The pillow-like puffs of white clouds against the bright blue sky and a few elephants create a heavenly scene in Kruger.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This cute little bird landed in our bird feeder. According to our helpful friend Lynne, this is a juvenile male red-headed weaver.  Thanks, Lynne!

Not a day passes that we don’t hear from some of our readers contemplating changing their lives to travel the world. They often have many questions we’re always more than willing to answer based on our personal experiences over this past almost six years.

It’s always thrilling to see elephants along the road.

We’ve had little to offer in a few cases when the inquirer is planning to backpack, stay in hostels, or use an RV, camper, or caravan. But, the majority of inquiries revolve around places we’d suggest, holiday/vacation home rental sites we prefer, health insurance and medical care, refilling prescriptions, car rentals, credit cards to use, visas, and the most cost-effective means of converting money.

Elephants crossing the road is extra special.

We are always happy to oblige and most often respond within 24 hours. The irony of it all is that everyone travels differently. No single person or couple seems to do it precisely as we do.

And most exciting when large numbers of elephants cross the road.

That’s the beauty of the vast numbers of primarily retirees/baby boomers who are making the drastic decision to change their lives. The single most significant difference in the way we travel and how others travel or desiring to travel may include some of these:

• We have no home, apartment, condo, or bedroom in the homes of family or friends where we go for downtime or regrouping. 
• We have no storage anywhere. We unloaded everything we owned in our old lives.
• We own no rental property, often the traveler(s) former residence they keep in case “they change their minds” or tire of traveling.  This may be a significant source of worry and stress; maintenance, management, rental issues, wear and tear, and market conditions. We each had owned homes for over four decades.

On our way to the Mug & Bean restaurant on Lower Sabie, we noticed it was raining at a distance. We certainly need rain here but most likely won’t encounter much for several months.

• Typically we stay in vacation/holiday homes for one to three months. (Although this year in Africa is a rare exception, as mentioned in yesterday’s post, where we’re recovering from the big expense of the Antarctica cruise).
• Often, for short stays, we negotiate special pricing for hotels while we await the next venue.
• We use cruising as much as possible as a means of transportation while providing living arrangements during the sailing period. We don’t think of cruising as a holiday or vacation. 

We have minimal luggage. If we purchase something to add to our bags, we must dispose of something else. Maximum kilogram per bag: 23 (50 pounds)

A waterbuck is looking across the river for possible predators.

• We do not stay in the homes of family and friends.  We don’t want to burden anyone with our peculiarities, nor do we expect a free ride (except for son Richard in Henderson, Nevada, where we’ll stay for a few weeks every two to three years. Thanks, Ricky!)
• We don’t have a “bucket list.” If we discover something along the way we’d like to do, we research, analyze the costs, and make a decision to include it in our itinerary.
• We often book some events two years in advance to continue shaping our itinerary. We thoroughly enjoy the planning process, with each of us playing a very active role.
• Every day, 365 days a year, we spend half of each day documenting our daily lives with photos. Doing so is not a chore for us. It’s a pure pleasure! We can write about the second part of each day we spend experiencing aspects of our lives the following day.
• Our overall goal: stress-free living.

There’s never a shortage of moms and babies.  From this site: “Elephants have the longest gestation period of all mammals. These gentle giants’ pregnancies last for more than a year and a half. The average gestation period for an elephant is about 640 to 660 days or roughly 95 weeks. By comparison, a human pregnancy lasts an average of 280 days or 40 weeks. Female elephants live for 60 to 70 years, but only have about four offspring throughout their lifetime.”

None of the above is stated to imply that the way we’re doing it is ideal. However, over these years, we’ve fine-tuned our goals, objectives, and expectations and are content with how we’ve chosen this path in life.

From this site: “The South African giraffe (G. c. giraffa) is found in northern South Africa, southern Botswana, southern Zimbabwe, and south-western Mozambique. It has dark, somewhat rounded patches “with some fine projections” on a tawny background color. The spots extend down the legs and get smaller. The median lump of males is less developed. A maximum of 31,500 are estimated to remain in the wild, and around 45 are kept in zoos.”

However, we always welcome inquiries regardless of the ways you may choose to travel. Please don’t hesitate to inquire at any time. Also, if you know of someone interested in long-term lifestyle travel, please forward our site to their email.

Two giraffes are crossing the road near a historical marker on the paved road.

Tonight, we’re heading out to dinner with friends Sandra and Paul (both MP Honorary Rangers), who happens to live a few doors down the road from us. No doubt, as always, it will be an enjoyable evening with this lovely couple.

In certain parts of Africa, giraffes are being killed for their tails used as a status symbol. For a video and story on this horrifying practice, please click here.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with lion sighting photos! Please check back!

Have a beautiful weekend.

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

We purchased our new Brother color scanner in Nevada to replace the five-year-old Doxie model we used in the past.  For details on living a paper-free lifestyle, please click here.

Although this may appear gruesome, this is the reality of life in the wild. Most likely, a lion killed and devoured this cape buffalo which was later “finished off” by vultures that we saw hovering when we first spotted this scene.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We were parked at the edge of the shore of Sunset Dam when this croc emerged from the water. Wow!

Sometimes when we go to Kruger National Park, we encounter breathtaking and unusual scenes. Yesterday was a little different. There wasn’t any particular incident or sighting that left us reeling as usual. 

Several vehicles had stopped to observe this kill.  We waited until we could get a better shot and zoomed in.  See the main photo for more detail.

Were we disappointed? Not at all. It’s not always the mind-blowing experiences that make it a good trip into Kruger. Instead, we encountered a wide array of birds and wildlife, which we’ll share over the next few days.

Hippos and impala at a distance on the Sabie River in Kruger.

Often, it’s the more subtle sightings that make us appreciate the simplicity of it all…wildlife living in their natural habitat, continually on the search for food, procreation, and a degree of comfort when possible. We, humans, are so much like them, aren’t we?

We take a side dirt road each time we go to Kruger and often see this wildebeest sitting under this same tree.  I guess  that explains how we’re all “creatures of habit.”

We began first thing in the morning to make the 20-minute drive to the Crocodile Bridge with a plan to drive to Lower Sabie to the Mug and Bean restaurant for a leisurely lunch. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but where in the world can one jump into their car and be in wildlife nirvana in 20 minutes? 

Now that we’ve fallen in love with Wildebeest Willie, we are particularly passionate about these calm and peaceful animals.

From this site: “An omnivorous bird, the Yellow-billed Hornbill, feeds mainly on the ground surface, where they forage for seeds, small insects, spiders, and scorpions. This is the bird we see most often in Marloth and Kruger Park, the hornbill. Termites and ants are a preferred food source in the dry season.”

It doesn’t. Each time we spot the magnificent beasts, we’re reminded of how fortunate we are to be here. Often, we ask ourselves and each other…”How did we get to be here? How could we have lived our lives without these amazing
experiences?”

An “implausibility” of wildebeest.

Previously, we’d mentioned that one of the reasons we chose to stay in Africa for so long was to “lick our wounds” from the costly Antarctica cruise, which was well beyond the limits of our yearly budget. To see the total expenses for the Antarctica cruise, please click here and scroll down the page for the information.

Impalas and warthogs are stopping for a drink.

But, we knew in doing so, it would be “heaven on earth” spending more time on the continent of Africa. Usually, “to lick one’s wounds” requires a certain degree of sacrifice. There’s been no sacrifice here.

This was the first time we’d ever seen a cape buffalo crossing the tar road. They are one of the “Big 5,” including the leopard, lion, elephant, and rhino.

Sure, there are inconveniences and occasional discomforts compared to living in some other parts of the world. However, we’ve adapted so well, we hardly notice anymore. 

Hippos resting on a sandbar on the Sabie River.  Note the number of oxpeckers on the hippos hides!

Over the past few weeks, we’ve had many cockroaches (aka cucarachas in Spanish) in the house. Usually, one thinks of dirt and filth about the disgusting cockroaches. We have them here, and we had them in Costa Rica, both very clean and newer properties. 

This is a white-fronted bee-eater from this site: White-fronted bee-eaters nest in colonies averaging 200 individuals, digging roosting and nesting holes in cliffs or banks of earth. A population of bee-eaters may range across many square kilometers of savannah but will come to the same colony to roost, socialize, and breed. White-fronted bee-eaters have one of the most complex family-based social systems found in birds.”

Picture this, you’re taking a shower, and you see a cockroach crawling up out of the drain. The weird thing here is that they were crawling up out of the drain in the shower. This surely could be a scream-worthy event. 

These dark-capped bulbuls hang around for scraps from diners at the Mug and Bean restaurant in Lower Sabie, where we stopped for lunch yesterday.

We don’t scream. Tom sprayed the shower, but when it didn’t resolve the issue, Louise and Danie came to the rescue with a particular product they use specifically for these situations. For a while, we won’t see them again. 

Yellow-billed storks lined the shore of Sunset Dam in Lower Sabie.

This is Africa, and they’ll return. Along with zillions of mosquitoes when the rainy season comes in the spring and then the humid summer heat with snakes and insects everywhere. We were here in the summer of 2014. We managed then. We’ll manage again.

Zebra stopping for a drink in the lake.

There will be a trade-off then; the return of dung beetles, which we love to see; the newborns of many of the wildlife; the blooming the bright red Flame Trees and the Sausage Trees and, it goes on and on. There’s so much to distract us from any possible inconveniences.

Another croc emerged for a breath of fresh air.  Crocs may stay underwater for up to an hour when they feel threatened.

Soon, we’ll be off for our usual exploratory drive in Marloth Park. Who knows what we’ll see? It’s now approaching the weekend, and holidaymakers are flooding the park once again. Today the wildlife “traffic” in our garden has already diminished a bit as the crowds move in for the weekend.

Several crocs at Sunset Dam, lounging in the sun.

We’ll be patient, and before too long, it will be Monday again, and everything will be right with the world, this world, right here and right now.

May everything be right in your world today and always.

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

While in Las Vegas, I made these homemade hamburger buns (the recipe is shown at this link here) are huge enough to hold a 6 to 8-ounce patty with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion or other items added. They’re easy to make and delicious!  Please click here for more.