Waking this morning with a smile on my face made me realize how important it was to have those medical tests done and receive such good results for both of us. Then, I thought of the new immigration ruling that allows us to stay in South Africa until we leave for the cruise at the end of July, almost four months from now.

Of course, we’ll confirm this with the lawyer tomorrow, but based on the wording in the new document, it appears to be accurate information. Knowing these two unique aspects of our lives, we’re able to sit back and relax for the remainder of the time we’ll be here.

Sure, we could leave early and go to Scotland a few months before sailing out of Edinburgh. Still, after considerable research, we were dismayed over the high cost of spending the summer months in Scotland, a country with a short summer season of warm weather.

It would have been fun to spend time there, but we always like to live in a lovely house, and we’d have had to sacrifice too much to do so. Since the onset of our travels, and after a few holiday decisions we later regretted, we’ve come to a place where the property we rent must fulfill our objectives.

As a result, we have to consider the cost of holiday homes before we start booking flights and other events. It was the same reason we decided against staying in England in the past few years…the UK, in general, is pricey these days, much more than when we visited in the past.

This has been the case with many holiday rentals worldwide since the pandemic. Yes, if a tourist takes a one- or two-week trip to anywhere in the world, they can typically find suitable holiday homes via companies such as VRBO and AirBnB or even affordable hotels.

At this point, after our extended stay in Mumbai in lockdown for ten months, we have little interest in long-term hotel stays. Although, we’ll always stay in hotels in the US when we visit family in Nevada and Minnesota and during short stays in specific countries as part of our ongoing itinerary.

When we arrive in Scotland at the end of July, we’ll be staying in a hotel for a few nights, preferably close to the cruise terminal. After checking hotel prices in Edinburgh during that time frame, it appears that hotel prices close to the terminal average of around US $300 per night, not a price we’d be willing to pay for longer than one or two nights.

We’d love to share new adventures from our original departure date of June 8, leaving us about seven weeks until embarking on the cruise. But, based on the cruises we’ve booked for the future and those increased costs, it makes a lot of financial sense for us to stay in Marloth Park during those additional weeks.

Last night was another fun night at Jabula. This morning, I am focused on making a special Sunday dinner; roasted lamb neck for me and short ribs for Tom with whole carrots, whole mushrooms, and onions, all well seasoned. We have everything roasting in the oven until no later than 3:00 pm,1500 hrs. We are unable to use the oven during load-shedding.

Before load-shedding begins, everything will be done, and I’ll take the pans out of the oven to eat later on. Most likely, as hot as it is today, the pans will retain the heat, and we won’t have to reheat our plates to eat our meal, with rice for Tom and salad for both of us.

Have a great Sunday, and be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 2, 2022:

Whenever we’re heading to Komatipoort to shop and, on occasion, have a dental or doctor’s appointment, I feel rushed trying to get the post done before leaving. This morning is no exception. I tried getting up and ready for the day, but somehow, I got sidetracked by a few household tasks.

We both decided against having breakfast today, waiting to see if we’re hungry after the 11:00 am Doc Theo appointments for both of us. If so, we’ll walk over to Stoep Cafe and have a bite to eat. Recently, Lousie was sick for a day or two after eating there, and it made me wonder if all the load-shedding lately may have spoiled something they served.

Not every restaurant has inverters and generators, and they hope the food stays fresh during the load-shedding period of two to two and a half hours. There’s never been a problem at Jabula since they use generators for their fridges during outages. Speaking of Jabula, tonight we’ll be returning for sundowners and dinner at the bar, and tomorrow night, Louise and Danie will join us.

The fact that we’re dining out tonight made me less interested in eating lunch out (instead of breakfast). It seems kind of weird to eat out twice in one day, which we only do when staying in hotels, and all meals must be eaten in restaurants.

When I checked last year’s post for a “year ago photo,” I noticed there was no post on this date last year. We were traveling to Florida to spend a few weeks with our friends Karen and Rich before sailing on a transatlantic cruise to Southampton, a voyage during which, on the last two days, we both tested positive for Omicron.

