Sure, it’s allergy season in the bush right now, mid-summer, with pollen, dust, and animal dander filling the air. Gosh, I don’t mean to jinx myself by saying so, but right now is the best I’ve felt in a long time. No headache, minimal facial pain, hornet bite resolved, and absolutely nothing hurts.
We both sneeze and get runny noses quite a bit. I tend to get a lot of reactions from insect bites and rashes, but that’s handled reasonably well with frequent use of insect repellent, ridding our area of nests, and paying attention to standing water after significant rains. During dinner each night, Tom sprays the bedroom with Doom. We don’t enter until several hours later. But last night, a juicy bug ran over me, which I squashed into quite a mess with my fingers. Yuck. Tom said, “They always find you!.”
Currently, I am using an over-the-counter nasal spray called Nasonex, which takes several days to kick in, but it works amazingly well once it does. Plus, I still use the twice-a-day nasal rinse at different times than the Nasonex. The combination seems to work well.
By the end of this month, we will have a new system installed in the house that will provide us with electricity during load-shedding. It’s not solar but similar, using a more powerful inverter system with massive batteries that will recharge when we have electricity. This inverter will run the fridges, freezer, lights, fans, and some air-conditioning (enough for a few hours) during load-shedding periods.
Right now, at night during load-shedding, we do fine only using the big fan in our bedroom. Most likely, we won’t tax the system utilizing the air-con when the new inverter is running. The exception to this may be during periods when the heat and humidity are much higher than we’ve experienced lately. The fan has been sufficient so far
Once the temperature reaches 104F, 40C, we may have to use the air-con during outages for a few hours at night, relying upon regular electricity once load-shedding has ended. Getting a good night’s sleep is vital to our well-being, especially during periods without water and power.
Last night, Tom sent me a news article stating that load-shedding will be permanent in South Africa, possibly for years. More and more property owners are opting for solar power, which is very expensive to install in an average-sized home, from ZAR 200,000, US $11672 to ZAR 300,000, US $17,495. Not everyone can afford this considerable expense.
Installing the system that we’re getting is still around ZAR 100,000, US $5,829, but the wiring is set up for adding solar in the future, which cuts the cost at a later date. Louise and Danie are hoping to eventually install systems in their rental properties, an eventual must-do with holiday rentals.
Can you imagine how frustrating it is for international tourists excited to take their holiday anywhere in South Africa, let alone the bush, to discover they don’t have power for up to 12 hours a day? In most cases, there would also be no WiFi without an inverter like we’ve had. We’ve been fortunate to have a lesser-powered inverter provide sufficient power to run the router. But many others do not.
Holidaymakers from South Africa who come to Marloth Park and other holiday locations are used to load-shedding; for them, it’s not as difficult. But property owners and managers are constantly fielding complaints from renters while the power is out.
Today, we’re staying put, but tomorrow we are off to Komati to see Doc Theo for my refills and grocery shop. Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard is getting bare since we haven’t shopped in a few weeks.
May your day be filled with pleasant surprises and harmony.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, January 23, 2022:
