Pleasant drive to London Gatwick…Finger crossed, hoping to head to the US in 48 hours…

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I forgot to post this photo of Tom sunning by the pool at friends Karen and Rich’s home in Apollo Beach, Florida while we wait for our cruise to Southampton.

Yesterday morning, promptly at 11:00 am, the driver, AJ Shafik from Aero Taxis, arrived at our Southampton Hotel. I was dreading the long drive based on how we were still feeling, But our driver was a delightful, conversationalist, and competent that the 90 minutes flew by in a blur.

If you are coming to Southampton, London, or anywhere in between, this is the person/company to call. He can be reached at:
Aero Taxis Southampton Ltd iPhone
Mr. AJ Shafik
Company Director
Phone: 44 02380 010203, Email: aj.shafik@aerotaxis.co.uk

We are always delighted to share information regarding service providers we encounter throughout the world, and this was no exception.

Once we arrived at the Marriott Hotel, around 12:45 pm, we’d anticipated we’d have to wait a while to be provided access to our room. It was quite a relief when our room was ready as Tom hauled our bags up one level to our room. We only had to access a few of our bags for toiletries and clothes to get us through the next few days.

Immediately, Tom made a batch of our Crystal Lite Iced Tea and filled our mugs with ice. The cold drink was so refreshing after the long drive, and in minutes we settled down to relax. Still exhausted and coughing, there was no way either of us could see our way through making this a “fun” hotel stay, but we did our best to stay upbeat and hopeful that we’ll be able to fly to Minnesota as initially planned on May 1.

Since we’d already booked a rental car and hotel in Minnesota, it would be so much easier if we could get there as planned, avoiding the necessity of changing our reservation. The only reservation we have to change, which we’ll do today, is to cancel the flight from New York to Minneapolis since we couldn’t sail on the Queen Mary 2 as hoped before we got sick.

I just went into the Expedia.com site and canceled the flight. We will receive full credit of US $737.20 for the airfare from New York to MSP that we must use by March 2023. We’ll probably get some future credit from American Airlines for the canceled flight, but there’s no guarantee. Plus, it’s a rare occasion that we’d fly on a route used by American Airlines.

This flight was intended as our means of getting to Minneapolis after sailing on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton, which, as you know, we had to cancel on the day of embarkation due to both of us contracting Covid-19 while on the ship. Now  11 days after our first symptoms, we’ll take the certified tests we bought on the Celebrity Cruise to determine if we’ll be able to fly out.

As for this Marriott hotel near the Gatwick Airport, it’s nowhere near as pleasant as the Marriott where we spent ten months in lockdown in India in 2020. But, it’s clean, a decent Engish breakfast is included in our room rate, and we get points on Hotels.com for the bookings for three nights. Every ten nights we book with Hotels.com on our website, we get one night free of a similar value. For us, this is a huge benefit.

We’d returned from breakfast over 90 minutes ago, and our room hadn’t been cleaned while we were in the restaurant. We asked the housekeeper to clean our room while waiting downstairs in the lobby. We waited 50 minutes only to discover when we walked back to our room. It still wasn’t done. Under normal circumstances, this would be no big deal.

But now, when we both need to lie down so badly from sheer exhaustion as lingering effects of the virus and lack of sleep from non-stop coughing all night, it’s’ taking everything I have to keep my head up. It’s hard to imagine being on an airplane for hours in a few days, walking through airports, changing planes, collecting our luggage at the layover, etc.

We’ll be very relieved when we make it to Minnesota and get situated in our room. Of course, we’ll have been tested negative on two consecutive days, so there is no chance of us infecting our family members when we see them. It’s unlikely we’d get Covid again for several months since, in most cases, the immunity, coupled with vaccination and boosters, will provide added immunity for at least a while.

Many people have stated that Omicron had been comparable to a bad cold. For them, this may have been the case. But, for us, it’s been worse than any cold we’ve had in the past. We will get through this. We always do!

It’s time to take the Covid test now. We’ll be back with the results in tomorrow’s post.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 29, 2021:

Two hungry hornbills were pecking at the kitchen window, hoping for some seeds. We complied. For more photos, please click here.

Hanging in…Hanging on…

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Unusual artwork that was for sale on the ship.

No, this is not easy. But whoever said being long-term nomads would be easy? Who would have known when the concept of permanent home-free world travel only came into the limelight in the past decade? No one could have anticipated a worldwide pandemic that has changed everything for people like us.

Stuck in this hotel room in Southampton, England, with the exact room configuration in the hotel in Mumbai, India, where we spent ten months in lockdown in 2020, gives us the creeps. But, what can we do? It’s the way it is, and we’ve chosen to make the best of it.

We’re busy determining what we’ll do if we get negative Covid tests by Thursday. Can we make the fight scheduled from New York to Minneapolis on May 1? Can we get a flight from London to New York to catch that flight? In our research, it appears we’ll have to fly from London to New York one day earlier, spend the night in a hotel, and fly from New York to Minneapolis on May 1 as originally planned.

However, as Tom is conducting research online as I write here, it may be best to forfeit that flight from New York and book an entirely new flight to Minneapolis from London. If that’s the case, regardless of how we test, we could leave for London on Thursday when our reservation at this hotel ends.

Once we test negative, we can book a last-minute flight and be on our way to Minneapolis, perhaps even making it there on our initially planned date of May 1. The rates at this hotel are doubling this weekend because it is a “bank holiday.” We’d be better off paying for a hotel in London close to the airport.

Of course, everything will remain up in the air until we take those two Covid tests on Thursday. We are both feeling a little better today, although we are coughing a lot. The headache and body aches are gone, but I still have a sore throat. I have the feeling I won’t test negative until the sore throat is gone. It’s 50% better than when I was first tested as positive and getting better each day.

In any case, we’d like to leave this hotel by Thursday. It makes sense to get closer to London, near the airport, than to wait here. We are 90 minutes by car from London. We’ll arrange a private shuttle.

Hopefully, we will be feeling well enough to manage the long drive and handle our bags as necessary by Thursday. We are both optimistic in this regard.

As for today, we’ll continue to research our options but based on the progress we’ve made thus far today; we’ll have a plan in place by tomorrow’s post.

Have an excellent day. We’ll be back with you soon.

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

Two duikers at night. For more photos, please click here.

We made it!!!…A longer than expected flight from Joburg…Now rested and feeling great!…

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The view of Karen and Rich’s pool and bay from our bedroom’s veranda! Amazing!

Wow! What a long day and night. Our connecting flights worked out, but the most challenging flight was from Joburg to Newark. The plane was having mechanical issues, and we sat in our seats for two hours until it finally took off. It took us over 30 hours from door to door.

The remaining 16-hour flight was painstaking. My Fitbit showed I never slept since it only registers one hour or more. Once I laid down on the two seats between Tom and me, I couldn’t fall asleep when my legs hung into the aisle, and people walked by, bumping into them. A few times, I dozed off but woke myself up when my head dropped down to my chest.

We have two comfy chairs on our veranda at their lovely oceanfront home.

Instead, I watched parts of or the entirety of eight movies, none of which were any good. Most of the movies were old, and we’d watched them at some point, and many were genres I didn’t like. Tom watched a few as well but didn’t care for any of them either. The battery on my phone was dying, and the USB plug-in on the seat didn’t work, so I couldn’t play games on my phone. It was a long 16 hours.

We both wore compression stockings and got up to walk around every few hours. They served food three times, but I ate very little when there was no option for low-carb meals. Most of the food was awful, sugary, and carb-laden. It didn’t matter to me since I knew Karen and Rich would have some fantastic foods awaiting us, and they did.

Another view of the bay.

By the time we were in the air, we were concerned about making our connecting flight in Newark with only a 2 ½ hour layover ahead of us. We had to rush through immigration, collect our bags to go through customs and security, recheck our bags and make it to the gate a few minutes before boarding. Miraculously, it all worked out well.

On the last flight from Newark to Tampa, a lovely man in his 30s sat between Tom and me, and we chatted during the entire three-hour flight, which was also late taking off. We didn’t arrive in Tampa until almost 3:00 pm, 1500 hrs, picked up our bags and rental car, and made our way through rush-hour traffic to Karen’s and Rich’s beautiful home in Apollo Beach, Florida.

Their dock and beautiful new boat.

It was such a joy to see them both. It had been over two years since we stayed with them in November 2019. It was exciting to see our dear newlywed friends, their gorgeous home, and finally eat some fantastic food, including smoked salmon, deviled eggs, artichoke dip, baby tomatoes, and roasted chicken wings and legs. They’d planned a filet mignon dinner, but after eating the great starters, we were all full and will have the steaks on the braai tonight.

We decided to stay awake as late as possible, but I was done by 9:00 pm, 2100 hrs. Tom stayed up a little longer chatting with Karen and Rich and joined me an hour later. Much to our amazement, we slept like logs, only each getting up once to hit the bathroom but each going right back to sleep.

This morning we awoke alert and energized, feeling as good as ever. We have no remnants of jet lag whatsoever, but following the new time zone we’d entered yesterday afternoon, we bypassed any chance of jet lag.

Another gorgeous view. It couldn’t be more perfect than to be here with them both.

Once we upload today’s post and a few photos (more will follow in days to come), Karen and I will head to her favorite grocery store soon, and we’ll get a few things to last for a few days. When we return and put everything away, Karen and I will take a  walk in the neighborhood.

While we’re here, our posts will continue daily, and we’ll add photos of our surroundings, our friends, and anything we decide to do. A lot of sightseeing isn’t our intent while here in Florida, but we have plenty of sightseeing ahead of us over the next few nights.

Thank you, dear readers, for all the well wishes and encouragement. Well back with more tomorrow.

Be well.

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

Tiny, who’s quite the loner, has a new friend, we called Narrow, due to his narrow face. Narrow used to hang out with The Imposter  (who imitates Tiny), but now Narrow has gravitated to Tiny. We’ll see how this works out when The Imposter returns tonight when these two are most likely cuddled up. For more photos, please click here.

Finally booked our flights and rental car for the USA in 32 days…Sailing across the sea in 48 days…

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Big Daddy comes right up to the veranda to let us know he has arrived!

After spending the past 13 months in Marloth Park and the prior ten months in lockdown in a hotel room in Mumbai, we are ready to be on the move once again. Don’t get me wrong. We have enjoyed Marloth Park as much as ever, if not more than all of our prior visits to the bush. But, after feeling a little confined, we are ready to return to our lives of world travel.

I must admit we have procrastinated booking our flight and rental car, waiting to see if the upcoming transatlantic cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette would be canceled. Flights are booking up quickly, and we don’t want to lose the opportunity for the flights with the shortest duration. We can no longer wait.

Lots of girls and young ones in the garden.

It wasn’t easy finding a fair price. Car rentals are extremely high in the US, as much as seven times more than what we’ve been paying in South Africa. This time we got the best price we’ve seen in years in the US using the link on the right side of our home page with Auto Europe. We ended with a four-door Buick at US $688, ZAR 10400, a price we were thrilled to get for the 15-day rental, averaging at US $46, ZAR 695.

If you use this link on our site on the right side of the page, we receive a small commission. But you may get the benefit of a great price you may discover after shopping around online. Our goal is always to have our advertisers offer prices as good as you can get on your own and, on occasion, even better. Using our links makes us a little revenue that helps offset some of the cost of maintaining our site. Thank you to all of our readers who’ve been using our links.

Seigfried and Roy sharing pellets.

We booked the flight using our link for Expedia after shopping around for the best possible flight and pricing. Many flight apps don’t allow including the flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to be included in the package of flights. If it’s not included, we’d have to collect our bags in Johannesburg and check in a second time.

As it turned out, our flight on March 23 is a total of 27 hours, arriving in Tampa on March 24 at 1:55 pm, 1355 hrs. We’ll collect our bags and head to the Avis counter to get the car and then be on our way to newlywed friends Karen and Rich’s fabulous home in Apollo Beach, where we’ll stay until we leave for Fort Lauderdale on April 8 to board our cruise.

It will be wonderful to spend the two weeks with our friends. The four of us have great memories and so much in common. We are looking forward to being with them both.

A monitor lizard was scurrying off into the tall grass.

This morning I’ve been busy walking while stopping intermittently while we booked the flights and car. Louise loaned us some large totes to store items we would leave behind. Now we can relax for a while, having this out of the way. Soon, I’ll begin sorting and packing for the upcoming journey. After all, we will be back in Marloth Park in December, after arriving in Cape Town by cruise.

As mentioned earlier, we haven’t booked any holiday homes or hotels for the almost two months we’ll spend in the UK awaiting our next flight to Istanbul at the end of June. We won’t feel safe committing to holiday homes when the cruise could still be canceled last-minute, and we’ll have to make alternate plans as to how and where we’ll spend the time from April through June. We aren’t concerned about that now. It will all work out.

Today is a quiet day, spending lots of time with our furry friends who have been coming in droves all since early this morning. Now that I’m just about done with today’s post, almost completed today’s walking goal, and have most of tonight’s dinner for the braai ready to go, the remainder of the day will be easy and pleasant.

We hope your day is as easy and pleasant as ours.

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

Tiny’s best begging pose for more pellets. We haven’t seen him since we returned from the US at the end of July. We continue to call for him. For more photos, please click here.

Lions still in Marloth Park…Flights, canceling to and from South Africa…What shall we do?

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When Melissa Grobler of Dubai, currently staying in  Marloth Park with her mom, a resident, captured these lion photos, this morning we were enthralled. Melissa managed to witness this fantastic sighting of one of the female lions known to roam the streets of Marloth Park.

Finally, this morning, photos were taken of one of the lions that have been spotted in Marloth Park over the past few months and subsequently, posted on Facebook. These are the first photos we’ve seen of the lions. I contacted the photographer, Melissa Grobler, who is currently staying in the park for a few months, visiting her mom, a resident, asking if we could use her photos. She was thrilled to share.

After all the comments we’ve read about numerous sightings since the lions were originally spotted, with no supporting photos, we began to wonder if these elusive carnivore beasts were actually staying here. Often, at night, humans perceive certain animals to be roaming the bush, other than those we see regularly, At times, at night, we’ve often thought we’ve seen something when perhaps the light and the night tricked our eyes.

Melissa did this drawing to outline the shape of the lion she spotted in the bush.

In this day and age, with the advent of rampant cellphone and camera use, we longed to see an actual photo of a lion in the park. It’s not that we doubted their existence here, especially when, in this day and age, rangers and many locals have spotted them, over and over again. But, as they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and Melissa hit the jackpot this morning.

So, for all the naysayers, here are some good photos of the lions, keeping in mind they don’t care to be around humans and may be extremely poor subjects when hiding in the bush, and mostly making appearances at night in the dark when they are on the hunt for their next meal. Obviously, the pickings are good in Marloth Park with so many animals a part of this unusual wildlife conservancy,

You may have to squint your eyes to see the lion in this photo.

On to other matters…This morning at 6:00 am, I received an email from Expedia, that our flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to Tampa, Florida had been canceled by Delta Airlines. Apparently, Delta isn’t interested in flying to and from South Africa, in light of Omicron, the newest Covid-19 variant.

Although, so far, reports are showing this variant is no more lethal than other variants, a worldwide panic ensued and many countries locked their borders to South Africa as well as airlines suspending flights. In this prior post, we commented how we’ve canceled our plans to attend our dear friends, Karen and Rich’s wedding in Florida on February 11th.

We were sad and disappointed to be missing this event, which after the wedding, we’d planned to stay in Florida for an upcoming cruise sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on April 8, 2022. After a month-long stay with Karen and Rich at their oceanfront home, we’d also planned to spend time driving through Florida, visiting friends that have relocated to various oceanside areas in the warm weather state.

It’s been a thrill to see these photos. We can only thank Melissa for capturing these photos.

With everyone’s justified concerns about Omicron, we won’t be seeing our friends after all. If the trans-Atlantic cruise actually sails, we’ll come to Florida two weeks earlier and self-quarantine, not seeing any of our friends during this period. From there, we’ll board the cruise. But, by the end of March, new rules may be in place about mandatory quarantine for anyone arriving from South Africa, whether US citizens or not. Only time will tell.

When we decided to cancel our trip to the wedding, we left our flight, departing on January 22, 2022, in place. With Delta, we had until the end of December to move the flight to a different ending point and date without penalty. A few days ago, when I’d made a to-do list on this post, it included moving this flight. Now, this has been taken care of by Delta canceling the flight and offering us a full refund.

This morning after receiving the email, I requested a refund for the flight and we’ll book our exit out of here when we know more. Is the cruise going to sail in April? Will there be flights out of South Africa by then? What will we do about our visas expiring on January 24th? This all remains to be seen.

In the interim, we’ll be contacting all of our friends in Florida, telling them not to worry about being near us since we won’t be seeing them after all. Our biggest concern beyond that is what we’ll do about our expiring visas in January? We may have no choice but to return to Zambia for another short stay and another visa stamp. Will immigration allow us to make this trip once again? Or, will President Cyril Ramaphosa issue another visa extension for foreign nationals based on this Omicron situation?

Only time will tell. In the interim, we will stay positive and aren’t as worried as one may think. We’ll continue to enjoy our time in the bush and see how it all rolls out.

Today, we’re reveling in the lion photos and the excitement each day of wildlife visiting our garden.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, December 8, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #260. We were with friends Lisa and Barry, enjoying one last night together on the ship in a private sitting in the wine room. For more photos, please click here.

Airline challenges, but we’ve made it to Joburg…Photos from our last night in Las Vegas…..

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We dined in Henderson, Nevada, at Lindo Mochaicans. a fantastic Mexican restaurant, noisy and fun. This drink is called a Coronarita. Get it? 

While on the first leg of our long journey, I wrote this, an almost five-hour flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Newark, New Jersey. I was hopeful. If the flight continued at this pace, we expected to arrive early in Newark, at around 7:30 pm, Eastern time.  

Our next flight to Johannesburg, the 15-hour red-eye, was scheduled to depart at 8:35 pm, giving us ample time to get to the gate where we were to board.  Our fingers were crossed for more ‘safari luck,” especially appropriate as we make our way back to Africa with wildlife in mind.

Guacamole made tableside, served with homemade tortilla chips.

Toward the end of the Newark flight, I spoke to the flight attendants. They told us the next flight would wait for us since we’d booked everything with United Airlines, except for the leg from Joburg to Nelspruit, leaving on Monday at 11:20 am and arriving less than an hour later, when we collect the rental car and make the 90-minute drive to Marloth Park.

With only 46 minutes between the two flights to make our way to a distant gate, naturally, when we deplaned, hearing the pilot telling the other passengers to make way for those with immediate connecting flights, we didn’t think we’d make it. The flight attendant noticed us walking by and said, “Barrel on through. People wouldn’t budge. Make them move!”

I giggled at her comment and pressed on through the crowd, with Tom behind me, handling the two carry-on bags. We exited gate C121 in Newark and thought we could make it in minutes to gate C125 in no time at all. Oh, no, not the case. My Fitbit clocked over 3000 steps from one gate to the next.

Once we arrived at the gate, the doors were closed with a sign reading “Boarding closed.” Fortunately, an agent stood behind the desk and checked us in, alerting the plane we’d made it. Whew! We were so relieved to have made it. I was incredibly relieved to see the two seats were empty next to me on row 45. I could stretch out to sleep. Tom only had one free heart next to him, at his seat across the aisle from me.

I was glad we hadn’t upgraded to business class, which we’d considered. But, at the cost of US $2000, ZAR 29702, we couldn’t justify it. One bad night’s sleep could be recovered in a few nights.

The almost 15-hour flight was relatively uneventful. The food was awful, nothing I could eat, and nothing Tom would eat. Before landing at 5:45 pm, 1745 hrs, they served an egg McMuffin-type thing with one cooked egg and a slice of ham. I ate the egg and the ham and left the bread. Tom ate his.

Once we arrived at Joburg airport, after over an hour of searching, the big duffle bag containing most of our new clothes and shoes was missing at the carousel. We filed a claim and hope we’ll receive it in Marloth Park by Tuesday. If not, we’ll have to file another claim for the value of its content. What a pain! But, we are grateful to be here safely with only one more leg to go.

We’re spending the night in the airport hotel in Johannesburg and will be ready to get back into the airport in the morning. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some sleep tonight. It’s almost 10:00 pm here in South Africa, but it’s still 1:00 pm for us. I can’t imagine falling asleep anytime soon.

There it is, folks, another long journey behind us with many more to come in the future, health-providing, speaking of which, we’re grateful to return to SA fully vaccinated after a great family visit. Time well spent.

The view of Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, is seen from the restaurant window.

We will be back tomorrow with an update on which of our animal friends are back to see us! We’ve been gone four weeks and hope they weren’t too discouraged to return to us.

Photo from one year ago today, July 25, 2020:

From the year-ago post on day #124 while in lockdown in Mumbai, India. Classic scene of three vultures on a limb in Kruger National Park. We were thrilled to get this shot from quite a distance. From this site: Vultures are, however, great ecologists, having a high sense of personal hygiene and are a manifestation of the adage of patience as a virtue. They clean the veld of carrion, thereby minimizing the impact of animal disease, and they bathe regularly in rivers after gorging themselves at a kill.” For more, please click here.

The Minnesota visit continues…Photos from our journey…

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Roomy seats in Business Class that entirely lay down. I have no idea what he was looking at.

We expected to be busier here than we’ve been, but with Covid-19 and most of our friends worried about being around us with us coming from South Africa, we haven’t had our calendar as complete as in past visits. We certainly understand their hesitancy. After all, as of today, it’s only been seven days since we were vaccinated. We have another seven days to go to ensure the two-week period for maximum safety after vaccination.

It was such a relief to be in Business Class, away from other passengers other than one another. My clothes were all bunched up while I was wearing several layers. We wore two masks on the plane.

We’re a little surprised by how careless people are here. Few, if any, wear face masks, and social distancing is not happening out and about, in stores or public locations. We have no idea if people are washing or sanitizing their hands, but we don’t see anyone using the provided sanitation stations available at the entrance to most shops.

But, when checking stats, we can certainly understand why Minnesotans aren’t interested or motivated in following Covid protocols.

Roomier Business Class area on the huge plane.

Stats for Minnesota, which is in the 19th position on Worldometer. Click here for details:

(Total cases, new cases, total deaths. There were no new cases or deaths as yesterday).

And yet, when we look at South Africa, which is in the 18th position worldwide, up from 20th a month ago.

With 21,427 new cases as of yesterday, of course, President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered a recent ramped-up lockdown, including an alcohol ban. (Total cases, new cases, total deaths. 411 new deaths).

Tom was preparing to put on his compression socks for our upcoming 20 hours of flying time on the two longest legs of our journey to the USA. I had put mine on earlier in the day.

Thank goodness, when we’ll return to South Africa in 18 days, fully vaccinated but will remain cautious. The vaccine is no guarantee of total safety from the virus. However, we’ve read that 30 days after the jab, the protection from the vaccine increases exponentially. That’s a relief.

Besides, most of our local South African friends will not have been vaccinated by the time we return. Of course, we’re concerned for their safety when there are now over 35 active cases in Marloth Park, based on what we’ve heard so far, which may or may not be accurate.

We’ve been able to get the bulk of our shopping done while in the USA. Tom has some new clothes and shoes. I have ordered a few clothing items but still need a few pairs of jeans which, most likely, I’ll order online and have shipped to our mailing service in Nevada.

Tom’s takeaway (room service) meal at the hotel in Johannesburg when a new lockdown required all restaurants to be closed. (Reminiscent of our time in India, huh?)

Yesterday, I ordered a new camera, a newer model of the camera we had. My familiarity with that model made the most sense, especially since it has a few new features I’ll enjoy using. Also, from Amazon, I ordered two more pairs of shoes that I knew will fit without issue. More on that later.

We visited a DSW shoe warehouse while out and about, but I didn’t see anything that fit my criteria of being ultra-comfortable and washable. After all, shoes get very dirty in South Africa. At US Amazon, I had no trouble finding what I liked in my size.

This afternoon, we’re heading to Tom’s sister Mary’s house in Andover for a family barbecue. We stopped at Cub Foods and picked up a salad for me, brats for the grill with buns for Tom. This weekly barbecue was an event we attended when we were here in 2017 during the summer months. We hope to see even more members of his family.

My room service meal in Johannesburg. I gave Tom my rice but ate the chicken and veg.

If time allows for Greg, Camille, and family, we’ll visit them tomorrow morning and then head to Tom’s family’s weekly happy hour and dinner get-together at Billy’s Bar in Anoka.

Well, dear readers, that’s the only update I have for today. Please know that we’re very aware of our lack of photos. Some readers have asked for photos of family members. But, please keep in mind, not everyone wants their image posted online for “the world” to see. We get this and must respect their privacy.

Have a pleasant day! Stay safe wherever you may be.

Photo from one year ago today, July 8, 2020:

These common Yellow Allamanda were growing like crazy in the garden of our holiday home in Fairlight, Australia, in 2017. For more photos, please click here.

Day #2…We’re on the move…South Africa visas extended, again for foreign nationals…Vaccines provided in Marloth Park…

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    A young male kudu sheltered in the shade to cool off in the heat.

So it goes. As of last night, a notice was online from South Africa immigration that visas for foreign nationals were extended once again, this time until September 30, 2021. Then on Facebook, we saw photos of seniors over 60 years of age getting their Covid-19 vaccines in Marloth Park. Oh well, this information became known to us once we had arrived in Johannesburg and we were situated in our hotel room.

In any case, we’re excited to see the family after a year and a half, and the trip indeed will be worthwhile and gratifying. We will return with a visa stamp taking us to October 26, 2021, and we’ll figure things out from there. Returning to South Africa fully vaccinated will also give us peace of mind, although we’ll continue to observe lockdown requirements and safety protocols.

If it weren’t for the long and challenging travel time, leaving and returning requiring almost two days, visiting the US would undoubtedly occur more frequently. But, it always seems as if we are very far away at any given time since we’re inclined to be interested in more remote locations, rather than a more leisurely trip to Europe, for example.

We’re often asked why we don’t spend more time in Europe. The answer for us is clear. We’ve already visited hundreds of historic buildings, including churches, museums, galleries, and such. We feel more inclined toward our preferences surrounding nature and wildlife and more unusual locations for the remainder of our years of world travel, less frequented by typical travelers.

Of course, with the pandemic in our midst, who’s to say where we’ll be able to travel in the future? For all of us passionate travelers, the options are limited at present and may continue to be so over the next several years, for all we know. Here again, only time will tell.

As for our drive to Nelspruit, the car rental drop-off, and the flight to Johannesburg, all was smooth and went as planned.  Airlink out of Nelspruit is a great airline, and we’ve always been happy with their flights and good service. But, unfortunately, since we’d booked the return flight at the end of July as one contiguous journey, Las Vegas (LAS) to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger (MQP), we weren’t able to use the individual return flight from Joburg to Nelspruit.

We stopped at the Airlink counter yesterday, and they gave us a two-year credit for the return flight. That was great, even unexpected. Airlines realize that being more adaptable during Covid-19 will go a long way toward customer retention in the future.

Once we arrived at Garden Court’s hotel, it took a good 35 minutes to get checked in and a room key in Joburg. Several suitable Covid protocols were in place, but they never asked to see our negative PCR test results. We wondered what they’d do about food when all restaurants in South Africa are closed.

As it turned out, they have some arrangements for takeaway from a local restaurant, and our meals were delivered at 6:00 pm, 1800 hrs. We hadn’t eaten anything all day. Airlink had given us each a “boxed lunch” when we de-planed since no food service was allowed during the flight. We didn’t look at it until we checked into the hotel room.

There was a bag of salt/vinegar potato chips, candy, and two juice boxes. I don’t eat any of those items, and Tom snacked on both boxes throughout the evening. Dinner was mediocre, but what did we expect? I had two chicken legs and left the rice and veg. Tom had a steak (no steak knife), rice, and veg. He ate my rice along with his.

Our 9:30 am breakfast order was lost. So we had to re-order again at 10:00 am. I ordered poached eggs, bacon, and sausage. Tom ordered fried eggs, plus cold cereal, muffins, toast, and hash browns. Hahaha! That’s my guy!

We requested a late checkout and arranged with the shuttle driver to take us back to the airport at 3:45 pm, 1545 hrs. So our flight isn’t until 7:00 pm, 1900 hrs, allowing us three hours before departure as required. The first flight to Frankfurt is 10 hours 35 minutes, followed by a five-hour layover in Frankfurt. Then, we’re off to Chicago on another 9 hours 15-minute flight.

Once we arrive in Chicago, we’ll have another layover of a few hours. Whew! It will be a long journey. But, this isn’t the first time we’ve had a long trip, nor will it be the last.

We’ll be back in touch during our layover in Frankfort.

Have a pleasant day and evening.

Photo from one year ago today, June 30, 2020:

We walked past a grove of palm trees and evergreens in Trinity Beach, Australia, as we made our way to the beach. For more photos, please click here.

The booking process has changed over the years…The itinerary for our US visit in 3 weeks…

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Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 13 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, The Imposter, Peter, Paul and Mary, and others
  • 6 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 10 kudus – inc. Little Daddy, Bossy, Baby Daddy, Medium Daddy
  • 2 wildebeest – inc Broken Horn, Old Face,
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Note: Included above is our video mentioned in yesterday’s post. As it turned out, only a few minutes after making this video, two more bushbucks appeared for a total of 10. What a fantastic start to a chilly morning in the bush!

On our way to the river, we encountered a dazzle of zebras.

At the beginning of our world travels in 2012, when we first started booking holiday homes, flights, and rental cars, the process was very different than it is now. At times, it was slow and cumbersome with inconsistent methods, including sketchy confirmations when we were done booking.

It’s a whole new world now. Websites are working more efficiently, and the booking process is easier than ever in the past. That’s not to say we don’t encounter problems. We do. But they are minimal and often quickly resolved,

Great message on this sign on the fence at Two Trees Crocodile River viewing location.

Over the past three days, we’ve been busy planning and booking the following for our trip to the US, leaving in a mere three weeks from today.

  • June 29, 2021 – Flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to Johannesburg, South Africa
  • June 29, 2021 – Hotel in Johannesburg (awaiting next day’s flight)
  • June 30, 2021 – Flight from Johannesburg to Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
  • July 1, 2021 – Rental car upon arrival in Minnesota
  • July 1, 2021 – Hotel in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
  • July 16, 2021 –  Drive to Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Hotel yet to be booked
  • July 18, 2021 – Return Drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for an upcoming flight
  • July 18, 2021 – Flight to Las Vegas, McCarran Airport
  • July 18, 2021 – Hotel at Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada
  • July 24, 2021 – Flight from Las Vegas to Johannesburg, South Africa
  • July 26, 2021 – Flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger
  • July 26, 2021 – Return Drive to Marloth Park, arriving late afternoon

    More elephant photos from our visit to the Crocodile River.

As mentioned above, we’ve found that booking all of these flights, cars and venues are considerably easier than they were in the past. In some cases, the payment process may require a few steps to verify the use of a credit card which we don’t mind. Our credit card numbers have been stolen on several occasions, demanding that we find a way to receive a new card, which is tricky in some locations.

For most of our travels, we’ve used either of two credit cards, one of Tom’s and one of mine, that both accumulate tons of points for travel, which we often use to pay down a new balance, rather than specify it for a particular event. So for us, it’s the best way to take advantage of accrued points.

The majestic elephant never disappoints.

After our extended stay in the hotel in India, using Hotels.com on our site, we accumulated many credits we’re using for the hotels in the US. Every ten nights that we stayed in that hotel which we booked through Hotels.com, we earned one free night, which is limited to the average dollar amount spent for previous hotel rooms. Because the hotel in Mumbai averaged around US $100, ZAR 1359 per night, our credits are limited based on the high cost of hotels in the US.

After totaling all of our expenses, including still paying rent for this house in Marloth Park, we’ll easily spend US $10,000, ZAR 135942, for the 28 days, averaging US $357, ZAR 4853, per day. Of course, we will be keeping track of all of our expenses and include them here at the end of our stay.

No doubt, birds are used to being fed while humans watch the action on the river.

Meals will be a considerable expense during the trip. Fortunately, our hotel in Minnesota has a kitchen. That’s not to say I will be cooking all of our meals. Breakfast is included in the hotel. But, I can easily see us heading to Costco to purchase a few dinners from time to time.

In Las Vegas/Henderson, we’ll be staying at the fabulous Green Valley Ranch Hotel, Spa, and Casino, where breakfast is not included. With numerous restaurants within walking distance, we will indeed have trouble finding a good spot for breakfast. Most likely, we’ll be dining out most nights with Richard and friends. It will all work out.

More entertaining us in hopes of being fed. Next time, we’ll bring birdseed.

As for today, we’re staying put. There is an endless stream of wildlife to entertain us. We’re making a big pot of slow-cooked short ribs for dinner. And, after the past few days, busy booking for the trip, I need to spend some serious time getting caught up doing post corrections. Unfortunately, I doubt I will have time to do edits while we’re in the US, so I’d like to double up until we depart or the next three weeks.

We hope you have a fantastic day!

P.S. I have been inside trying to stay warm for the past hour, with the door closed. In the bedroom, I opened the bedroom door to check out the garden’s action and found Frank wandering around inside the house. LMAO!!! Frank, what a guy!

Photo from one year ago today, June 8, 2020:

While on a walk in the neighborhood in Sumbersari, Bali, in 2016, we spotted this friendly neighbor (she spoke no English) making bowls as shown that are used for offerings at the Hindu temples. For more photos, please click here.

Rainy Sunday morning…Will our plans for the river be dashed?…A decision is made…

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Wildebeests in the driveway near the rental car.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs – inc. Little, Lonely Girl, and others
  • 12 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg,
  • 6 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 kudu- inc. Medium Daddy
  • 3 hornbills – banging on the kitchen window for hours
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

With plans for river sightings with Rita and Gerhard today at 3:00 pm, a rainy morning may indicate that we won’t be heading out today. Anxious for new photos to share here, after a steady stream of regulars in the garden, day after day (which we love but our readers may not), we have been looking forward to seeing our friends again with an opportunity to take big game photos.

The wildlife tends to hunker down on rainy and windy days, so if we go, regardless of the weather, we may not see much action on the river today. However, right now and last night, we could hear lions Fluffy and Desi roaring in Lionspruit, which abuts the end of our back garden. We’ve listened to that roar over and over again, and it always makes us smile. What an exquisite sound!

Hornbills next to the veranda enjoying Frank’s seeds.

It’s not only the photos and videos we take that make this experience so delightful. The sounds, day and night, are thrilling and, at the same time, heartwarming; whether it’s birds or animals, it all sends a chill down our spines. So many of these sounds may be heard when viewing any of our videos, over and above my endless chatter describing the current scene in view.

Of course, our big concern is that our readers will become bored with photos of warthogs, bushbucks, and kudus and lose interest in our site. So we always strive to “shake it up,” but with the limitations for travel due to Covid-19, we’re fast running out of new and exciting photos.

Then again, I have been under the weather for almost three weeks, continuing to cough, and haven’t felt like doing much of anything other than sitting on the veranda watching our furry friends stop by for a warm “hello” and, of course, pellets, carrots, apples, and cabbage.

A dark-capped bulbul. Sorry for the blurry photo. They don’t stay still for a good shot.

Well, folks, maybe it will get more interesting coming up here in 23 days when we are finally leaving South Africa for about a little over three weeks to return to the US for several reasons; 1. to see our family members in Minnesota, Nevada ad Wisconsin; 2. to get the Covid-19 J & J  vaccine, which is readily available at many locations in the Twin Cities; and 3. to get that darned visa stamp we so much need, when our visas expire on June 30th.

It doesn’t seem realistic that SA President Cyril Ramaphosa will be extending visas for foreign nationals again in the next 24 days. He opened visas last time at the beginning of a month to June 30th, not at the end, as we need at this point. So it’s doubtful the dates will coincide with our needs.

Thus, yesterday afternoon, we began booking rental cars and hotels for our already-in-place flight from Johannesburg to Minneapolis on June 30th with Lufthansa Airlines. So all we have left to book is:

  1. A round trip flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to Joburg
  2. A one-way flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas to visit son Richard
  3. A return flight from Las Vegas to Joburg

    Warthogs and mongoose get along well, paying little attention to one another.

We have yet to book the Las Vegas/Henderson hotel, which we’ll do today, planning on staying at the Green Valley Ranch Spa and Casino in Henderson, which is close to Richard‘s home. Unfortunately, we will be in Las Vegas during the hottest month of the year, so we won’t spend much time outdoors if we can help it.

As for visiting Tom’s dear sister, Sister Beth, a nun in a nursing home in Milwaukee, we will drive from Minneapolis, returning a few days later to fly to Las Vegas from there. We’ll see Sister Beth, and then Tom wants to visit a few cemeteries for his Ancestry stuff.

It will be a busy time, and we hope to take many photos along the way. But, of course, we’ll continue to post each day, even during the long travel days while on long layovers.

At this point, regardless of the visa scenario changing again for foreign nationals in South Africa, we’re committed to leaving Marloth Park on June 29th to begin the long journey to the US. We hope to get our J & J vaccine on July 2, which we plan to book before leaving here.

Also, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. It looks like we’ll be able to go to the river today, after all! We’ll be back with more tomorrow, including what we’ll be doing with our vacation home during our absence.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Photo from one year ago today, June 6, 2020:

While in Campanaria, Madeira, Portugal, we heard the music coming from the fish guy’s truck and raced up the hill to meet him. He held up a tuna for us to inspect. It was smaller than some of the others, but this size was perfect. It weighed 7.7 kg, 17 pounds, and the cost was INR 2569, US $34. He cut them into portion-sized pieces, wrapping each piece individually. For more photos, please click here.