By contracting Covid-19, we had to cancel the following cruise, sailing away a few days later when we both became very ill. We lost the money for that cruise on the Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to New Yrok when they only gave us an extension for ten months that we couldn’t use within that timeframe.

We had a good time in Florida, but unfortunately, our friend Karen became ill (not Covid) while we were there. Wow! How time flies! It’s hard to believe that was a year ago.

Also, today, after our appointments with Doc Theo, we’ll head to the pharmacy, where I’ll get some refills and a few toiletries. With no store like Target, we must purchase toiletries not carried at Spar supermarket, at the small pharmacy with limited brands. Somehow, for all the time we’ve been here, we’ve managed to get most of the items we use.

After refilling my prescriptions, I’ll return to Doc Theo one more time before we leave. The pharmacist has agreed to give me one year’s worth of my medications after I get new prescriptions from Theo. That way, I’ll have enough of what I need to get me through until we return one year later. I don’t want to have to find a doctor to write prescriptions, wherever we may be during that year away.

We hadn’t grocery shopped in three weeks before Tom left for the US, other than picking up a few items in the local shops. Mother Hubbard’s cupboards are bare, and our two refrigerators are almost empty.

Time to head out. We’ll be back tomorrow with more.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 24, 2022:

There was no post one year ago today due to a travel day.

The days seem to pass quickly lately, but the nights sometimes drag on. Last night was one of those nights for me. I awoke at 2:00 am itching from mozzie and chigger bites. I got up and put on some numbing cream, the only product that seems to help me sleep when itchy.

After leaving the bathroom after applying the cream, I crawled back into bed, hoping I wouldn’t wake Tom. He stirred but seemed sound asleep, with a soft snore passing through his lips, which never bothered me. Wide awake after getting back into bed, I plugged my wired earpiece into my right ear so I could comfortably lay on my left side, figuring I’d watch an episode of Naked and Afraid to lull me back to sleep. With the earpiece plugged into the phone, Tom doesn’t hear the show.

Watching a show on my phone always helps me fall back to sleep. But, often, the show continues to play, wearing down the battery. If I awake a few hours later and can’t go back to sleep, my phone may be dead. There’s a power cord next to the bed, but it’s very short, and I have to lay close to the edge of the bed to have it charge while I am using it.

There’s a shortage of outlets in houses in Africa with no particular building and zoning laws requiring an outlet every so-many meters. As a result, charging our laptops and phones is sometimes challenging, and we have to share certain outlets with multiple pieces of equipment.

Sitting at the dining room table, there is nowhere to plug in my laptop (with an adapter and converter). I can plug my phone into my computer, but that drains the laptop’s battery more quickly. The only place in the house to plug in my laptop is next to my side of the bed, with a tangled mass of cords on the floor that I have to navigate every time I get up to avoid tripping.

So, anyway, last night, when I got back into bed planning to watch the show, my phone had gone into some peculiar “talk-back” mode. I could not manipulate any apps on the phone, let alone get into “settings” to figure out how this happened. After playing around with the phone for about 30 minutes, I decided the only way I could figure this out was to load my laptop and look up instructions to stop this weird feature.

When I got out of bed, I likely hit something on the phone that triggered the “talk-back” feature. I didn’t want to awaken Tom; I was cautious the screen wouldn’t be in his eyes. Luckily, he was facing the opposite way, and I was able to load the laptop.

In only a matter of 60 seconds, I found instructions on how to disable “talk back.” It was to double press both sides of the volume button on the right side of the phone, below the start button. It worked immediately. Of course, during the entire time I tried to resolve this situation, I kept the phone charging on the short cord, or else I may have had a dead battery by the time the issue was resolved.

Finally, the phone was charged sufficiently, and I could load Express VPN and then the Discovery app to bring up the show, Naked and Afraid, and I rolled over onto my left side to watch the show. Within minutes, I was back to sleep to find the show had automatically moved through two more episodes while I slept until 7:30 am, overall getting enough total sleep to feel OK. Next time I watch the show, I’ll return to where I left off when I fell asleep.

Sure, I’d love to be one of those people who fall asleep after their head hits the pillow and then proceed to sleep through the night. That’s never been me. But, overall, I get enough sleep, usually seven to eight hours each night. My Fitbit seems pretty accurate in logging how much sleep I get each night and the quality of that sleep.

Today, we’re staying in and again cooking on the braai with pork chops for Tom, a lamb chop for me, rice for Tom, and salad for both of us. The weather is tolerable, humid but not too hot, but certainly, we’ll enjoy a lovely afternoon and evening with the wildlife and perhaps sundowners on the veranda.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Komatipoort for our appointments with Doc Theo, a trip to the pharmacy and grocery shop, and, if time allows, lunch at Stoep Cafe. Also, tomorrow evening, we’re off to Jabula for more fun at the bar and restaurant. It will be nice to get out.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 23, 2022:

Tom had written the following to his kids and siblings when they’d asked him about his return trip:

“When I got to the airport in Minneapolis, I received a text on my phone saying my flight was delayed two hours. Apparently, the plane coming from Denver was delayed getting out of there. I was worried because my layover in Newark, NJ, was only 90 minutes, and I would miss my 16-hour flight from Newark to Johannesburg, South Africa. 

This route is only available two to three times a week. I would have been stuck in Newark until I could get on another 16-hour flight.

Also, I had booked a hotel room at the airport in Johannesburg due to a 14-hour layover to catch my last flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit, South Africa. If I couldn’t get on this new flight, I would have to pay for the hotel room and not get there in time to use it.

Quickly, I approached the airline counter, asking what I could do. They told me to go to a  different gate with an earlier flight from Minneapolis to Newark.

When I checked at the next gate (same airline), they said I might have a chance to get on that flight, but I would be on standby and have to wait until all the other booked passengers were on the plane.

I had checked my bag for the first flight, so the gate agent called about it to see if it could be moved from my booked flight to this flight. They told her they would try to get it done.

I’ve never been on a standby list before. I waited about 2½ hours.

While I was waiting there, many others were trying to do the same thing that I had done, get on the standby list I was on. Some of these passengers were getting angry and raising their voices.

After they boarded the plane with booked passengers, I was relieved when they announced that only three seats were available for standby passengers, and I was #2 on the list. When I got to my seat, I heard other passengers talking, saying this particular flight had been delayed; it was scheduled to depart several hours earlier. I was fortunate it was delayed and that I could get on it.

Then I was concerned if my checked bag made this flight. I went to the hotel without my bag, with no toiletries and only a change of underwear I’d put into the computer bag. I didn’t know until I arrived at my final location to find my bag was there. What a relief after what we’d been through recently with lost baggage.

The candy made it without being an issue. I’m happy to be back!”

Yesterday, we never spent a moment out of each other’s sight. We had a lot of catching up to do, along with an entire afternoon and evening filled with laughter, countless warm interactions, and smiles on our faces. After never being apart in the past over ten years (other than the nights I was in hospital), I can’t even describe how wonderful it feels to be back together again.

Today, now 24 hours later, we’re still reeling. Even breakfast tasted better than ever this morning. Last night upon Tom’s insistence, I never made the chateaubriand but instead cut the meat into sizable steaks, which we enjoyed topped with garlic mushroom, wine sauce I made just before we ate, along with a crispy green salad and rice for Tom.

He hadn’t slept well in the airport hotel and slept only about four hours in the past two days. I could tell he was tired but couldn’t doze off when he tried to take a short nap around 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs. In a funny way, he reminded me of a little kid excited to be where he was and unable to wind down long enough for his nap. It warmed my heart. I am so lucky.

Louise wrote to me that last night I was the “happiest woman in Marloth Park.” So true, dear Louise. And I am still reeling today. They say, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” But my heart was already pretty fond before he went away. In reality, we feel as lucky to be together today as we always feel.

Today, we’re making burgers on the braai (no buns) with bacon and the leftover garlic mushroom sauce, salad, and rice. Sundowners on the veranda on this lovely sunny day will begin at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., as always—dinner around 6:00 pm, 1800 hrs., and later streaming our favorite shows. Tom slept well and is experiencing no jet lag whatsoever, but surely another good night’s sleep will be worthwhile.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, March 16, 2022: