-on bag. When we fly on the 16-hour flight from Newark to Joburg, I won’t be able to use the products since it’s not sanitary in the plane’s restrooms.

In only three days, we’ll be on our way. Our first flight from Minneapolis to Newark is at 2:00 pm on Thursday. We have a long layover in Newark, 3 hours and 20 minutes, and then we’re off to Joburg on the 16-hour flight. Once we arrive in Joburg we’ll stay overnight at the City Lodge airport hotel to catch our flight on Airlink the following day. This way, we avoid driving to Marloth Park in the dark on the dangerous N4 Highway.

Soon, we head out to make one more stop at Target for a few items, and then Tom will drop me off at my friend Chere’s home in Eden Prairie for a few-hour visit with a dear old friend.

That’s it for today, friends. Have a great day!

Photo from one year ago today, December 5, 2021:

It’s only on the hottest days that Little sits in the cement pond. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…A shocking and totally unexpected situation…We aren’t in Seychelles on the cruise…What???…

Posted by worldwide-admin on November 28, 2022 with 8 Comments

This morning, there was ice on the windows of the little car. Tom had to use the provided scraper to scrape off the ice.

The first question we asked when we discovered we weren’t getting on the flight was, “What about our luggage?” At that point, it was already on the plane to Seychelles. The rep assured us our luggage would be removed from the aircraft since luggage is never sent without the passengers on the flight due to security risks. We were assured we could pick up our bags the next day.

After hearing the bad news as we stood at the Ethiopian Air check-in counter, Tom and I looked at one another for a minute, each lost in our thoughts of what we’d do next. As Tom called it, we both had the same idea, “Plan B.” There can always be a Plan B.

He spoke first, “Let’s go to Plan B.”

“And, what is Plan B?” I asked, knowing full well what his answer would be.

He replied, “We have no choice but to go to the US, which will ensure reentry into South Africa with a new 90-day visa stamp.” I nodded in agreement. We had to get out of the country and do so quickly. There was no time, only 26 hours until we became “undesirables” in South Africa.

There were no immediately available flights to the US. Our only option was to get a hotel room and search for the next flight to Minneapolis. We hadn’t seen our family members when we were in Minnesota only six months ago due to being sick with Omicron. Now, not infectious by any means, we could at least see the family in Minnesota, although it didn’t make sense to also visit Richard in Nevada on this trip with the holiday season in full bloom.

We’d stay a few weeks and head back to Marloth Park less than two weeks later. Immediately we tried booking a room at the Johannesburg airport hotel, City Lodge, where we’d stayed on previous occasions, but the reservation wouldn’t go through. We thought it was due to the weak WiFi signal. We were SOL. We decided to trek the long distance inside the airport in hopes of getting a room. The hotel was indeed totally booked. They arranged a taxi to take us to their sister hotel, about a 15-minute drive (at our expense), and within minutes after arrival, we could check into a room.

This morning the temperature was 32F, 0C, with snow expected tomorrow. Photos will follow as we try to get back into the groove of taking photos.

We were situated in the room by 1:00 am on November 25, with 23 hours to go until our visas expired. Under the circumstances, neither of us was hungry but had we been; no food was available that late at night. Neither of us had eaten anything since early that morning in Marloth Park.

When I walked into the room, the first thing I said to Tom…and I may add, the first whining I did, was to say, “I don’t have any pajamas.” I always wear pj’s of one sort or another to bed. I’d have to sleep in my day-old underwear, an unpleasant thought. Tom gave me an overly grumpy look and growled. I hadn’t even packed toothpaste, deodorant, or other toiletries, using most of the space in my carry-on bag for all the medications I’d been taking for sinus problems. I didn’t complain further.

Oddly, when I packed the carry-on bag, I included enough medication to last a month, assuming anything could happen, and I’d hate to have to get to a doctor for my handful of regular medicines.

So, we got undressed and under the covers, cold from being tired, and began searching online for flights. We spent no less than two hours trying to book flights, a hotel, and a rental car. We ended up speaking to a rep at CheapOAir, and wow…did we run into problems, one after another. Finally, by 3:00 am, we had it all booked, and Tom turned over to get some sleep.

At 3:10 am, I received an email from CheapOAir, stating that all three of our reservations for air, hotel, and car had been canceled for no apparent reason. I looked up the credit card we’d used, and the charges were listed under “pending.” I was wide awake but played with my phone to lull me off to sleep, which usually works.

I was able to get in contact via chat with another rep from CheapOAir, and she resolved the issue by confirming by email that the cancelation email had been an error on their end and that all of our reservations arrived once again with confirmation numbers. I didn’t wake Tom up to tell him about this recent event. Why bother him? When we awoke a few hours later, I told him what had happened.

With reservations in place and our 16-hour flights from Joburg to Newark, we were scheduled to depart at 10:30 pm, only 90 minutes before “undesirables” status. That was cutting it close. What if the plane arrived late at the gate? We decided not to even think about this. We’d had enough stress for one day.

When we went to breakfast in the hotel, we asked if we could pay for a late checkout until 6:30 pm, 1830 hrs, to which they agreed to charge us Zar 840, US $49, which was well worth it, rather than spending more hours waiting in the airport. After breakfast, we returned to the room to handle some of the issues we’d yet to face, such as canceling the cruise, getting our bags, and miscellaneous odds and ends.

When we hadn’t heard anything about the bags, Tom decided to head back to the airport to see if they’d brought the two large duffle bags to the missing baggage department. Our bags were nowhere to be found. They proved to be on their way to Seychelles. He left the hotel at 12:20 pm, 1220 hrs, and didn’t return until three hours later.

He filed a claim, only to discover there was no way they’d send the bags to the US. They’d only forward them to Nelspruit, South Africa, sometime around December 10. We’d have to arrange to pick them up in Nelspruit if the bags were found. They agreed to contact us when the bags were on their way to us.

This happened to us the last time we came to the US, and we had to pay a delivery service to collect the bags in Nelspruit and bring them to us in Marloth Park. Fine. If the bags are found, we’ll be thrilled to arrange that.

So, we were boarding the flight to Newark, New Jersey, with no bags on board other than a few carry-on bags with our digital equipment and the medications. We were heading to the US with nothing but clothes on our backs, shoes on our feet, and wearing dirty underwear. We’d figure this out when we arrived in MSP.

The 16-hour flight was one of the hardest for me ever. I couldn’t get comfortable in my tiny seat and spent the entire time watching fewer than eight movies. My favorite was the new Tom Cruise Top Gun movie; I barely remember the rest. I nodded off several times for only a few minutes each time. Tom and I couldn’t sit together, but he often came back to check on him. We were both wearing compression stockings. I made of point of getting up and going to the bathroom every few hours.

We had a three-hour layover in Newark, but the time passed quickly. Before we knew it, we were on our way to MSP, arriving at about 12:30 pm. We took a shuttle to the car rental facility distant from the airport, but the service and car we booked were excellent at Ace. Shortly later, we were on the road, heading to Target to buy some emergency clothes and toiletries. It was Saturday afternoon, about 53 hours since we’d left Marloth Park.

I barely remember the time we spent in Target. We were exhausted and had trouble thinking, but nary a complaint crossed our lips during the shopping expedition. It would have been fun if we hadn’t been so tired. Everything we purchased fit us and would suffice for the days until we left to return to South Africa on December 8.

Once at our lovely hotel in Eden Prairie, we unloaded our new clothes, removed the tags, and showered. What a relief that was. I purchased two pairs of warm pajamas and couldn’t wait to get into them quickly enough, adding a pair of new socks to the equation. By 6:30 pm, I was in bed, falling asleep in only minutes. Tom wasn’t far behind. We slept for over eight hours and felt much better in the morning.

The story continues with a few new challenges, which we’ll share as we go along. We have no delusions about our responsibility in not investigating further to discover the requirement of this form. However, we’d checked the US State Department’s website for requirements for US citizens to enter Seychelles and read, “visa provided upon entry.”

Also, we had asked the tour company for any documents needed, and they said none other than what we’d provided. It’s hard to believe that after ten years, we still have lessons to learn, but, like life itself, regardless of how long we live, we still learn more and more each day.

After Covid, so much has changed in how documentation enters many countries. We may have become lazy in “assuming” we had everything we needed. We realize we need to be more proactive and mindful than ever and will do so in the future as we make new travel plans.

And so the story continues with more positive updates from these first few days we’ve spent with family. Delightful! Perhaps it was meant to be.

Photo from one year ago today, November 28, 2021:

Mom and three piglets often stop by. Is this the same mom we’ve seen this year with new babies? It certainly looks like her. with those perfectly formed tusks. Be well. For more, please click here.

Part 1…A shocking and totally unexpected situation…We aren’t in Seychelles on the cruise…What???…

Posted by worldwide-admin on November 27, 2022 with 2 Comments

I don’t know where to begin to tell this convoluted story of sheer travel frustration and dismay.

In many ways, the details of this story only compare to the fiasco of attempting to find a place to stay when we ended up in lockdown in India when Covid-19 hit. That resulted in our being trapped in a hotel room in Mumbai in March 2020 for ten long months, indeed a somewhat awful travel memory.

Now, this new harrowing experience is more than a correlation between our determination to continue traveling and our intent to maintain an optimistic attitude during one of the most complex travel situations over the past ten years. But. this current situation could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back had we been considering putting an end to our travels.

After ten years of highly experiential travel, we pride ourselves in being well-prepared and knowledgeable on most potential challenges we may encounter.

So here’s how it all began and ultimately played out starting Thursday. November 24, a mere three days ago.

The drive from Marloth Park to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport was relatively smooth and uneventful. We dropped off the rental car and wheeled our two well-stuffed duffle bags into the lovely little airport, checked in with our two duffle bags looking forward to a pleasant, albeit long 19-hour trip, including layovers, until we’d land in Mahe, Seychelles, with a one-night stay at an oceanfront Hilton Hotel.

We didn’t anticipate any problems. Our documents for our arrival in Seychelles and our subsequent return to Marloth Park 12 days later were in order. Or…so we thought…

When booking the Seychelles cruise with Intrepid Travel months ago, we asked countless questions and conducted extensive research on immigration and Covid-19 requirements. Our online research verified that we’d receive a Seychelles visa upon arrival to the country.

Nothing in the comprehensive documents and instructions from Intrepid Travel over the past months stated that any additional documents would be required than the requested copies of passports, vaccine certificates, and my food preferences.

We verified what Intrepid needed via multiple email messages and a chat module on their website.

Once we completed the usual easy flight on Airlink to Johannesburg Tambo Airport, around 7:30 pm,1930 hrs., we checked in at the Ethiopian Air counter. The rep gave us all the boarding passes we needed.

The agent asked to see the border authority’s approval for arrival and departure for Seychelles. We were dumbfounded. We’d never heard of such a form.

The rep firmly stated, “You need to have approval from the Seychelles border authority that you’ve been approved to enter the country.” She gave us a link to begin the application process, which we could do online right then and there. At this point, we had four hours until our flight, and we weren’t concerned. Surely, we’d get the form completed and processed on time for our flight.

At first, we thought it was no big deal. It was just a minor inconvenience. We found a good place to sit and began the process. The WiFi signal at Tambo was very poor. I could get online on my phone with the weak signal but not on either of our laptops. While we started the application, we were approached and asked by other passengers if they’d been informed of this requirement. They, too, had no idea about applying for this border authority permit.

Fast and furiously, we scrambled on our phones with the awful signal trying to get the forms for each of us submitted. The application kept shutting down due to the poor signal, and we didn’t get our forms submitted until about two hours before the flight. We had options to choose from as to how it would cost for various expediency, based on the urgency of the approved documents. We choose the most expensive option for the fastest approval at Euro 78 per person, US $81.23.

We waited and waited. One of the other couples going through the same process got their approval, but the others, including us, did not.

We all asked if we could board the flight to Addis Ababa, the next leg of our flight which was five hours, with a three-hour layover, before our last flight to Seychelles. Nope, this was not allowed. We either got on now with the approval or…this was it…we weren’t going. By the time we were supposed to board, while we were still at the Ethiopian Air counter, we still didn’t have the approval. The Ethiopian Air agent told us we were too late to board and weren’t getting on the flight.

At this point, I should mention there was not another available flight to Seychelles that would allow us to board the ship in time for the sailing.

But, here is the clincher. All this occurred at 10:40 pm, 2240 hrs, November 24, 2022. At this point, we had less than 26 hours to get out of South Africa, or we’d become “undesirables” and couldn’t reenter South Africa for five years.

Instantly we knew we needed to have a Plan B. In tomorrow’s post, we’ll share Plan B and tell you what transpired.

Be well.

Finally, off to Komatipoort after two weeks…Out to dinner last night…We are lucky to know so many locals…

Posted by worldwide-admin on October 27, 2022 with 2 Comments

We were thrilled to see a dung beetle with its mate a few minutes after we spotted one without a mate!

When we realize we’ve spent 3½ of the past ten years of world travel staying in Marloth Park, it’s not surprising we’ve met so many people. We’ve met single-visit tourists, frequent tourists, and countless locals who live here part-time or full-time. Since we meet many people when we go to Jabula each week, it has been a fantastic means of meeting new people.

Never in our old lives did we make new friends when out to dinner. Unless we were part of a group and were introduced, occasionally, we may have exchanged a few words with other diners who were seated near us, never to see them again. But, here in Marloth Park, we’ve become friends with many people we’ve met.

First, we saw a dung beetle rolling his ball without a mate.

Last night when we went out to Giraffe, a local restaurant a short distance from here, we ran into several people we know, mostly locals. South Africans are very affectionate when greeting people they know and, sometimes, people they’ve just met. Absent during the pandemic, warm hugs and kisses are now tendered with warmth and enthusiasm.

We’ve invited Gerhard to join us at Giraffe if he can after he is done with his vehicle sale details. After we were seated in the outdoor dining area, Gerhard joined us, sharing the details of his exciting day working with the dealership and how they would send him the funds from the sale of his “bakkie.” Getting money in and out of South Africa is not an easy task requiring many documents.

Money laundering is a severe problem in this country, and the government has made it difficult to move money in and out. That’s why we never opened a bank account here and only use an ATM card to get cash and use credit cards to pay for products and services. We don’t want to deal with the red tape.

It was fun to have dinner with Gerhard one more time. Most likely, he’ll begin the long return flight to Bali to be with Rita at the beautiful holiday home where we stayed for four months in 2016. We missed seeing Rita too but knew it made no sense for both of them to come for the vehicle sale.

It’s sweet to watch the connection between the mom and her baby.

We’re taking off for Komati right now and will complete this post when we return in a few hours. Tom’s cell phone died, and he’ll buy a basic smartphone at the Vodacom store a few doors from the Spar Market. Once we return to the US next fall for a visit, we’ll both buy new smartphones. Since he barely uses his phone, whatever he buys will suffice for the next several months.

We just returned from Komati. We bought Tom a new Samsung A31 smartphone, the newest phone they had in the store which came out in the US in 2020. But, TIA, “This is Africa” and what is new to them may not be new to us in the US and other countries. Nonetheless, this phone will suffice for Tom’s needs when all he’ll use it for is a few online games he plays.

This mom and baby stood in that one spot for an hour, resting and perhaps sleeping standing up.

He doesn’t make calls or text on his phone and often uses it for internet searches. As Tom always says, if it weren’t for me, he’d “still have a rotary phone on the wall with a party line!” As a result, I handle all his phone needs, including setting up this new phone today as soon as I upload today’s post and helping him with any texts or phone calls.

This mom and baby also stood still for an hour, never moving.

We did all the grocery shopping after, refilling some prescriptions at the pharmacy. As I sit here now at 12:45 pm, with load shedding starting again soon, all the food is put away and I’m ready to get back to my walking and his phone setup.

Have a great day!

Photo from one year ago today, October 27, 2021:

There’s our boy, Broken Horn. He was so happy to see us. He was shaking his head and moving his feet up and down. Funny, boy! For more photos, please click here.

Enjoying cooler weather this week…Cloud cover…Rain coming soon…

Posted by worldwide-admin on October 19, 2022 with 0 Comment

A forkl of kudus is looking for breakfast this morning. Of course, we served it to them.

It’s been a quiet time for us these past few weeks as I continue to work on my recovery. Our only plans for the rest of the week are dining out for three nights, once at Amazing Kruger View, with new readers who came to stay in Marloth Park after reading our posts. They are Elden and Pam from the US.

On Friday and Saturday, we will do sundowners and dinner at Jabula to be with Dawn and Leon, our dear friends. Leon is very ill (not contagious) and is still his kind and loving self. We are spending more time with them right now. More on this later.

Soon another batch of lucerne will be delivered. Several bushbucks hang around the garden as if waiting for the delivery. They will undoubtedly be the first animals to dig into the new batch before the larger wildlife stops to check it out. The wildebeests seem to consume the biggest portion of the lucerne, as well as the kudus.

Today, we’re awaiting the delivery of a package from the Asian grocer with spices and sauces for making stir-fry dishes we’ve been enjoying recently. As mentioned, we often can’t find certain ingredients at the Spar Market, and we prefer not to drive for three hours to Nelspruit and back for grocery items. Many people in the park do that, but for us, it’s a big waste of time and petrol when shipping is free from most online sites if a purchaser spends a certain amount.

Could they be any cuter? We don’t think so!

According to a report from Eskom, the power will go out for six hours straight in a few minutes. Some repairs must be made here for all the properties on the Gate 2 side, which includes us. Soon, Tom will place the metal bowl filled with ice in the refrigerator to keep the contents cold for an extended period. It’s always something.

Soon, we must prepare some documents South Africa requires in November for all airline passengers departing and entering the country. More paperwork, but we no longer have to get PCR tests for departure and reentry. Also, yesterday, we received a message from Intrepid Travel on our upcoming cruise in Seychelles in November that a PCR test is no longer required to enter Seychelles or to board the ship. This is a relief. We’re weary of paying for PCR tests and the inconvenience of arranging the tests.

A few nights ago, we started watching a great show, “And Just Like That,” the spin-off from the 90’s show, “Sex and The City.” We both enjoyed the original series and are now enjoying the new one which apparently was so popular that a season 2 is being filmed now. I’d watched all of season 1 on a plane in the middle of the night when we flew back to the US in May. But I knew Tom would enjoy it and am happy to watch it again with him. The series can be found on Amazon Prime for a fee, but it is well worth it.

Also, we’re watching the latest and perhaps last season of Seal Team on Amazon Prime but without an extra fee. I enjoy this show more than Tom, but he watches it with me. As more and more shows in the US and other countries are introduced this time of year, there’s no shortage of entertaining series to watch. If you can suggest some shows with many episodes on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, please don’t hesitate to share them with us. We enjoy watching a few series before heading to sleep each evening when we stay in.

This is a male bushbuck whom we’ve now named Bag Leg. He hurt his front leg and is hobbling. He parked himself in this spot this morning, and we brought food to him so he could eat in this position. We will continue to feed him regularly to ensure he gets ample nutrition while he heals.

Luckily, I prepared everything for tonight’s dinner this morning while the power was still on. We’ll be dining out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, making my life easier. We still have plenty of meat in the freezer to get us through next week, but we will probably head to Komati for vegetables and a few odds and ends for meals beginning on Sunday.

That’s it for today, folks. Sorry, we don’t have much excitement, but we’re maintaining a low profile while I am still on the drugs for the next several days. In a little over a month, some excitement will begin again when we head to Seychelles on November 24.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, October 19, 2021:

Yesterday, four wildebeests stopped by (without Broken Horn, who is a loner), and after a long while, we finally saw Crooked Face and Hal, along with two friends, Bart and Ben. For more photos, please click here.

Did we get in on an outstanding, unanticipated windfall?…

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

What a cute bird. Friends Lynne and Mick identified this bird as a grey-headed bushshrike.

The only word I can think of to describe the bit of good fortune was windfall or in our case “safari luck” that we experienced yesterday resulted from Tom reading what’s called a “roll call,” for which he was signed up to receive email messages each time a passenger posts a comment on CruiseCritic.com.

Yesterday’s comment from a passenger who’ll be sailing on the same cruise we’ll be on next August from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Amsterdam, Holland, stated prices for the cruise had dropped substantially. In the past 24 hours. In the cruise industry, most cruise lines allow those who booked early to take advantage of price drops before the final payment is made.

Tom took this photo of this colorful bird, albeit a little blurry.

With credits we received for canceling past cruises due to the pandemic and visa issues, we still owed a remaining US $8600, ZAR 149127 (roughly), for this expensive cruise to Norway. The price had dropped over US $4500, ZAR 78058!!!!

windfall

/ˈwɪn(d)fɔːl/

an apple or other fruit blown down from a tree or bush by the wind
a large amount of money is won or received unexpectedly

Promptly at 3:59 pm, 1559 hrs., Tom started dialing Costco Travel’s phone number. Often it can take us an hour or two on hold to get through to a live representative. We’ve found that dialing nonstop, minutes before their offices open in the US, is the best and most efficient way to get a live rep on the phone right away. This has been our only frustration with Costco Travel.

A rep came on the line in less than a minute. Tom explained the price drop he found at Azamara’s site. It took 45 minutes on the line for the rep to confirm that we were entitled to the price drop. Only moments after Tom ended the call; we had a new cruise confirmation document with our vast price reduction of US $4520, ZAR 78286.

Bushbuck in the garden; Tulip, Lilac, and Johnny; and Delilah, one duiker.

All we’ll owe for the final payment to the US is due on March 20. When it’s due, we will pay the balance of US $4096.62, ZAR 71061.20. Costco keeps one of our credit cards on file for this purpose, so we don’t have to call to pay the balance.

The original cost of the cruise for two passengers was $16274.62., ZAR 282,938. Our total price now is US $11754.62, ZAR 204302.35 before all the credits we received in the past year for canceled past cruises.

We’re thrilled! It isn’t often we’ve been able to benefit from this much of a price drop in one fell swoop. After the documents confirmed all this, Tom posted on CruiseCritic.com to alert other passengers to the price drop. Many have responded that they, too, have saved this substantial sum.

We couldn’t have been more delighted to see Norman, Nina, and Noah this morning. We gave them an apple, but they didn’t seem interested after sniffing it.

Today, we’re staying in on a cool cloudy day. We’ll make our “unwich” (bread-free) subway-type sandwiches tonight using good quality deli meats, Emmenthal cheese, avocado, red onions, tomatoes, and keto mayonnaise, wrapped in large lettuce leaves and finally in parchment paper. We hadn’t had this treat since we were stuck in a hotel in Minnesota, sick with Omicron, while Tom could still drive before pneumonia made it impossible for him to go out. That was in May.

As for my headache, I am delighted the medication has begun to work, and the pain has improved by 50%. Again, tonight I’ll double the dose from 10 mg to 20 mg as directed by Doc Theo. This should result in considerably more improvement over the next several days. I am hopeful. I’ve had two good nights’ sleep since I increased the dose on Monday night.

Tomorrow morning, I’m off to Stoep Café in Komati for breakfast and “girl talk” with Rita. If I can, I’ll complete the post before we leave at 10:00 am; if not, I’ll finish it when we get home. Plan to see the new post, a few hours later than usual.

Enjoy your day!

Photos from one year ago today, September 7, 2021:

Broken Horn and Hal in a bit of scuffle over pellets this morning. For more photos, please click here.

Thank you for all the kind comments and inquiries!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 10, 2022 with 0 Comment

This kudu has huge, wide horns. Such a majestic and wonderful animal!

Gosh, we’ve had many comments and inquiries about our non-starchy roasted vegetables, as shown on Monday’s post here. Most of the questions were regarding which vegetables were included and the spices used. Here are the vegetables I used, but you can use any you prefer.

Zucchini
Onions
Mushrooms
Red, green, and red bell peppers
Carrots (a small amount, if low carb)
Eggplant
Garlic

Seasonings

Himalayan coarse salt
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Bottled Cajun spices or any other spicy mix
Fresh ground pepper

I spray the pan with olive oil or coconut oil spray and then place a piece of parchment (baking paper) to cover the bottom of the pan to get the paper to stay in place. Then I lightly spray the vegetables before adding the spices, so they stick nicely. Bake for 90 minutes at 375F, 190C, tossing with a spatula every 30 minutes. These will keep refrigerated for four days. Reheat or eat cold; delicious either way.

Also, a few readers have written that they are not receiving automatic emails again. Please email me if you aren’t receiving the emails; we will report it to our web people again. In the interim, if you do not see a post, check for a new one each day at the same time, and the latest one will appear. Type: www.worldwidewaftage.com in your browser’s address bar. Thank you for being so patient. It’s some fluke the web people can’t figure out but keep trying.

Last night, for the first time in days, we could relax and enjoy our sundowners on the veranda. The issues have bogged us down. We had to resolve and for me to get the taxes ready for the accountant. We must wait for the duplicate tax documents to arrive at our mailing service and forward them overnight to the accountant.

This morning, these two male kudus rested in the garden for a few hours.

The cruise credit has been processed for the next upcoming cruise, our paperwork is in order, and I feel like I can relax for the first time in a while.

In 10 days, we’ll be leaving for our next visa stamp trip, returning to Zambia and Botswana for more safari adventures. We’ll only be gone for a week and plan to post each day as always, providing the WiFi is working OK at the resort and hotel. Hopefully, we’ll have some stunning photos and stories to share.

Today is another perfect weather day, and the wildlife has begun to return since the holiday weekend is over as of last night. The majority of the holidaymakers have left. The roads are quiet once again. Construction sounds waft through the air from time to time since sound travels in the bush, but we aren’t bothered by it.

My tooth to be pulled when we return isn’t hurting right now. The dentist gave me extra antibiotics (which I hate taking) if it flares up while we’re away. If it becomes a problem, I’m bringing along plenty of Tylenol (Paracetamol). I don’t particularly appreciate packing for these short trips and most likely won’t start packing until the day before we leave.

Then again, I wouldn’t say I like packing anytime we leave for anywhere when we aren’t taking everything with us. In those cases, I have to decide what to bring and what to leave behind; when we go for an extended time, taking everything with us is much more straightforward.

Yesterday, I made Tom some “regular” (not low carb) blueberry muffins which he loves. Here’s a photo:

Two dozen blueberry muffins I made for Tom yesterday afternoon. He takes one out of the freezer each day. To have with his coffee.

Instead, I’d make these for him rather than have him eat those awful chemical-laden muffins sold at the Spar Market. He invariably buys the junk at the market if we don’t have homemade muffins or banana bread in the freezer. At least when I make them, I know the ingredients I am using are good quality.

Tom reminded me today that he was getting low on coconut banana bread. When checking his frozen inventory, he only had a few pieces left in the freezer. He takes one piece out of the freezer daily to savor after dinner. A new double batch is in the oven, taking 60 minutes to cook. I put the ingredients together, while he mashes the bananas. When it’s done, we let it cool, cut it into individual portions and place them in a freezer bag.

With him enjoying one of these days, the entire two batches last 24 days. There will be a little left when we return from our trip. But, the day after we return, I have my tooth pulled and may not feel like baking for a few days. I may make these all again next week. Fortunately, Tom has a propensity to enjoy the same thing repeatedly. That’s why he likes me!!!

After the baking, we’ll head to the butcher store here in Marloth Park to purchase some prawns for our sundowner event with readers/friends on Sunday. I’m making a list of starter-type items to serve, all of which will be as filling as a meal but served as appetizers. None of our guests will need to return to their houses to make dinner. Serving this way is easier, leaving me time to spend with our guests.

That’s it for today, folks. Enjoy the day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 10, 2021:

Spikey and his mom came to visit. For more photos, please click here.

A resolution one moment and a problem arises, the next…That’s life!…Trail cam visitor…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 9, 2022 with 0 Comment

There comes the point when tasks pile up, and I get a bit frustrated. This happened in the past several days when the potential of losing our final payment for the Azamara cruises we had to cancel due to visa issues. Knowing we’d have to spend hours on hold with Costco Travel only added to the frustration,

Due to staffing issues and Covid-19, Costco Travel doesn’t have enough customer service support staff and hold times are outrageous. In every case, when we call, we have to hold for them to come online but also for an additional hour or move for them to get the cruise line on the phone. This is ridiculous.

Although we like getting gift cards for using Costco Travel, we are seriously considering going back to Vacations-To-Go for much better and faster customer service. The pricing on cruises for both companies can vary but on many occasions, they are identical. So, the question becomes, are we willing to deal with these long hold times?

The answer is simple. We’ll deal with the long hold times if we save a lot of money on a particular cruise. But if the difference is insignificant, we’ll use Vacations-To-Go.

When we recently canceled the cruise with the visa issues, we received a document by email on Friday stating we had to use the almost US $5000, ZAR 8312780 for a cruise sailing no later than June 30, 2023, making the future cruise credit not valid for an entire year. We couldn’t use the future cruise credit for our next cruise on August 1, 2023. This was also ridiculous.

The only thing we could do was to book and sail on another cruise with Azamara between now and June 30, 2023. We couldn’t find an Azamara cruise that made sense to us during this period.

We couldn’t call over the weekend when Azamara’s offices were closed until Monday, nor did they want us to contact them directly. Thus we had to go through the weekend, worrying all the while, waiting to call Costco Travel, only to stay on hold for hours. Tom started dialing immediately at their opening time and, by luck, got through to a representative at Costco.

He explained the situation, asking the rep to either move the amount to the balance owing for the cruise next August or give us a refund in full. Here again, we spent 90 minutes on the phone while the Costco rep tried to get through. I won’t go into the details of the obstacles she encountered trying to get the credit applied.

But, finally, Azamara agreed to let us use the credit. We were ecstatic to say the least. When we finally hung up after spewing countless “thank yous” we put our dinner together, unable to wipe the smiles off our faces, grateful, relieved and reminded of “safari luck.”

Yesterday, as planned, I got all the numbers together for our accountant and was excited to email everything to him, reminding him that we’d sent him our documents last March, according to the records from our mailing service. In the middle of the night, when I awoke, unable to go back to sleep, I received an email from our accountant (it was daytime hours in Nevada) stating he had never received the documents by snail mail.

I couldn’t help but do the research during the night, trying to figure out what happened. We can only assume that it was lost in the mail. I dreaded getting duplicate tax statements from Railroad Retirement and Social Security. Neither of these US government offices has an easy-to-use online service. After thinking about this long enough, I finally went back to sleep, knowing I’d bolt off our bed in the morning as early as possible.

First thing this morning, we both got to work on getting the same tax forms. It wasn’t easy. Even logging in was tricky. Finally, by 11:00 am, we’d completed the online forms to request duplicate copies to be sent to our accountant. They should arrive at our mailing service within ten days, and we’ll have them sent to the accountant via FedEx, not snail mail.

Snail mail is a fast-dying process in many countries, and reliability has waned over the past several years.

What a relief to have these annoying obstacles handled. Overall, we can go back to enjoying our lives and putting these stressful situations behind us. Now, we’re waiting for the delivery of our package of supplies from the US which was shipped UPS 10 days ago, via 3-day expedited international shipping. We’ll see how that goes.

I hope you are having a pleasant day. Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 9, 2021:

As we were driving down a dirt road. we stopped for “traffic.” For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…Extraordinary Kruger National Park experience…Safari luck prevails…

Posted by worldwide-admin on July 22, 2022 with 2 Comments

What a glorious sighting! If this were all we sighted, we’d have been happy. But, as you’ll see in days to come, there was much more!!!

Yesterday morning, when we went to apply for the renewal of the annual Wild Card providing us with access to any of the country’s national parks, we were thrilled that we were in and out of the office at the Crocodile Bridge entrance in less than 15 minutes, new Wild Card in hand. The total cost was ZAR 3245, US $313.87 for one year for both of us.

With an extra battery for the camera, on a cloudy day, we didn’t expect to see much. When most of the wildlife anticipate rain, they take cover. There were a few raindrops here and there, but never enough to keep them from foraging in the depths of the bush and, at times, much to our liking, on or close to the main tarred road in the park.

After entering the gate with Wild Card documents in hand, we began our usual route toward Lower Sabie with a plan to stop at the Mugg & Bean Restaurant for breakfast. It’s a fun stop and rest area with a pleasant restaurant, clean restrooms, and a delightful gift and souvenir shop where I’ve been known to make a few purchases now and then.

Since I rarely, if ever, shop in a store other than a grocery or pharmacy, while in Africa (or any country for that matter), I enjoy spending a few minutes in the gift shop while Tom waits at a picnic table outdoors. It was busy yesterday, mainly with South Africans and some foreigners.

As mentioned above, we didn’t expect to see much and prepared ourselves for this eventuality; I suggested to Tom to stop for the most common wildlife, much of which we already see in our garden in Marloth Park, to ensure we wouldn’t leave the park without any photos to share here.

That proved unnecessary. We were gifted with some of the finest sightings we’ve seen on one day in Kruger National Park. Since we had various experiences, we’ve decided to break them up into posts over several days. We will be including some new information about the specific species we’re representing that day.

I was holding my breath while taking these distant photos. I asked Tom to turn off the car and not move to keep the vehicle totally still.

Of course, we couldn’t resist starting with the magnificent leopard, our first sighting on the long drive to Lower Sabie. One of the most elusive of the Big Five (except for rhinos who are becoming extinct due to poaching), we couldn’t have been more excited to take the photos we’re posting today of the wonderous sighting, a leopard in a tree. Please excuse how much alike each image is. We waited a long time for her/him to move but no luck.

Here are some facts about leopards from this site:

“LEOPARD

Latin Name: Panthera pardus

Afrikaans: Luiperd

Distribution in South Africa:

Found throughout South Africa with concentrations in most National Parks, provincial reserves, and protected and inaccessible areas. Also found in some private nature and game reserves. Common outside conservation areas and generally the only large predator often found close to human habitation. Leopards occur from high mountains to coastal regions – semi desert to water-rich riverine areas.

Habitat:

Mountainous areas, thick bush, along streams and rivers in riverine bush. Leopards are very adaptable and they even occur in dry and semi-desert areas like the Kalahari.

Habits:

Leopards are shy, secretive and cunning animals. They are solitary except when mating or females with cubs. They are mainly nocturnal and probably the most adaptable predator. Their food varies from small rodents to large antelope like Kudu and Waterbuck. In areas with predators they will hoist their prey into a tree to feed on it, while hiding it from other predators. Leopards are perfectly camouflaged and hunt by stalking, ambushing and then pouncing on their prey. In areas where there are many other large predators, Leopards usually take their prey up into trees to prevent it from being stolen by the other predators. They are very agile in trees and can also swim well. Leopards are known to be very powerful and when cornered or harassed can be extremely dangerous to humans.

Difference between Male and female:

Males are much larger and stockier.

Mass:

Male – In certain areas male leopards can weigh up to 100 kilograms.

Female – In certain areas female leopards can weigh up to 65 kilograms

Lifespan:

About 18 years

Breeding:

Gestation period about 3 months. Usually 2 to 3 are cubs born throughout the year.

Food and Water:

Leopards are very opportunistic hunters and will feed on a wide variety of prey. Apart from insects, small rodents and large antelope, they will also hunt birds. Baboons, Warthog and Impala are their favourites. Depending on the area and availability of food, Leopards will also prey on dogs and domestic livestock. They are not water dependent in the sense that they do not have to drink water daily, but will drink daily when water is available.

Enemies:

Humans, Lion, Spotted Hyena, Wild dog, Nile Crocodile”

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with more exciting photos and some videos we’ll be uploading to our YouTube page today. Please check back for more.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, July 22, 2021: