“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This warthog’s tusks are almost a full circle.

Yea, I know. We’re running out of adjectives to use to describe our experiences. Or, perhaps, we ran out long ago. I look up words on a variety of online thesaurus’ searching for new or different words to use. 

These two cape buffaloes, horns stuck together, were close to the dirt road, making it easy to get these photos.

Alas, all I see are the same adjectives we repeat, such as; stunning, spectacular, sensational, unbelievable, unbelievable, heart-stopping, heart-pounding, breathtaking, astonishing, surprising, and on and on.

The anguished look on the faces was disheartening.

What can we do to describe over-the-top adventures we encounter almost on a weekly, if not daily, basis? Not much unless anyone out there has a better idea.

They could have been stuck for minutes, hours or days for all we knew when we stumbled upon this dreadful scene.

Even if we ranked an experience on a rating system from one to ten in a short period, it would be as redundant as the above over-used adjectives in almost every one of our daily posts.

“Guffaw,” I say (nice word to use), I’m going to stop thinking about my overuse of these adjectives and go with the word(s) including all of the above and more, that most effectively describes what we’ve seen and done.

They tried desperately to become un-entangled to no avail.

So here we go again…attempting to describe yesterday’s self-drive in Kruger National Park in search of a unique wildlife experience. Oh, I’ll admit, a nice giraffe, zebra, or elephant photo op does get the blood pumping through our veins, eliciting a certain degree of enthusiasm. 

We felt helpless. There was nothing we could do other than report it and our location at the time. Would something be done, such as tranquilizing them to get them free? But, most likely, this wouldn’t be safe when there were dozens of other cape buffaloes in the area. They can be very dangerous animals.  “It is widely regarded as a very dangerous animal, as it gores and kills over 200 people every year. Also known as Black Death, the Cape Buffalo can be extremely dangerous and is said to have killed more big game hunters than any other animal in Africa.”

However, a large “parade” of elephants excites us more, as does a “tower” of multiple giraffes, as does a “dazzle” of a dozen or more zebras. For us, “onesies” aren’t quite as stunning as numbers have the potential to be. 

It seemed hopeless until another buffalo came along. Check the above video as to what the other buffalo did to help.

The exception to the above may be in spotting rhinos; leopards, cheetahs, and of course, the often-sought lion or lioness and cubs. Then again, mysterious creatures such as the pangolin, porcupine, aardvark, and wild dogs, including many more nocturnal unlikely-to-spot animals even the most experienced guide seldom spots.

Another buffalo approached, wondering what was going on. Check the above video as to what the other buffalo did to help.

For us going into Kruger is all about our so-called “safari luck” or, as one may say, “pièce de résistance” when we have the opportunity to encounter something very special to us, which may be mundane to the more experienced participants in safaris throughout the world.

Then again, we’re no slouches in having had animal viewing experiences over the years. One need only peruse our site’s 2124 posts (as of today) to see how much we’ve actually seen in these past 5 years and 7 months since we began our journey.

They have sad faces when content.  But under these circumstances, they looked more miserable.

So, after driving through Kruger yesterday, having no safari luck whatsoever other than sighting lots of impalas (typical), a few wildebeest (a little less specific), and a few zebras (always lovely to see but more common), we resigned ourselves to the fact that for once, and only once so far in our numbers of trip to Kruger, we’d leave with few exciting photos and videos.

Alas, as we began the return drive on a dirt road back to the Crocodile Bridge, forgoing the paved road with the more decent little rental car, we stumbled upon today’s highlighted story, the entanglement of two cape buffaloes whose horns must have become stuck during an altercation over supremacy.

After they were free, they immediately started grazing. Who knows, maybe they hadn’t eaten in days?

Upon returning from Kruger, I checked YouTube to see how many other videos had been posted with cape buffalo horns entangled in one another, let alone when another buffalo came to their rescue. There were none.  This must be unique. This is the kind of sighting we long to discover.

Dear readers, revel with us in today’s video for which there is a lack of redundancy (at last) and, I doubt I can come up with any appropriate adjectives to describe this sighting. I’ll leave that up to you. 

Turtle crossing the road in Kruger.

Please pass this post and/or video on to your family, friends, and neighbors. Maybe, we can get it to go viral. We won’t make money from it going viral. That’s not our intent. But we can add to the list of “amazing” readers we have throughout the world.

Have a stupendous day!

Photo from one year ago today, May 24, 2017:

Busy port in Skagway, Alaska.  For more photos and Alaskan cruise final expenses, please click here.

This was our first sighting of a good-sized herd of cape buffalo we spotted from Marloth Park yesterday on the banks of the Crocodile River. There were from 24 to 30 in the herd.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Tom’s “Little Girl” bushbuck has been so happy he’s back, she comes to see him each day.

After yesterday’s massive response from our readers on our story on invasive alien plants (please see our post here if you missed it), we’re making every effort to expand our knowledge through education about biodiversity in Marloth Park.

We captured these photos through the electrified wires in the fence that separates Marloth Park from Kruger Park.

Of course, we’ll continue to share photos of our visitors as they arrive, our trips to Kruger National Park, and any other areas we may visit on occasion. But, conservation issues are constantly in our minds as we revel in this magnificent place.

We waited patiently while attempting to get a few face shots.

We often ask ourselves, “How long can this keep up?” Will the animals always be here, or will the effects of the human footprint eventually impact the number of animals in Marloth Park? 

Yesterday was hot and humid, so it’s not surprising they congregated near the water.

We’re on a mission to discover more, and currently, we’re working on a new story we’ll share in the next week that may surprise you. It certainly surprised us. Please check back for more.

Instinctively many wild animals rest close to one another as a defense from predators. After this great sighting, we continued on our way content we’d had a good day.

In the interim, we’re having a blissfully busy week since our return from Zambia last Friday evening. The days are flying by so quickly we can hardly keep track. Isn’t that typical when you’re having the time of your life?

Hornbills spend a lot of time on the ground as well as flying and in trees.

This morning, after preparing tonight’s dinner to be later baked in the oven, we decided to take advantage of the exquisitely sunny morning and head to Kruger National Park.

Of course, it’s equally exciting to see ostriches.

Now that we have our “Wild Card,” which we purchased for one year, we can enter the park as often as we’d like at no additional fees. We try to go at least once every two weeks and are seldom disappointed, especially when “safari luck” kicks in. Today was no exception. Tomorrow’s post will contain some fantastic scenes we captured.

An ostrich’s mouth stays open to cool off since they have no sweat glands.  They can tolerate high heat.

As for the rest of the week, yesterday, Tom had his haircut and is happy with the outcome. Tomorrow, we go to Dr. Theo in Komatipoort for the balance of our vaccinations and boosters. We’ve invited Louise and Danie along with Louise’s parents from Cape Town for dinner at our place on Saturday evening.

It’s always such a joy to see the giraffes in Marloth Park.

Tomorrow, we’ll grocery shop for the first time since we returned, managing to dine on items we already had on hand in the deep freeze, adding a few things from the Marlothi Center’s mini-mart. Plus, we’ll head to Obara to purchase more pellets, the pharmacy for odds and ends, and a quick stop at the biltong (locally made jerky) store.

Female giraffes have tufts of hair on their ossicones where males do not, mainly since they use these small horns in combat for dominance.

Our friends Kathy and Don return this weekend, and indeed we’ll see them soon once they are settled in. Well, the list could go on and on. Need I say, we’re content with the activity level since we always make time to relax and unwind.

Mostly Egyptian geese on the distant shore of the Crocodile River.

The evenings are incredibly relaxing while sitting outdoors on the veranda waiting for a wide array of visitors to arrive and, of course, the dependable arrival of the dozen bushbabies living in the trees in the yard.  No, we haven’t seen Scar-Face yet, but we continue to remain hopeful. 

Photo from one year ago today, May 23, 2017:

This day, one year ago, we arrived in Sitka, Alaska. We were the only ship in port, and the crowds in the town weren’t wrong. For more photos, please click here.

We returned on Friday evening.  These were our visitors on Saturday afternoon.  We’re back!

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This morning, Miss Kudu was on the road by our house after a pleasant visit, after which she wandered down our driveway. What a glorious morning!

It appears we’ve exhausted sharing our photos of Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Chobe River, and the Zambezi River. What a fabulous experience we’ll always treasure. Not only did we love every moment but we had such fun together with never a dull moment.

My favorite, “Miss Kudu,” didn’t waste any time stopping to see us.

Now, back in Marloth Park, we’ve had an opportunity to see some friends, and more social gatherings will follow soon. Yesterday afternoon we visited Gail and Mark at their home along the Crocodile River. 

It took a few days for the mongoose to realize we’d returned. Of course, scrambled eggs were on the menu.

We’d written a post about Gail’s heroic experience with an abandoned chimpanzee in Liberia and subsequently had written a book, “Her Name is Missy,” which is available for purchase here. They’d joined us for dinner last month, and we look forward to spending more time with both of them.

This afternoon we’re visiting a new couple we met who are both Marloth Park Honorary Rangers.  We’ll be preparing an exciting story we’ll share in tomorrow’s post after we interview them further.

The two “boys” are back with “Little Wart Face” in the background.

This morning, Louise stopped by to bring me a choice of a variety of tea filters to use for the delicious loose tea we’d purchased at the Livingstone Airport from the new little shop, as mentioned in a post of a few days ago which can be found here. Of course, I couldn’t let her leave without sharing some of my outstanding tea for her to take home.

Tom’s favorite “Little Girl” bushbuck came to see us the first morning we were back from Zambia.

This magical place is a plethora of fascinating people, each with their own unique stories to tell. Over these next few months, we’ll be adding more stories and photos about local citizens and their contributions to Marloth Park, its wildlife, and its surroundings. 

Kudus along the side of the road on our way to the little market.

We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to meet so many beautiful people and hear about their lives and their motivation for living in this magical place. Tom always asks the question, “How did you discover or hear about Marloth Park?

Nature…amazing! All zebras have those black spots on the inside of their legs. This spot is naturally callused, so when they’re lying down, they can place their sharp hooves on this spot and prevent them from injuring themselves.

 The answers are varied and ultimately interesting. No two stories are alike. “And how did we find it?” we’ve been asked. 

In 2012, shortly after we decided to travel the world, I sat in a chair in our family room for nearly 12 hours each day, searching for where we’d live in Africa, my dream continent to explore. It was via a photo Louise had posted on her website, as shown below. 

Warthog in the kitchen was doing “crumb patrol.” See this post from the day we originally posted this photo.

This photo so bespeaks what triggered our passion for being here. Those of you who’ve followed us for years surely understand. Speaking of warthogs, sadly, we have not seen Scar-Face in over two weeks. We’d heard a warthog with a massive hole in his face had been “culled” while we were gone. My heart sank. He was doing so much better, we thought.

Scar-Face was small, so we’re hoping it wasn’t him. But, now, after speaking with several locals, they say there were two warthogs with holes in their faces, one large and one small. The larger of the two was culled.,

This bushbuck mom and her baby have been visiting for months.  The baby certainly has grown, hasn’t she?

This morning, we spoke to the above-mentioned Honorary Rangers, and they stated they’d seen a small warthog with such an injury that appeared to be healing in the past week.  We hope he’ll return and we have the opportunity to see him again.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up with certain animals here in the bush. It’s funny how many of us get the same “visitors,” We each have our names for them. We’ve been able to interact with many of our “regulars” since we’ve returned but not Scar Face, Wart Face, or Frank so far.

Last night after dark, “Mom, Two Piglets and Auntie” came back to see us along with another boy group of four zebras.

 We’ll be sitting outdoors day and night waiting for them to appear, except for the few times we leave to tour the park or go shopping. We’ll post updates and photos here, of course.

That’s all for today, folks! Please check back tomorrow for our new story as mentioned above.

Have a meaningful Monday!

Photo from one year ago today, May 21, 2017:

Photos don’t do Hubbard Glacier justice. It was stunning. It’s hard to believe we were there a year ago today! For more photos, please click here.

Due to a power outage on April 20th, this post wasn’t uploaded until the morning of April 21st.  However, a new post describing an upcoming adventure in Africa will be posted later today, April 21, 2018.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

The road to Malelane on the well-traveled N4 Highway.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This baby warthog was nursing between her mom’s back legs.

Yesterday morning, before completing and uploading the post, we decided to drive to Malelane. Our permanent Kruger “Wild Card” (a year-long pass) had arrived at the post office, and time was running out to collect it.

Talk about “rocky mountains!”

Why the pass wasn’t sent to us baffles us since mail usually comes to the post office in the Marlothi Shopping Center. But, as everyone always says, “This is Africa,” and things aren’t always done as we’d expect in other parts of the world.

Giant rocks atop mountains and hills on the way to Malelane.

We quickly found the post office in the small town and headed to the Obaro farm store to buy pellets at hopefully a better price than the recent one. We’d heard we could get a “senior discount” at that location. 

The drive took about 40 minutes from Marloth Park. Many police cars were parked on the sides of the road, looking for offenders. Tom stayed under the speed limit in hopes we wouldn’t get stopped.

As it turned out, the senior discount in Malelane was ZAR 5 (US $.42) per bag, and the bags were priced at ZAR 204 (US $17.03) as compared to ZAR 215 (US $17.95). In all, with the meager discount, we saved a total of ZAR 16.05 (US $1.34) on each of the four bags. 

As darkness falls, Tom’s favorite, Ms. Bushbuck makes an appearance.

Had we not needed to go to the post office, buying pellets in Malelane isn’t something we’ll do in the future. The 90 minutes round trip drive plus the petrol we used doesn’t make it worth a memorable trip.

Then we spotted three hippos near the Crocodile River.

After Obaro, we drove to the biggest mall we’ve seen since we arrived to shop for a few items at the Malelane (also spelled Malalane) SuperSpar, which is much larger than the Spar in Komatipoort. 

Big Daddy stopped by last night, moments before dark.

We couldn’t find several items on our list and decided we’d continue to shop in Komatipoort, which seems to carry most of the things we use. I’ve been trying to find herbal cinnamon tea with no luck anywhere which I like to drink hot or as iced tea. 

Two hippos and a cattle egret at the river’s edge, as seen from the fence between Marloth and Kruger Park.

When we returned home, I ordered 12 boxes of my favorite Good Earth Sweet and Spicy herbal tea (no caffeine, no sugar), which will arrive with our upcoming shipment in several weeks. (We haven’t had it shipped to us yet since we’re awaiting the arrival of a few items to our mailing service in Nevada).

Last night, after dark, we had a steady stream of visitors; warthogs, kudus, bushbucks, bushbabies, and duikers came to call. It was much busier than most evenings.

In any case, the trip to Malelane was enjoyable, visiting another small town in South Africa. The fact that only a little over 8% of the country’s population is white is evident in this small town in Komatipoort.  At no point did we feel like “outsiders,” nor have we anywhere we’ve been in South Africa thus far.

We call him “Little Daddy.”  He’s about 30% smaller than Big Daddy. There are two types of kudus in Marloth Park, the Greater Kudu and the Lesser Kudu, smaller with smaller antlers. This appears to be a Lesser Kudu. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Of course, Marloth Park is not a realistic representation of demographics or lifestyle in this or any country. It’s a world of its own, far removed from the reality of life in most parts of the world.

Every day we remain in awe and grateful for this experience and more experiences we’ll glean in our remaining time on the continent, another ten months, including several side trips. 

As shown on the veranda floor, our bright lamp doesn’t seem to keep the wildlife away.

The first of those trips is upcoming on May 11th to Zambia, another forthcoming in February, details of which we’ll be sharing in tomorrow’s post. Please check back for photos and exciting information.

May your weekend be filled with peacefulness, pleasure, and purpose.

Photo from one year ago today, April 20, 2017:

Christine and Colin, the fabulous friends we met on a cruise, met up with us in Manly, Australia, for lunch. For more details, please click here.