It’s a new day!…Cool, comfy and feeling good!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
As always, Broken Horn stopped by for a visit.

What a glorious morning! It’s cool enough outdoors that I’m wearing a long sleeve shirt, and Tom is wearing jeans instead of his usual shorts. If only we could have weather like this every day, especially as summer approaches. But, TIA (this is Africa) and hot weather is the norm except for a few short months in the winter when days like this are more prevalent.

Last night, after taking two 25 mg Benadryl, each four hours apart, I ended up getting sufficient sleep to feel pretty good today. The leg is still painful and itchy, but I’m doing well taking long-acting Tylenol (Paracetamol) every eight hours. Doc Theo had offered pain killers, but I refused, preferring not to feel dopey with a busy social weekend planned.

Zef and Vusi are here now, cleaning the house. Other than preparing today’s post, I don’t have much to do today. Dining at Jabula tonight, as we always do on Friday nights, I won’t spend any time in the kitchen. It’s so wonderful to have completed the corrections; I’m still reeling over the availability of my afternoons to do whatever I feel like doing.

Broke Horn, checking out who’s trying to take his pellets.

Of course, right now, having shingles, my free time can easily be spent resting the painful leg until the meds kick in. But that won’t keep me down this weekend with guests coming tomorrow for sundowners/dinner and a few other fun activities planned for the upcoming week.

Last night, we made an excellent dinner. Tom had bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin made on the braai with rice and salad, and I had sauteed liver and onions, fresh steamed asparagus, and salad. Later in the evening, I had a handful of macadamia buts, and Tom had two homemade lemon poppy seed muffins I’d made early in the week.

Usually, I don’t make him sweet treats but, after his dental surgery, thinking he’d be in pain and feeling like some comfort food, I made 24 muffins. But, less than six days later, the muffins I froze to keep fresh are almost gone. Soon, I will make a few low-carb treats as he works his way back to healthy eating.

Tom is one of those picky eaters who find great comfort in eating certain foods, mainly sweets. Many people are this way. Sure, I can look at certain foods, and my mouth waters. I am not. I eat when I’m hungry and only what fits within the realm of my chosen method of eating.

He doesn’t care for vegetables, like cabbage or carrots. But he sure loves his pellets.

But even when I bake an occasional treat for Tom, I have no problem resisting it. For me, continuing to make a concerted effort to maintain my health is a huge motivator. On the other hand, with his robust good health, Tom can afford to indulge from time to time. If I eat sugar, gluten, or starch, my blood sugar and blood pressure go through the roof. It’s not worth it to me.

This morning, we’ve seen a number of our wildlife friends in the garden, including wildebeest Broken Horn, bushbucks Sylvia and Spikey, warthogs Lori and Barbara, One Tusk, Mom (without her three piglets), Narrow, mongooses, and of course, Frank and The Misses, all of whom we’ve fed pellets, cabbage, and Paloney (for the mongooses).

Sorry, we don’t have any exciting news right now. Like all of you, some of our days are simple and relatively uneventful. But, tonight, the action will ramp up at Jabula, where we always have a great time, and tomorrow, entertaining friends at our bush home.

Have a splendid day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 19, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day#241. Elephants and storks on the Crocodile River. For more, please click here.

Off to the dentist again!…They’re back!…The greening of the bush…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Stringy has a little plant growing at the end of his left horn. Too cute or words.

This morning, I awoke early and had to get out of bed. I was itching so severely from dust mites in the mattress I couldn’t lay there any longer. I contacted Louise, and she’s going to hire an exterminator. Today, after we leave for our dental appointments, Zef and Vusi will change the bedding, spray the bed thoroughly with a dust mite eradicator, and install a new mattress cover.

Years ago, when I had skin tests for allergies, dust mites were the worst reaction. We’ve only experienced them a few times during our travels, in Morocco in a holiday home, in Minnesota in a hotel, and here in this house in Marloth Park (but never in other properties we’ve rented in the bush). It’s seasonal and unpredictable.

Such an adorable face!

Dust mites don’t bite as described here:

“Unlike other members of the mite family, dust mites do not bite. Dust mites do not feed on the blood of humans as some other mites do. Although they may “hitchhike” on clothing, it is a myth that dust mites live on people. They feed primarily on dander, or flakes of dead skin that fall from humans and animals.”

Either we are shedding a lot of skin, or the proximity of the wildlife to the house is a contributing factor. Hopefully, I will get a good night’s sleep by tonight after Zef and Vusi do the treatment, which has helped in the past. Last night, I slept atop the covers using an extra blanket. But, the allergic reaction happened a few days ago.

Bushbucks are such pretty animals. They are hard not to love.

I may not have gotten new itchy welts last night, but the ones I awoke to several times during the night to add more cortisone cream to my left side, the side on which I sleep every night. There wasn’t a single welt on the right side. What an annoyance!

Speaking of annoyances, in a short while, we’ll head to Dr. Singh in Malelane for our two dental appointments. Tom is finally having his implant bases inserted. I am having a bone spur removed that appeared at my recent tooth extraction site, which only adds to the frustration over the problems with that tooth and eventual socket that’s given me one problem after another.

Hal stopped by this morning. We’ve yet to see Broken Horn today, but surely he’ll stop by.

Oh, I don’t like to whinge. And yes, we are grateful we are otherwise healthy, and all is well. Like most people, including senior citizens, this kind of “stuff” must be dealt with from time to time. Just because we travel the world doesn’t make us exempt from dealing with such issues.

I have no idea if Tom will be in pain and unable to eat dinner tonight, so that we will play it by ear. As for my bone spur, most likely, it will require surgery to remove. Yuck! I can’t wait to get that out of the way.

Notice the green bush after many rainstorms.

This morning when I got out of bed shortly after Tom, he was busy in the garden with dozens of visitors. Either the lions moved on, or from reports we read last night, they are staying in the area of Gate 1, which is far from us. We always use Gate 2 to exit and enter the park. The two gates are several kilometers apart. Lions, like most wildlife, are territorial, as stated here:

“Lions are highly territorial and have occupied the same area for generations. Territory size depends on prey abundance, as well as access to water and denning sites.’

At one point, we had bushbucks, wildebeest, impala, warthogs, helmeted guineafowls, and Frank and The Misses and their two kids.

They left Kruger National Park when they determined hunting would be more prolific in Marloth Park on this side of the Crocodile River. Last night, an observer mentioned on Facebook they’d seen eight lions in Marloth Park. Wow!  Of course, that could be inaccurate. No photos have been taken as yet. It’s not easy to take photos of lions at night, especially when you can’t get out of the vehicle for a decent shot. Time will tell.

In the interim, our unusual animals are back, and it’s lovely to see them munching on the new vegetation in the bush. It is filling in quickly as leaves on the trees and ground vegetation grows, as shown in today’s photos.

We’ll be back tomorrow with updates.

Be well.

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #237. Mr. & Mrs. Ostrich were trotting down the road. Moments later, they took off on a fast run into the bush. Ostriches can run up to 70 km (45 miles) per hour. For more photos, please click here.

A long ago memory with relevance today….Four lions spotted in Marloth Park…Are the animals hiding?..

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
On a walk in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2012, shortly before we left the US to travel the world, we stumbled across this saying on a large slab of stone.

Around this date in 2012, Tom and I went for a walk in the Old Towne area in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were staying there in a lovely condo for a few months while we wrapped up all the seemingly endless details of preparing to leave the US for our anticipated years-long journey.

We chose Scottsdale in an attempt to determine if and when, in the future, we may decide to settle somewhere. Would Scottsdale be an option? After spending two months there, we found it wasn’t quite for us. But during those two months there, we enjoyed ourselves as our first foray away from Minnesota, where Tom grew up, and I’d lived for over 40 years.

A male waterbuck at sunset on the bank of the Crocodile River.

During that time, we set up all of our new digital equipment, continued making bookings into the future, and handled insurance and other business matters that required attention before we left the US on January 3, 2013, from San Diego, California, on our first cruise. Oddly, the memories of that time are as fresh in our minds today as if it was yesterday.

Today’s main photo popped up from one of the clouds we use as a “memory.” It made us laugh when we remembered encountering this message on a stone slab during the walk that day in Scottsdale. At the time and even now, we perceived it as an omen that we would enjoy our travels together in the upcoming years, knowing the depth and quality of our relationship. We’ve never been disappointed.

Sunset from Kathy and Don’s third-floor veranda.

At that time, nine years ago, we had no idea how long we’d travel, if we’d enjoy it for the long term, after facing many of the challenges we’ve encountered along the way. We knew our desire and commitment were firmly in place along with our established criteria which we’d fined tuned during the ten prior months that we’d spent conducting research.

If you find the sign difficult to read, the quote from Mark Twain reads: “I have found that there is no surer way to find out if you like people or you hate them, than to travel with them.”

How true that’s been for us and surely is for other couples who travel, whether they are partners or friends. Never once in the past nine years have either of us questioned we are with the “right traveler,” the “right companion,” or the right “love partner.”

A crocodile on the move on the river.

After hearing about our ten months in lockdown in India, many have commented that they’d be at each other’s throats being stuck in one room for so long. We comforted each other and provided support and encouragement to one another during the challenging time. In the end, it only made us stronger individually and as a couple. Go figure. Who knew we’d spend 10% of our travels stuck in a hotel room? We are very grateful we didn’t get Covid-19 and that we came out in good spirits.

As for the lions in Marloth Park, four have been sighted over the past several nights by rangers and others. Two males and two females are obviously on the move and hunting for food, which is plentiful in Marloth Mark, perhaps even easier to find than in massive Kruger National Park.

A male impala grazing on vegetation on the bank of the river.

A weird phenomenon we’ve observed these past three days since the sighting has been the lack of wildlife visiting our garden, less daily than we’ve seen since we arrived last January. While in the national parks in India searching for tiger sightings, the rangers explained that the various antelopes, particularly the Sambar deer, give off bark as a warning sign for all animals when a tiger is in the area.

Is it possible our antelopes here in Marloth Park have given off such notice to all wildlife that their lives are in danger with the nearby lions roaming through the park? We feel confident this is the case. Not even Little, other warthogs, or our usual 10 to 12 bushbucks are stopping by. We’ve only seen bushbuck Gordon Ramsay each of the past three days, but he is very skittish and nervous, constantly looking around.

Frank and The Misses don’t seem concerned about the lions in the park. They aren’t much of a meal for a lion.

Word is out not to feed the animals since it will cause them to gather in groups making easy prey for the lions.  With no animals in the garden except for the mongooses, that’s not a problem for us. We haven’t tossed pellets in days while we wait for this scary time for the animals to come to an end.

Hopefully, the lions who’ve arrived from Kruger, from the other side of the fence between the two parks, will return from whence they’ve come. But, if they find the pickings are good here, they may not leave for quite a while. In the interim, we all must be diligent about being outdoors at night and during the day. Lions may prefer to hunt in the dark, but we’ve seen them with “kills” during daylight hours.  Of course, we are being cautious when outdoors, day and night.

Well, folks, that’s our news for today.  Please stop by again tomorrow for more.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, November 13, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #235. This photo from Maui, Hawaii, almost looked like a scene from New England by the sea. For more photos, please click here.

First time sighting since arriving last January!!!…Too cute for words!!!…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Three little pigs are less than two days old. The Mom was here with her big belly 48 hours earlier by herself. Then she appeared yesterday with the three little pigs in tow. She is the mom of Barbara and Lori, whom she “kicked to the curb” a few weeks ago.

Although we’ve been here since last January, we’d yet to see newly born piglets. Now that our favorite mom, the mother of Barbara and Lori (Shark Tank), sent those two youngsters on their own to fend for themselves, she was getting ready to give birth to more piglets, this time three.

It was such fun to see them and how active and alert they are after only being born a few days earlier. We were happy to toss pellets to mom, knowing she must feed these three little ones. Surprisingly, the piglets seemed interested in the pellets and ate some. It was very cute and funny to watch.

She is a good mom, paying lots of attention to what the piglets are doing. She snorts when she calls them to be at her side.

Watching the antics of these newborns is hysterical. We couldn’t get enough until finally, mom had her fill, and the four of them wandered off to their following location, enticing other residents to toss pellets her way. It was as cute as it could be. We have no doubt, they will be back many times in our remaining time in Marloth Park, and we can fawn over them again.

It will require constraint not to publish more and more photos of them as they grow. But, our goal is always to include a variety of photos, not the same over and over again.  But, as all of you have seen, that’s not easy to do, especially when the same animals stop by over and over again with few new visitors.

The piglets weren’t concerned about being so close to Broken Horn, nor did Broken Horn mind sharing pellets with them.

We always strive to keep it as varied and exciting as possible. In a few months, when we’re in Apollo Beach, Florida, with our friends Karen and Rich, awaiting their upcoming wedding, the scenery and subsequent photos will change dramatically. Except, after a few months in a country, the photos can easily become repetitious and it’s also the case when we’re in the US.

However, right now, as mentioned repeatedly, we are thoroughly enjoying our time in Marloth Park. Last night was no exception when we attended yet another fantastic braai for eight of us at Kathy and Don’s riverfront home.

Mom, with the perfect curly tusks, has been a regular here. Now, we expect to see them all often.

At many braais in South Africa, guests bring their preference of drinks and the meat they’d like to cook on the prepared fire the hosts have prepared. The hosts prepare all the side dishes such as potatoes, vegetables, and salad. Kathy goes over the top in making each of the sides delicious and unique each time.  Plus, she always ensures there are sides that I can eat. What a fantastic host!

Don is an equally fabulous host when he often plans fun games for all of us to play after dinner. Last night we had a blast playing “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” with questions he designed suitable for the guests. It was such fun!

The piglets were unfazed by the impalas, and they were unfazed by the three of them. So sweet! The piglets ran about the garden exploring every thing in sight.

As for the food, as picky as Tom and I are about only eating steaks without a lot of fat. We brought two good-sized fillet mignons, which Tom cooked rare for me. When we make fillets at our house, I usually butterfly Tom’s steak so we can put them both on the braai at the same time. Mine will be rare, and his will be his preferred medium-rare.

Yesterday, when I cut our steaks from the huge piece of tenderloin, I asked Tom if he’d like me to butterfly his portion. He said it wasn’t necessary. Thus I cut them both the same size, which was very thick. Three minutes on each side would result in “blue” rare servings.

Kathy, Louise (another Louise), and me. Lesley was busy chatting with the four guys at the fire. I wish we’d included her in this photo and that I would have smiled.

As it turned out, mine was perfect as usual, but then Tom’s was too rare for him. He ate it anyway, not wanting to leave the table to return his to the now waning fire. Now I know why he kept cutting off chunks of meat and putting it on my plate while he sat across from me. Later, he mentioned that it was too rare for him. Next time, we’ll do better and butterfly his or start his on the braai earlier.

Tom, Kathy, Lesley, Manie, Louise and Andrew.
Don and Tom.

We had a fantastic evening once again and were back home after 10:00 pm, 2200 hrs, for a good night’s sleep, waking joyfully this morning, ready to tackle another day. )Today’s high will be 95F, 35C with relatively high humidity. Tonight, Kathy and Don will join us for our usual Friday night dinner at Jabula for the last time before they depart Marloth Park for Hawaii next Wednesday, when we’ll take them to the Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Airport. We will miss them.

May you have a lovely and fulfilling weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, November 12, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #234. It’s a challenge with these unusual fruits in Hawaii, which we could not identify after searching hundreds of photos. For more photos, please click here.

Excellent weekend with friends…Fantastic ninth anniversary…Memories of one year ago…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
This is an injury of Thick Neck’s side. We used to call him Thick Neck/Bad Leg, but the leg healed. Should we now call him hick Neck/Bad Side? It seems to be healing nicely, though, over the past few days.

It was an excellent weekend. Busy cooking for guests for two nights was easy when it wasn’t too hot, and I felt so good after several nights of good sleep. Tom helped quite a bit, keeping the endless stream of dishes, pots, and pans under control. He’s happy to help with anything I need, but when I am busy cooking, his help with some of the chopping and dicing and the dishes is more helpful than anything.

Both evenings were fun and lively, with great conversation, laughter, and banter back and forth. Last night, when only Alan and Fiona could come to dinner, we ended up having a fantastic anniversary dinner. We had our favorite song mix playing on our portable JBL speaker, not too loud, and we had an excellent time. We won’t see them again until we return in 2022 or early 2023, when they return from being away for many months.

Big Daddy was chewing on the core of a massive head of cabbage. He loved it!

Today at 3:00 pm, 1500 hours, we’re meeting Dawn and Leon and another couple at Buckler’s Africa for Crocodile River watching and later for dinner., which undoubtedly will prove to be yet another fun event.

After that, we don’t have any social plans until Thursday at 4:00 pm, when we’re meeting up with a new couple, Louise recommended, who are also from the US. It’s not that we prefer meeting Americans over people from other countries. It makes no difference to us. We love making friends with people from all over the world.

Two Big Daddies stopped by for some goodies.

It helps when they speak English, but over our past nine years of world travel, we’ve developed friendships with some who don’t speak English (or very little English), with whom we found a magical way to communicate. Of course, sharing a language makes it lots easier to build closer connections.

On another note, as I make my way through the corrections, I am now down to 14 more pages (of 20 posts each). Since I started from the oldest posts, working toward the most recent ones, I am working on those we posted in lockdown for those darned long ten months in India.

They were both enjoying the cabbage, even going as far as sharing. The bigger horned of the two may have been dad and the younger son.

At the rate I am going now, I plan to be done by the middle of November, one page per day. But, more interesting to me than getting it done soon, I am fascinated reading the old posts from one year ago as I work my way through typos, grammar, and line spacing issues. Did we really do that? Ten months in a hotel room? Oh, good grief! How did we ever get through it?

But, yesterday as we reminisced on our ninth travel anniversary, we patted ourselves on the back for the depth and quality of our relationship, that, without it, we would never have made it to the end of those many months still sane, still in love, and still enjoying time spent together.

Such a handsome beast.

Nothing was lost by us as a couple during those ten months. If anything, we grew more attached and attracted to each other (if that was even possible) in admiration for each other’s patience and resiliency. Did either of us ever think we could get through such a scenario, or yet, did either of us ever think such a scenario could occur in our lifetime?

This morning I did three loads of laundry, did my nails, paid all the bills for the month, fed lots of pellets, carrots, and cabbage to the animals. At the same time, Tom busied himself with his usual tasks and, of course, Monday morning’s viewing of yesterday’s Minnesota Vikings game.

Stingy came right onto the veranda, looking for treats.

Once our daily tasks are done, we have little to do on less socially active days, and yet, we are content and grateful.  We are thankful to be able to stay here until January 23rd. We are grateful to each other for the love, companionship, and friendship we share. We are thankful for our friends who have stood beside us through thick and thin. We are thankful to our family members for putting up with our crazy lifestyle.

And most of all, each new day of good health is an indescribable blessing. We wish this for all of our friends, our family, those we encounter along the way, and of course, all of you. Thank you, dear readers.

Photo from one year ago today, November 1, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #223. We found this bloom in Hawaii, known as Kimi Pink Ginger. For more photos, please click here.

Human visitors tonight and tomorrow night…New Itinerary tomorrow!!!..

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Once the rains come, the bush will be greener, providing more food for the wildlife. In the interim, many of us are feeding them.

Note: Tomorrow, on our ninth travel anniversary, we will be posting our new itinerary!!! Please check back!!!

Last night’s dinner at Jabula was enjoyable as always. Kathy and Don joined us for our usual Friday night dinner of fabulous food and service at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant. The conversation flowed with ease as we each shared the stories of our adventures over the past few weeks. They had spent time in Kruger at a few remote lodges and us, our time in Zambia, and eventual return without issues from immigration.

We have been so blessed to have such good friends in Marloth Park, and as time goes by, we continue to make more and more friends. Today, as mentioned in a prior post, at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs, our long-time readers, Carrie and Jim, will be joining us for the first time for sundowners. They found us and also Marloth Park due to our posts and are also world travelers. It will be fun to visit with them.

Since our return on Tuesday, this is the first male kudu who stopped by, whom we call “Medium Daddy” instead of “Big Daddy” with much larger horns.

For today’s appetizers during sundowners, we’re making sliced bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin, served chilled with a cucumber dip, with roasted vegetable slices, and our usual and popular apricot almond brie puffed pastry with crackers, olives, and nuts on the side.

At the moment, I am cooking the chicken for tomorrow’s dinner, a low-carb chicken and sausage cassoulet baked in a single large pan, which we’ll serve with chunky roasted vegetables, coleslaw salad, with a variety of light starters served during the cocktail hour.

We now have three young “Spikeys” who hang around most of the day. This morning we finished off the first of the three heads of cabbage.

Today, I am doing as much prep for both evenings. We don’t usually plan two social events in a row. But tonight’s food will be comparable to making an easy dinner for us, which we would have done anyway, even if we didn’t have guests coming. As of this moment, I have a good handle on both nights’ prep.

It’s hot today, so I thought I’d get as much prep as possible out of the way before the temps rise to over 90F, 32C. It will be cooling off for tomorrow with a high of 79F, 26C, making the final prep for tomorrow’s anniversary dinner easier on a cool day.

Impalas, who seldom care to be near humans, have been stopping by lately. They are hungry too.

Yep, tomorrow, October 31, 2020, is our ninth anniversary of traveling the world. With six of us, Alan, Fiona, Nick, and Joan,  for dinner on the veranda for whom we’re delightfully reciprocating for hosting us recently and me busy prepping the meal, we won’t be posting a recap of our prior year. However, we will post photos of our evening celebration.

After posting so many historical photos during our ten-month lockdown in Mumbai, India, we’ve already posted an endless stream of old photos. Next year, we’ll prepare a special tenth-anniversary post, providing our health is good, and we can continue for another year. At this point, it seems it’s entirely possible.

First, two males stopped by, who were later joined by a female.

A few moments ago, Louise sent us a message stating she’s renting a property to an American couple who will be here until December, asking us if we were interested in meeting them. Of course, we said “yes” and will contact them later today to set up a get-together in Marloth Park.

Next week, on Friday, Tom has his first appointment with Dr. Singh’s wife. Also, a dental surgeon, to have his two implants started from the teeth he had extracted over three months ago, leaving a gaping hole in his mouth; obvious when he smiles. We have no idea how uncomfortable he’ll be after the appointment, so we’ll play it by ear for any possible social events next weekend. But, for now, we’re thrilled to have plans for tonight, tomorrow, and Monday.

This morning we had 12 antelopes in the garden, sharing pellets.

This weekend, there’s no load shedding since Monday is a national holiday in South Africa, voting day! It’s nice we’ll have a reprieve when we’re cooking for guests, and it will be great to have the outdoor lights at dinnertime.

Have a fantastic day!

Photo from one year ago today, October 30, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #221. A sunny view from our veranda at the Kenyan resort where we stayed on our first travel anniversary. For more photos, please click here.

They’ve all found us again!…Little, Thick Neck, Benny, Henny and Lenny, multiple Franks, and more…Meet Barbara and Lori from Shark Tank…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
One Tusk is becoming quite popular around here. Perhaps, a replacement for Tiny, who never returned after we visited the US in July 2021.

We didn’t assume they’d all return to our garden within 36 hours of our return. We thought after being gone for six days that it could take several days until they’d return, having looked for us for the entire time we were gone. But, beginning yesterday morning, our regulars started arriving, leaving nary a single “familiar face” behind.

Little was thrilled we’d returned when he stopped by at his usual 4:00 pm. Immediately, he positioned himself on the right side of the veranda, near where I sit, waiting for his treats and words of affection (from me only).

Yesterday, at the little local market, I purchased the last head of cabbage for the bushbucks and kudus, and it’s already gone. Tom has refilled the big bucket of pellets at least three times already. Soon, we’ll be heading to Komatipoort to buy groceries, and we’ll undoubtedly purchase several more, plus a 10 kg bag of carrots to round out the pellets.

It was fun to see Benny, Henny, and Lenny this morning. We’ve seen Penny on her own but no longer with these three. She could be pregnant and no longer interested in hanging around with them.

Need I say, we’re having a fantastic time. The weather is relatively cool but cloudy. And, although load shedding is currently occurring three times a day for 7.5 hours per day, we are managing fine. Fortunately, as mentioned, we aren’t losing the WiiFi signal during these most recent outages.

With WiFi, the outages don’t bother us at all. With 2.5 hour outages, our food in the refrigerator and freezer stay safe, and with the WiFi working, we can still stream our shows at night when we hunker down for the night. Sleep comes easily for us both, now that our minds are free from worry about where we’d have to go if we hadn’t been allowed to stay in South Africa.

Frank and The Misses, back eating their seeds and drinking from their little container of water. They were so happy. They chirped the entire time they were pecking at the seeds.

Our friends and readers have been writing to us with the warmest of wishes that we’re able to stay, and we look forward to lots more socialization over the following months in Marloth Park.

Our long-time readers, Carrie and Jim, have arrived in Marloth Park for six weeks, and they’re coming over on Saturday for sundowners to meet us in person for the first time. What a joy this always is for us when readers like a location we’ve visited and end up meeting face-to-face! They came to Marloth Park based on our posts.

For a while, Little hung out with Barbara and Lori and their mom. Now, he seems less interested in the two girls. Could he be the dad of mom’s future piglets? There could be several little Little’s on the horizon. We’ll keep you updated.

Sunday is our ninth travel anniversary, and our friends Alan and Fiona and Nick and Joan will join us for dinner to celebrate with us. What a great way to celebrate the special day! We’re making one of our favorite dishes, and hopefully, they’ll be able to enjoy it, along with us.

Last night we made bacon-wrapped fillet mignon on the braai, along with red wine infused sauteed portabella mushrooms, salad, and rice for Tom. We both enjoyed the satisfying meal and are making a repeat for tonight since we had plenty of uncooked tenderloin and mushroom left for a second round.

Are these two young girls Barbara and Lori? See the photo below.

Of course, as usual, as we sat on the veranda at sunset, Little appeared for the first time since we returned. He, like Broken Horn, let us know he was happy to see us. Whoever said animals aren’t emotional hasn’t lived in Marloth Park. Many of them appear animated and enthusiastic when they see us each day, let alone after we’ve been gone for a while.

The mom with the perfect curly tusks has kicked her two daughters to the curb now that she’s pregnant again. Now, the two girls with big white whiskers hang around here nearly all day. We’ve named them Barbara and Lori after the two female leads on Shark Tank, a show we often watch in the evenings. We’ve gone back and re-watched every episode from the beginning. We’re now on season 8 of 13 seasons. We only watch one episode per evening, so we have plenty more to go with as many as 25 episodes per season.

This is Barbara and Lori, now ‘kicked loose” from their mom, arriving on their own with their big white whiskers and bossy attitude, just like their mom. She arrived yesterday with a big pregnant belly without these two in tow.
The power just went out. In an hour, we’ll head to Komati, so hopefully, by the time we return, it will be back on, and we can put away our groceries without much worry over the door to the fridge being open as we load it up once again. Before we left for Zambia, we finished off most of our food, and now it’s time to restock.

Starting tomorrow, Friday, we have social plans for four nights in a row. We love being busy with human friends, as well!

Enjoy the day and weekend to come. Stay healthy and content!

Photo from one year ago today, October 28, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #219. Cows are always curious, and we laughed when this grazing cow picked up her head to check us out while we were in Fiji. For more, please click here.

Final photos from Livingstone, Zambia…Final Expenses will follow tomorrow…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Zebras were grazing on the grass at the Royal Livingstone Hotel.

Note to our readers: Based on receiving hundreds of spam comments each week, adding significantly to the time necessary to do each day’s post, it is now required to log in to post a comment. We apologize for this added step. We were tired of seeing pornographic and illegal drugs sales posted as comments on our site. I had to go through each one to remove it. If you have an urgent comment for us, please feel free to use the comment section at the end of each post or send either of us an email message to which we’ll respond within 24 hours or sooner. Thank you so much for being so understanding. We will post this notice for one week.

Wow! The time has flown by so quickly. Tomorrow morning, we head to the airport to return to South Africa. At the moment, we’re awaiting printed copies of our PCR test results and a copy of proof of our airline tickets proving we are exiting South Africa on January 23, 2022, which may help at immigration if we run into any issues for our short time away.

Our favorite photo is of the sunset from the hotel veranda.

In the past, we only encountered one negative comment from an immigration officer upon return to South Africa, but we were allowed re-entry. However, we felt by showing our airline tickets for January. They may be convinced we’re not “border-hopping.”  We’ll see how it goes.

The past 24 hours have been relatively quiet while we both worked on projects on our laptops. I am working on the corrections fast and furiously and now have less than 19 pages of 20 posts left to correct. At this point, I can correct 30 posts a day when in the beginning, it was slow and cumbersome when I could only get through 15 posts a day.

The spray from Victoria Falls from the Zambia side of the river. We visited the fall on both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides last time we were here in 2018.

No, the old posts won’t be perfect. It is easy to miss a few corrections on each page, even after reading and re-reading it. Halfway through, I added the paid, highly-rated editing program, Grammarly. But, it, too, like humans, is not exempt from making errors. Yesterday. I did a post that had 126 errors on a post prepared while in lockdown in India. I had all the time in the world to proofread, and yet, I still made countless mistakes, mostly commas, occasionally sentence structure, and less so spelling.

I often say if someone asked me if I’d write an essay every day, 365 days a year, that would be presented to the world online, I would have said they’re out of their minds for asking me to do that, and I would have flatly refused.

An elephant on the opposite side of the Zambezi River, most like more than a kilometer from our view from the hotel veranda.

Weirdly, I am doing exactly that now, 3355 posts later. Good grief! How in the world did that happen? How in the world have I continued to motivate myself to keep doing this, day after day, month after month, year after year? Now, as we approach our ninth anniversary of traveling the world, having begun posting on March 15, 2012 (before we left), even I am shocked by how consistently this mission has continued.

The first year or so, we only posted a few times a week. But, as time marched on, we realized we needed to write more often to maintain the continuity of our peculiar lives without a home, without storage, and with only a few bags in our possession.

A bloat of hippos in the Zambezi River, rarely picking up their heads.

Based on interest and comments from readers, they’ve always seemed more interested in the challenges we face daily, not unlike their own. Life isn’t always about famous sightseeing venues and tours. At times, daily life is tough and for many of our readers, seeing how we resolved a particular issue(s) is equally, if not more interesting.

We try to “shake it up” with a mix of exciting events and daily life events. But, like most of you, some days are dull and uneventful. Have you ever wondered what you’d write about after 3355 days of writing a daily essay? It, in itself, is sometimes challenging.

A halfhearted yawn from a hippo.

Regardless of how often my mind is blank when I sit down to begin. Within minutes, my fingers fly across the keyboard as if possessing a mind of their own, and the words flow. Once I start, the rest follows suit. But, the easiest part is writing down the thoughts. The hard part is editing, editing, and more editing.

Then, the photos always take a good portion of the time I spend at my laptop, formatting, positioning, and editing. Although I may do a few photo edits, mainly consisting of brightening or resizing a scene. Remember, I am not a professional photographer and have little interest in pursuing that path when I know how much time it would take to learn more. Gee…I want to have time left in my day to embrace it!

The spray from the falls at sunset.

The concierge just dropped off our negative PRC tests. Tomorrow morning, we should have time to do another post with our expenses for the six days, five nights we’ve spent in Zambia. Please check back for that.

More spray from Victoria Falls on the Zambezi River.

Happy day and evening to all of you, dear readers!

Photo from one year ago today, October 25, 2020:

This photo was posted one year ago while in a hotel in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #216. The waterfalls at Vuodomo, Fiji, were still, at quite a distance. We gasped with delight over our first peek at the waterfall, which is much larger than it appears in this photo. For more photos, please click here.

Adorable little visitors……Three days and counting…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
It appears these chicks are blue waxbills, common to this area. Right now, they are no larger than a pinky finger.

Some of today’s photos were taken through the screen door to the veranda, the only screened door or window we can use. There are a few screens on windows in the house, but most are not tightly fitted and would allow mozzies and other insects to enter.

Nothing like getting inside the container of seeds!

The screen door to the veranda also doesn’t fit tight and has no latch of any kind to close it tightly, allowing insects, Frank, and mongooses to enter the house from time to time.  For security reasons, we lock that screen if we take a short nap and keep the keys in the bedroom with us during the day. We lock the screen door and the sliding glass door at night and set the alarm, again keeping the keys on the nightstand if we need to hit the red button in an emergency.

In total, we saw seven of these little birds.

The screen has metal bars running vertically to prevent potential entry by unwelcomed humans or animals. When we first arrived at the house, the first time we saw Little, he had torn a massive hole in the screen to get indoors. Within days, Louise arranged for Vusi and Zef to repair it. They did an excellent job, as always.

I was listening to Frank squawking in the background.

Thank goodness, Little never tore the screen again, especially now that he knows it’s easy to get our attention, even when we’re indoors like we are now. The current temperature is 61F, 16C, and there’s a bit of a breeze. The humidity is high, and with an occasional drizzle, we’re sitting indoors on the sofa, preferring to avoid getting moisture on our laptops.

Some flew off, but others stayed behind to partake of the seeds.

Sitting on the sofa provides a clear view of the veranda to ensure we don’t miss any visitors that may stop by. Only minutes ago, Tom jumped up to feed Broken Horn pellets and has done the same for several hours when nine bushbucks, four kudus, and two warthogs stopped by.

Through the screen, it appeared that mom and dad showed them that it was safe to eat the seeds.

Yesterday. When I took photos of the little birds that stopped by with their parents to eat Frank’s seeds, I knew if I stood up, they’d fly away Gingerly. I picked up the camera and took a few shots through the screen door.

Mom stayed around for a while to make sure the coast was clear.

Of course, I was disappointed with the poor shots through the screen door and was thrilled to see they’d returned this morning. After eating a little, this time without the parents, I decided to open the door wide and see if I could get any shots while quietly sitting on the sofa.

In only a matter of one minute, I got these shots without the obstruction of the screen. But a moment later, the door slammed due to the winds, and they flew off. It was such a delight to get these few shots, although not perfect, when I had so little time to focus on the camera.

Dad took a turn ensuring the chick’s safety.

What made the experience all the more enjoyable was, when Frank had just finished eating seeds, the mom, dad, and babies flew in and started working on the seeds. Frank stood no less than a meter away, screeching the entire time. He was mad! We couldn’t stop laughing!

We have no doubt we’ll be able to watch the chicks grow over the next several months. Frank won’t be happy, but we’ll keep the container well stocked this week and then after we return from Zambia on October 26th.

A simple joy, six or seven tiny birds, and one bigger francolin, Frank, made the day special yesterday and then today when they returned. Nature is such a gift. We only need to stop what we’re doing for a few minutes and take a moment to observe, to put a smile on our faces, and brighten our spirits.

Have a bright and fulfilling day.

                                       Photo from one year ago today, October 18, 2020:

A final view of the King of Jungle as we left Kenya. This photo was posted one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #209. We were never disappointed, continually offering an opportunity for a close-up and the chance to observe their playful antics and instinctual behaviors. Thank you, lions. For more photos, please click here.

We made it through the 104F, 40C, day with ease…Today? The same…Six days and counting…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment

Due to WiFi issues today, I am unable to post a caption under the main photo below. Instead, the caption is listed below in a paragraph. 

Caption for above photo: “Above is the photo we took this morning of Bad Eye. Her eyelid has improved tremendously without medical intervention. To see her immediately after the injury occurred, please click here.”

It was so hot last night when we went to bed; the pair of jeans I’d washed after dinner was dry this morning. Usually, it takes two to three days for jeans to dry indoors on the drying rack.

Sleeping was easy with the aircon on all night, and it was true, load shedding had ended for now. We both slept through the night without the aircon going off due to another power outage. Over these past eight or ten outages, oddly, we didn’t lose WiFi which was unusual. Power outages aren’t quite as dull when we have nothing to do but stare at the walls or play dumb offline games on our phones when we don’t have WiFi.

Starting Sunday, the temperatures will drop to a high of 69F, 21C, and a low of 59F, 14C. Go figure. Cloudy skies and much-needed rain may follow these low temps. The animals are hungry. This morning I cut up dozens of carrots and a half head of cabbage for the antelopes.

We took this photo of Bad Eye this morning. Her eye is doing so much better. See the photo and link before for the injury when it was new.

A short while ago, we had 14 antelopes in the garden, as shown in today’s photos, all at once, including a duiker, bushbucks, and impalas. It was apparent they were all hungry and thirsty. Many of them drink from the freshwater we put in the birdbath each day. We even ensure Frank has clean water in his little container each day, along with his separate container of seeds.

When checking the weather report, we see it is sweltering in Livingstone, Zambia, right now and will continue during our five-night trip. In a mere six days, we’ll be on our way to Zambia. Packing will be quick and easy, only bringing hot weather casual clothing. None of the restaurants or venues in Livingstone require anything other than very casual attire, although, like South Africa, it generally cools down by about 25 degrees after sunset.

I took a break from preparing this post when I noticed Bad Eye standing at the edge of the veranda.  It was the first time we saw her alone without her three female friends/family. She was never found and treated, or perhaps, the rangers felt she’d heal on her own, which she did. She almost looks like herself again with this injury, as shown in today’s main photo. Her eye has healed beautifully on its own without any medical intervention.

This adorable bushbuck Spikey was among the many visitors this morning.

These animals are tough. They get through the outrageously long barren months of winter with barely any vegetation they can consume available. They exist on the offerings of people like us who don’t hesitate to feed them freely. This must have been going well this winter since few of the wildlife look undernourished or scrawny.

Soon, the rains will come, the trees, bushes, and grasses will grow, and once again, the wildlife will flourish in their environment. We are thrilled this will occur while we prepare to leave, giving us a degree of comfort, knowing they will graze without our intervention.

Today, we do what we can to stay cool, and then tonight, we’ll head to Jabula at 5:00 pm for our usual Friday night social time and dinner. It’s always such fun chatting with the locals in an upbeat environment. It will be hot sitting inside at the bar or outside, but we’ll dress accordingly and be fine.

They were spread out in the garden, preventing us from taking a photo with all visitors.

A few minutes ago, I heard back from Chris (Chris Tours), the same reliable tour and transport guy we used the last two times we were in Zambia, and he did such an excellent job for us. The only inconvenience is that he requires cash payments, not credit cards, to visit an ATM on the drive from Livingstone Airport to our hotel. Easy peasy. He will also arrange and transport us should we decide to do any tours we haven’t already done.

So there it is folks, post #3343 as we rapidly approach our ninth anniversary of traveling the world.

Be well. Be safe. Be happy.

                     Photo from one year ago, October 15, 2020:

We posted this photo one year ago while in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, on day #206. This male lion was resting after a mating session in the Maasai Mara, Kenya. For more photos, please click here.