There is nowhere in the world that we’ve appreciated winter more than here in South Africa. We love winter for so many reasons, first and foremost, the cool weather. Next, we love the lack of insects and mosquitoes, although there are still some biting insects and flies.

We can be outdoors with the doors without screens wide open and not be concerned about insects entering the house—each evening. Tom sprays the bedroom for dust mites, chiggers, and no-see-ums to ensure I get fewer bites. But, come summer, it will be all the more critical that he sprays.

Sadly, during the winter, there is less vegetation for the wildlife. The trees and brush are sparse in the leaves they like to consume. But, that spareness allows us to see further into the parklands beyond the property line, enabling us to see when animals are approaching.

Today, the holidaymakers are leaving the park. The school holiday ends today, and school begins again tomorrow. We’ve already seen an influx of wildlife visitors. This morning we have no less than eight species stop by; impalas, bushbucks, nyalas, warthogs, kudus, zebras, wildebeests and duikers. Most likely, by the end of the day, we’ll see more. The mongooses have become quite the regulars around here and we expect to see them before the day’s end.

Speaking of nyalas, Norman, Nina and Noah are the only nyalas in Marloth Park. They visit us no less than three times each day. We notice cars stopping on the road to take photos of them when they are here. It’s still morning here, and they’ve already been here twice. We love seeing them, along with all the others.

It’s been delightful that we’ve only had a few load-shedding sessions in the past 48 hours. Yesterday, I was able to bake a big pan of egg casserole with 18 eggs, cheesy sausages, mushrooms, onions, freshly grated mozzarella, topped with parmesan cheese, and seasoned with fresh garlic, salt, and pepper. My recipe results in 12 good-sized squares, which I place in sandwich Ziplock bags to freeze.

Tom takes one square out each night and places it in the refrigerator overnight to defrost, heating it on a plate in the microwave in the morning for an ideal breakfast. Lately, I’ve been having a light breakfast of unsweetened full-fat Greek yogurt with a few frozen blueberries tossed in and two Keto seed crackers on the side. They’ve begun selling these crackers at Spar market in their health food section.

I’m always thrilled to see low carb and keto options at the market here. The Banting (keto) diet is very popular in South Africa and the stores have begun carrying many good products, including many without chemicals, bad oils and added sugars.

Tom took the big bucket to the store room to load it with more pellets. We’re certainly going through them this morning, along with veggie scraps I added to the offerings. We are so happy to see so much wildlife gracing our garden. It seemed as if there was one holiday after another since we arrived almost two months ago. Now, we’ll have more photo ops along with those from Kruger National Park which we plan to visit this week now that the holidays are over.

As for the rest of today, we’re hanging out enjoying this perfect winter day. No sweatshirts are needed to stay warm today. The sun is shining, and the bush is filled with the activities of our furry friends.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, July 18, 2021:

When I searched for the year-ago photo below in this post, I was sorely reminded of all the plans we’d begun to make a year ago with excitement and hope for the future. Here we are a year later, with most plans canceled due to visa issues, the war in Ukraine, and the after-effects of Covid-19.

We see many of our traveling friends on cruises and spending time in Europe and islands worldwide. After almost ten years of world travel, we’ve visited all the islands we wanted to see and the European countries that appealed to us. With Schengen visa restrictions (click here for details) in Europe for travelers like us, who’d prefer to stay in a country for months, not a two-week holiday/vacation, the conditions of Schengen leave little to be desired for us.

This may sound weird to those who’ve never been to Europe, but we’ve seen all the historic buildings and churches we care to see in this lifetime. Yes, we loved the countries we visited in Europe at the time, but our tastes have changed. Plus, it’s costly for us to stay for two or three months in Switzerland, Sweden, or the Netherlands (we’ve been there), all of which would be exciting to visit but unable to fulfill our expectations of comfortable living.

At this point, our interests lie in affordable locations with reasonably priced holiday homes and rental cars. But, above all, our current interests are wrapped around further wildlife exploration. We long to return to South America to visit the Pantanal, as described on this site:

“Wetlands—where the land is covered by water, either salt, fresh, or somewhere in between—cover just over 6% of the Earth’s land surface. Sprinkled throughout every continent except Antarctica, they provide food, clean drinking water, and refuge for countless people and animals worldwide. Despite their global significance, an estimated one-half of all wetlands on the planet have disappeared.

Amid the loss, one specific wetland stands out: the Pantanal. At more than 42 million acres, the Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland and one of the most pristine in the world. It sprawls across three South American countries—Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay—and supports millions of people there and communities in the lower Rio de la Plata Basin.

WWF is working on the ground to conserve the region through the creation of protected areas and promoting sustainable use of natural resources.”

Yes, this area is offering tours and cruises but when we check into it further, the after-effects of Covid-19 have left many of such expeditions short of staff. We need to wait another year, as is the case for the Amazon and other such ecologically rich areas in the world. They just aren’t ready yet for tourists. We don’t care to spend a lot of money on a disappointing experience or canceled flights, cruises and tours, plenty of which we’ve already experienced.

We’ve lost thousands of dollars due to the pandemic, and we’re not interested in losing more. Are we being too cautious? Perhaps. But, if we listed all we’ve lost including the recent two months we spent in the US and on a cruise, getting Covid-19 and becoming very ill, it’s to be expected that we are cautious in what we decide to do going forward.

No, we don’t plan to stay in South Africa longer than a year. While here, we’ll have an opportunity for more adventures on the continent. In a little over a month, we’ll be on the move for a short but exciting trip to Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. Before departing that trip, we will be planning another trip for the following 90 days, again, outside South Africa. We’ll keep you updated.

In the interim, we are enjoying our time in the bush, surrounded by wildlife and friends, grateful for each day as it comes. What more could we ask for?

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you may be.

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

I won’t get into all the convoluted particulars regarding the confusion on when and how we’ll get refunds and credits for canceled cruises we’ve booked in the past few years during the pandemic. Most travelers book one cruise, and it’s nowhere near as confusing as to when we’ve booked seven or eight, many of which have canceled after collecting our final payments.

Hmmm…I wonder why they don’t cancel them before we make the final payment. Are the cruise lines in such a dire financial situation that they need the “float” of our money for three or four months until they get on their feet? That’s a harsh reality and frustration for world travelers like us, who book several cruises over a year or two.

In almost ten years of world travel, we’ve sailed on 27 cruises, few of which we ever canceled. If there were cancellations, there were precipitated by the cruise line for one reason or another. In our case, we may have moved several bookings to future dates before the final payments were due to satisfy the needs of our upcoming itinerary. Still, none of these incurred any penalties or refunds.

With the war in Ukraine and the pandemic, we’re seeing some of the cruises we booked making changes we didn’t request, and now we’re struggling to get our money back consistently and seamlessly. Often, a small amount appears as a credit on a credit card we used to pay for a cruise. We never know which one it is without calling Costco, being on hold for an hour, and often holding on the line for another 45 minutes while Costco Travel calls the cruise line to get it figured out.

We don’t blame Costco Travel. The long hold is the only issue we have with them. But, the perks they offer as an incentive to their customers are well worth the inconvenience of continuing to work with them. The refund issues are not their doing. That’s entirely up to the cruise line.

When we think about how much money we’ve lost due to the pandemic, it’s in the thousands. This was no one’s fault. It was the nature of the dreadful virus, and many lost money on travel-related expenditures, wages, and business revenue. When we were in the US, we couldn’t believe how many small and medium-sized businesses have failed due to these tough economic times.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc on most of us in one way or another. Now, we are all faced with rising fuel prices, let alone the cost of living in most areas worldwide.

At this point, we have a few airlines holding credits for us that won’t provide us with a refund. We have no idea if and when we’ll ever be able to use those credits. All of these losses certainly have impacted our budget, and we’ll proceed cautiously to ensure we remain vigilant and maintain control of our expenses.

In the interim, we’re happy to be in South Africa, where the cost of living is considerably less overall than in many countries. Tom just spent an hour in the dentist’s chair having dental surgery for his implants and the total bill for that hour was ZAR 1266, US $79.78, as shown in the statement below.

After the appointment, he headed to the pharmacy for three medications due to the surgery, including antibiotics, non-narcotic painkillers, and probiotics, which are always prescribed with antibiotics in South Africa. The total pharmacy bill was ZAR 424.05, US $26.71, as shown in another photo below. Where would we pay so little for this amount of service and products? Nowhere that we know.

As “they” say,…it all comes out in the wash. We’ll continue to stay on top of the credits we’re due for the cruises via more phone calls and diligence, ensuring everything is accurate.

Have a delightful weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, June 24, 2021: