Rita and Gerhard’s friends from the US, Karyn, and Dan, arrived on Sunday after they’d moved into the bigger house on Ratel St., which Danie and Louise own and recently remodeled. Louise has mentioned this house to us many times. They lived in that house for several years, and we’d seen in 2018, before the remodeling, on several occasions.

Once they finished the recent remodeling, Louise suggested we see the house to consider it a possibility for us when we return next December. Somehow time slipped away, and we didn’t get over there until last night when Rita and Gerhard invited us for dinner with Louise and Danie, joining them and their houseguests for steaks on the braai and side dishes. I brought a huge salad, and Tom cooked everyone’s steaks, as usual.

It was fun to meet Karyn and Dan, Americans who’d never been to Africa. Of course, as we sat there enjoying our sundowners amid lively conversation, the animals came to call at an unbelievable pace; we were shocked. Karyn, who’d gone nuts over them, feeding them what she called “kibble,” actually pellets, did so with such enthusiasm we all couldn’t stop laughing and reveling in her sheer joy! Dan was less vocal but couldn’t put down his phone when he was constantly taking videos and photos.

It’s such fun to see a first-time visitor to the bush, like Karyn, become so enthralled with the wildlife that she literally could not sit still for five minutes. We couldn’t stop laughing and encouraging her. Like me, she also uses a high-pitched ‘animal-talk” voice. She reminded me of myself eight years ago when I couldn’t believe what I saw when we first arrived. I eventually settled down in time, but even today, eight years later, I’ve never become tired of seeing them.

Last night was truly a feast, not only with the delicious food but also a “feast-for-the-eyes” when not only did we see an endless stream of kudus, bushbucks, and warthogs but later in the evening, the very elusive steenbok, which is rarely seen in the bush or even in Kruger National Park. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me and could not get good photos with my phone.

However, when we return in December, a mere nine months from now, we will stay in the Ratel house as shown in today’s photos, which Louise sent me this morning. We told her to block it off for us for about six months since we plan to make a visa run after the first 90 days.

It will be fun to stay in a house with a more oversized veranda, enabling us to entertain more easily. The place looks fantastic, and there’s a master ensuite bedroom on the main floor, which we like with another ensuite bedroom upstairs for guests. We’re hoping by then our friends, Karen and Rich, will come to visit and we’d have plenty of room in that house when we don’t have room in the house that we’re in now.

It’s a beautiful thought to know we will move into the Ratel house when we return in December. We’ve certainly enjoyed this house, but mainly for the wildlife in the garden and the seclusion, so far from other bush houses. Although the Ratel house is closer to other properties, none that we can see from the grounds. It appears to have even more wildlife than we have here.

Besides, the open garden will certainly bring giraffes and zebras, which we seldom get here other than in the driveway. The bush is too dense for them to maneuver their way to the garden. But, how will we feel about not returning to be with the animals we know and love now?

We have no doubt thatLittle will find us eventually. Some of the others may also find us there. Surely, we’ll have to come up with new names for many of the wildlife we’ll meet while living there. For now, we are OK with this.

Yesterday, Karyn and Dan shared an exciting story. They saw and heard one of the lions loose in Marloth Park run through the side yard. How exciting was that? Of course, that’s not to say we will see the lions when we move there but, no doubt, we’ll enjoy all the wildlife and this house.

Here are Louise’s recent photos of the house after the remodeling was completed. Tomorrow, we’ll share the exterior photos, including the spacious veranda.

Have a lovely day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 1, 2021:

Today is a busy day, so I’ll need to hurry through today’s post and be on my way. At 11:30 am, Rita is picking me up, and we’re heading to Malalane for her chiropractic appointment, and then we’ll head to lunch at a popular restaurant, The Deck. I can’t remember the last time I attended a “girl’s lunch” although I’ve had several “girl’s breakfasts” at Stoep Cafe with Kathy and Rita.

Tom and Gerhard are driving to Nelspruit to drop off the rental car for Tom to pick up another, which will be the last car we’ll need until we depart four weeks from today, on March 23. Time flies by quickly as we savor every last moment in the bush.

Most likely, when we return in December, we won’t be staying at this house. The animals we know and love most likely won’t find us at the next house, a few miles, km, from here. But Little found me when we arrived here after a two-year absence, so maybe, he’ll find us again.

The animals can wander an area of a few kilometers each day, so we never know who we may see again when we return in December to a house we hope to rent, owned by Louise and Danie and recently remodeled.

Lately, Hal and Broken Horn have become quite a source of delight for both of us. Although they may appear simultaneously, most often, it’s one, then the other, as was the case this morning. Their personalities and demeanor are uniquely different. Hal is more easy-going with the piglets and moms, while Broken Horn doesn’t hesitate to show them his horns.

He never hurts them, but an injury could happen. We often see mature warthogs with severe injuries from messing with wildebeests and kudus. The bushbucks back off entirely when a larger animal is near. We’ve never seen a bushbuck with one of those gaping holes due to an angry larger animal. Overall, the animals get along well.

We are cautious when tossing pellets to ensure no unnecessary competition between species occurs. Of course, there are occasional scuffles within each species, mainly just chasing one another off. We humans need to avoid inciting any disharmony between the wildlife. Their lives are hard enough to have humans making it worse.

This morning, I am on a more frequent walking schedule, hoping to get in as many steps as possible before Rita gets here. I haven’t missed a day since I began, shortly after the start of the new year. I’ve managed to meet or beat my prior week’s number of steps each week. At this point, 8000 to 10000 steps per day seems to be the number that works best for our lifestyle and available time.

When we get to Florida, I will be able to walk outdoors. There are plenty of birds and marine life photos I’ll be able to take since we’ll be situated right on the water. Of course, I’ll be taking my phone or camera if I see any alligators. It has been over two years since we’ve been close to the sea in India in 2020/2021.

So that’s it for today, folks. I have to get a few things done before heading out, including some photos to this post and wrapping it up.

I hope you have a great day wherever you may be in the world.

Photo from one year ago today, February 23, 2021:

This morning I awoke to two annoying email messages. One was from Google Fi as follows:

“Hi, Jessica,

Thanks for contacting Google Fi support!

I see that you’ve contacted us to request an exception for international roaming. Let me look into this.

After reviewing your account, it shows that you are not verified via Sheer ID. Eligible users include Military statuses other than active duty or reservists, like retired.

Military or State Department employees who are in the US and don’t serve abroad
People that work on a military base but aren’t in the military, like contractors
Dependents who aren’t in the same group as the eligible military or State Department employee
If you fall under one of the above categories, please submit documentation through goo.gle/fi-sheerid. If your military status or branch isn’t listed as an option on the verification form, you’re not eligible for an exception. I hope this helps!

If you have any further concerns and questions, please reply to this email or contact us over Chat or phone (available with a limited team). We’re here to support you 24/7.

Thanks,

Sai

Google Fi Support”

Subsequently, we will have to research a suitable alternative and set it up when we’re in the US at the beginning of April. This is frustrating. We purchased expensive Google phones for this purpose. Our phones will work with other providers, but the costs for data and calls will be outrageous on a roaming basis. We’ll update what we find here in the next week or so.

Secondly, we received an email from one of our credit cards:

“Thomas,

We’re writing to inform you of an upcoming account review scheduled for April 2022. Over the last several months, the highest balance on this account has been significantly lower than your credit limit. Because of this, your credit limit could be decreased following this review.

If your credit limit is decreased as a result of this review, we’ll notify you and make sure to keep your credit limit significantly above your highest balance from the previous two years.”

We have excellent credit. But now, when we haven’t used this particular card over the past year, why do they want to lower the credit line? That’s ridiculous! We called the company, opted out of the “review,” and tried to use this card regularly to avoid losing the good credit limit.

With these two things on our minds, we felt frustrated this morning. As soon as I’ve uploaded today’s post, I’ll get to work on researching a new cell provider, so we don’t have to spend a lot of time on this when we get to Florida. In any case, whichever company we choose will cost us a lot more than we’ve been paying. Our monthly bill with calls and data hasn’t ever been over US $80, ZAR 1206.

Many such issues exist for world travelers, including health insurance challenges. We will be in the US for about eight days. During that time, the only coverage we’ll have in the basic included Medicare plan, certainly not enough to cover in the event of a medical emergency. Our current health insurance with United Healthcare Global, SafeTrip, doesn’t provide any coverage in the US.

You may ask, “With these inconveniences, is it all worth it?”

We aren’t letting various agencies and organizations prevent us from our freedom of traveling as we choose. We often think of people in countries where they aren’t allowed to travel at their leisure. As US citizens, we are grateful that we can but never allow any company or provider to dictate what we can and can’t do.

If all else fails with cell service, we can always return to buying SIM cards in every country we visit. We did this for the first seven years of our world travel journey, and if we have to do it again, we will. It just seems illogical to go backward in technology based on some arbitrary regulations to make companies more money.

Anyway, on a lighter note, yesterday afternoon, we met Rita and Gerhard at Two Trees overlooking the Crocodile River. We didn’t see much. Many animals have access to water holes throughout Kruger National Park with the recent rains and may not venture down the steep ravine to the river to drink and cool off.

Fortunately, we took photos of these two elephants from afar. The photos aren’t as clear as we’d like, but they were across the river from us up a steep hill. They never came down to the river, although they stayed nearby. They appeared to be two males, one much larger than the other. They may have been “kicked out” of the main herd based on their ages.

Once an elephant reaches puberty and can impregnate females, they are banned from participating with the larger herd, usually by the matriarch. She intends to preserve the “family line” integrity by preventing young males from mating with their sisters and other family members. This makes so much sense. These wild beasts are so intelligent!

That’s it for today, folks. Tomorrow is another day, and hopefully, we’ll have found a resolution for our cell phone needs by then.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, February 16, 2021:

There was no post one year ago on this date due to a power and WiFi outage resulting from storms.

This morning Rita and I are headed to Stoep Cafe for breakfast and girl talk. Our veggie omelets were delicious, only topped by the delightful conversation. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, afterward, I will walk to the dentist’s office for my and Tom’s teeth cleaning appointments at 11:00, one after the other. Then, shopping and back home by 1:30 or so.

Today, I got up early to do some steps, but I won’t finish until we return in the afternoon and put the groceries away. Tomorrow’s upcoming trip to Nelspruit will be tricky to get them done when we get home as I upload the post. It will be a busy few days.

We made a reservation for Valentine’s celebration at Jabula on Saturday night, actually the 12th, for just the two of us. Rita, Gerhard, Lynne, Mick, Janet, and Steve will join us on Friday evening for dinner at Jabula. We don’t mind going there two nights in a row since we always have such a great time and the food is consistently spectacular.

We just returned from Komati. We had our teeth cleaned but couldn’t pay our bill. There’s load shedding, and their credit card machine wouldn’t work. We’ll stop by when we shop next week and pay the bill at that time. They were pretty fine with that.

Several providers here ask us to do wire transfers for various services. Our bank charges a lot for these and we are concerned about security. Plus, if a refund is needed for any reason, there is no way to get a refund from a wire transfer. We decided we wouldn’t do wire transfers from our US bank in the US to any foreign countries long ago.

Suppose we are unhappy with a service or product. In that case, our credit card companies are excellent at helping us recover refunds, especially in times of Covid when flights and rentals are necessary to change. We keep detailed communication between the provider and us, which the credit card company may ask us to provide. We’ve had no issues that weren’t resolved with their help.

While Tom was getting his teeth cleaned, I walked next door to the optometrist’s office and paid for Tom’s glasses. His prescription sunglasses had arrived but not the clear glasses, which will be here within a week. It feels good to get these ancillary services out of the way while in South Africa. Costs are considerably less here, but the quality of the services and the products is equal to that in the US.

We had our teeth cleaned for under ZAR 1000, US $66. In the US, we paid at least six times this amount for both of us, if not more. The savings on eye exams and eyeglasses were around 30% less than in the US. My contact lenses were about the same price as in the US, but my eye exam was 50% less.

From there, we headed to the pharmacy for a few toiletries, and then we were off to Spar market. Tom pushes the cart while I run around, filling it with the items on the free grocery app on my phone, called “Bring,” which you can easily find on your app store. It takes a few minutes to get familiar with the app, but it’s easy to use once you get used to it. I create the grocery list during the week and check off the items I found while in the market.

While checking off the last few items, I noticed a Whatsapp message from Rita. The above photo was included in her message. They found this tiny bushbaby on the floor of the upper-level veranda at the house on Hornbill. Oh, my gosh! I swooned when I saw this and couldn’t resist sharing it with all of you today.

One of the Honorary Rangers, Nadine, came by after Rita contacted her and picked up the helpless newborn bushbaby. She’ll take it to Wild and Free Wildlife Rescue, Rehabilitate and Release, where it will be hand-fed and cared for until it’s able to be returned to the wild along with other newborns’ bushbabies discovered in the past few days. What an amazing service provided for the vulnerable wildlife in Marloth Park and the surrounding areas!

By the time we were home, put away groceries, and got back to work on today’s post, I also got back to work on my walking with enthusiasm. I set my alarm every 15 minutes to stand up and get to work. It looks like today; I’ll be able to accomplish my usual goal of 7500 steps.

It’s another scorcher today. Last evening, we sat on the veranda at 100F, 38C. As the sun went down, it cooled down considerably. Luckily, there is no load shedding over the next few days.

Have a pleasant evening!

Photo from one year ago, February 19, 2021:

Today, I am rushing to get the post done and uploaded. Leon’s birthday party starts at 10:00 am and ends at 6:00 pm, 1800 hrs. We don’t plan to get there until 1:00 pm, 1300 hrs. However, I need to get my walking done before we leave. I’ve set my timer for every ten minutes when I jump up and do 500 steps in the bedroom with the fan turned on its highest setting.

I may not accomplish my 7500 steps today, but I am working on it now and may have to make up for the shortfall tomorrow. Last week, I finished at 53,458 steps, approximately 28 miles, 45 km. I broke my previous week’s record by about 10%. I am happy with that, especially when walking inside a two-bedroom house.

Once we get to Leon’s party, we’ll be sitting all day long, not getting any exercise. I’ll get up every half hour or so and walk around a little. I made a prawn salad to bring since Leon explained that none of the food he was serving would suit my eating style.

Leon offered to make me a meal in the kitchen, but I declined. I didn’t want them to bother doing that just for me. Besides, I may decide to eat the mackerel I have left from yesterday’s breakfast before we leave and then won’t need to eat again until we return home after 6:00 pm.

Neither of us cares to eat much during the day. I may end up making dinner when we return to the house. We’ll play by ear and see what we feel like at that time.

Last evening was one of the most pleasant times we spent on the veranda. The weather was cooler than the prior evening and pleasantly breezy. From the time we sat down at the big table, the garden began to fill up with wildlife in a matter of minutes. Little started it off, precisely at 4:00 pm, 1500 hrs.

Moments later, they started strolling in, one after another. Our visitors included Bossy, Thick Neck, Gordy, Sigfried and Roy, Broken Horn (whom we hadn’t seen in days), two Big Daddies (male kudus with massive horns), Mom and Babies (warthogs and bushbucks), helmeted guinea fowl, and no less than a dozen impalas including some little ones who leaped through the air with sheer joy.

We couldn’t stop smiling and laughing over the menagerie in our garden. At one point, we counted over 20 animals in the garden, five different species. It was enjoyable to see the little impalas who we usually only see on the side of the road when we’re driving through the park.

Suddenly, the wind picked up with dark clouds rolling in, and there was an unexpected downpour. The animals quickly scattered for shelter in the bush under trees. For the first time in a while, we had to go indoors. The wind was blowing the rain in our faces. Five minutes later, the storm ended, and we went right back outside, along with most of the animals hidden undercover. It was quite a treasure of an experience.

I’ve got to wrap it up now. So far this morning, amid doing this post, I’ve managed to do 6000 steps. I will have to complete the balance while we’re at the party, walking around the grounds to Jabula Lodge & Restaurant as we celebrate Leon’s birthday. Happy birthday, Leon! I know you read this, so I wanted to say it here as well.

Have a pleasing Sunday, wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, February 6, 2021:

We’re running low on photos right now. We’ve had many visitors, but our photos are becoming repetitious with the same animals coming to visit day after day. I guess they are like us humans; familiarity is comforting and dependable. They visit, we serve pellets along with “happy talk.” They don’t seem to need much more from us.

Oh, don’t get me wrong! We aren’t ever bored seeing the same visitors day after day. One never gets tired of seeing their loving dog or cat greeting them at the door. That’s not to say these lovely beasts are pets. But they similarly grab at your heartstrings.

We’ll continue to try to get good photos to share in our posts. As soon as the weather improves we’ll head back to Kruger National Park. But, with the heat and rain, we wouldn’t expect to see much, as has been reported by some friends who’ve given it a try. The animals tend to stay undercover on hot days and during rainstorms.

Speaking of friends, last night at Jabula, we had another delightful evening with Rita, Gerhard, Petra, and Fritz. Today, they will drive to Johannesburg to drop off Petra and Fritz at the airport for their return flight to Germany. They had decided not to fly in and out of Nelspruit, the airport several hours closer to Marloth Park. They aren’t seasoned travelers, and changing planes and flights may have been daunting for them. It was easier for them to fly in and out of Tambo Airport in Joburg with only one layover in Paris.

Anyway, as usual, the six of us were having a great time at Jabula, situated at our regular table for six on the veranda. While sitting at the bar before we moved to our table, several friends arrived that we were thrilled to see. Once at the table, more and more people arrived and greeted us.

It was delightful to see all of these lovely people and realize that after spending over 30 months in Marloth Park in the past 9 years, we’ve had the opportunity to develop a wide array of friends, along with many acquaintances who often become friends over time. Of course, like all of us, we tend to gravitate toward those special people with whom we spend the most time, creating beautiful memories along the way.

Although some of our friends are away right now, we look forward to their return when we can pick up where we left off. It was never this easy to make friends while in the US. That’s not to say people aren’t friendly. They are. But the busy pace and culture of always being on the go made it difficult to cultivate new friendships, especially as a couple when the pairing must suit all four individuals.

We haven’t restricted ourselves to couples or age considerations. No, we don’t gravitate only to people in our age group. Many of our friends are 10, 20, or even 30 years younger than us. The magic of finding other couples that we connect with and singles we incorporate into our lives is a very special aspect of our lifestyle.

When I was young, I was always the youngest in a group of friends. Now that I’m older, more often than not, I’m the oldest in any group. This doesn’t phase me one way or another. After all, Tom is five years younger than me, which isn’t much, but there is nothing about our lives that makes this a hindrance in any manner.

We are grateful for all the fine friendships we’ve made in Marloth Park and worldwide, many of whom we stay in close touch. We are thankful for the friends we’ve left behind in the US, knowing at some point down the road, we’ll be together again.

Yes, it’s easier to make friends in Marloth Park. The commonality of our love for nature and wildlife is a perfect segue into easy conversation. Although our lives may be very different, this mutual passion can easily build lifelong friendships.

May your day be filled with the companionship of dear friends.

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

Last night while seated at the table on the veranda, more warthogs stopped by than we’d ever seen at once since we arrived here over a year ago. They included Mom and Three Babies; Tail-less Mom and Two Babies, Barbara, and Lori (all family members); Little Imposter; Little; One Wart; One Tusk, Siegfreid and Roy; Wounded; Wounded Wart; along with a few new visitors we didn’t recognize.

What prompted them all to show up simultaneously baffled us, but we enjoyed every moment. Of course, it was sad to see  Wounded Wart’s face bleeding again where he recently lost his left Wart. From time to time, he’d rub the bloody area on a tree, and in one case, he rubbed it on another cooperative male warthog. It certainly must hurt.

But, this species is exceptionally sturdy with robust immune systems. They often fully recover, leaving them with a scar that seems to dissipate over time. Amazingly, they don’t become infected as they roll around in dirt and mud and seldom die from injuries. Surely, they may pass from time to time, but we don’t see that when most likely they wander off into the bush during the last days of their lives. It’s a sad thought for any injured or ill animals.

This past year we’ve yet to see a kudu with TB as we’d seen on many occasions when we were here in 2018/2019. We’re surprised we don’t encounter more sick or injured animals. No doubt, the improved health of the kudus and other animals prone to TB have been helped by Marloth Park Rangers, local vets, and other staff who care for the animals when illness becomes prevalent.

Right now, all of the many visitors we get in the garden are looking well-fed and healthy, except for the few who are injured. Many are pregnant, and all benefit from the lush green bush after many months of good soaking rains. In reviewing photos from last year at this time, the bush is twice as green and thick as it was last year based on all the rain we’ve had this season.

The bushbucks, who seem to visit mainly in the mornings and during the day, look fantastic. Their coats are shiny, eyes bright, and torsos full without any ribs showing. They remain shy around us, and we don’t encourage “taming” them by getting too close or hand feeding. But, our connection with them is palpable.

If I’m in the bedroom putting laundry away, the bushbucks and the kudus will come up to the window and look inside for me. It melts my heart. Sure, they may just be looking for pellets, but I choose to believe it’s much more than that. Bushbuck Gordy won’t touch a pellet or a lettuce leaf if I talk to him and look into his eyes.

Gordy (named after Chef Gorden Ramsey) seems to live in our garden. At times, we’ve seen him sleeping in the dense bush, but most wild animals here in Marloth Park don’t sleep more than a total of four or five hours a day in very short spurts, always keeping an eye out for danger. Many can sleep while standing.

As of lately, with the continuing warnings about lions free-roaming in Marloth Park, the vulnerable animals, which are most, seem more alert than ever. There’s no doubt that they are all aware of the presence of the lions and stay on alert day and night. The slightest unexpected sound makes many of them jumpy, especially the vulnerable bushbucks and smaller duikers (already skittish).

The dynamics of living in the bush have a profound effect on us. Whether it’s day or night, we, like them, are always on the lookout to see who’s stopped by for a visit. Never a morning passes when I don’t ask Tom (who’s up and about earlier than me), “Have we had any visitors this morning?”

In the evenings, when we are eventually indoors, every so often, we turn on the outside light to see who is in the garden. Usually, no one is there, and those that do visit are shown in the photos on the trail cam. But, many times, a visitor is standing there, wondering where we are. Those moments are precious, along with all the interactions we have during the days and nights.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 26, 2021: