Water spewed out of this giraffe’s mouth after taking a big gulp of water.

Note: To all of our readers visiting our site via a smartphone, please click the “View web version” tab under the word “Home” at the bottom of the page to access the web version enabling you to access all of our archives on the right side of the page. We’ll be updating our site in a few months, making these extra steps unnecessary. Thank you. 
Today’s photos are from June 9, 2018, while living in Marloth Park, South Africa. See the link here for more photos.

Tom often teased me how I never was stricken with “writer’s block” after years of writing new posts each day. Today’s post is #2861 since the onset of our site in March 2012.

As we traveled the world, even while staying in certain areas for three months or more, there was always a plethora of topics, whether meaningful or inconsequential, a topic and subsequent story easily slipping off my fingertips to the keyboard of my laptop.

An appropriately named Fish Eagle stood to watch over the “catch of the day.”

At times, in a public arena, Tom would kindly praise me for being able to spew a topic in a matter of moments as I began each day’s post. When asked how this was possible, I answered, “I have the world at my fingertips. It’s impossible to run out of topics.”

Oh sure, on occasions, I’d contemplate for a moment or two by checking out the world and local news. But, to keep our site from being politically motivated, topic options were slim from the outside world. Instead, we often looked within our little world at the time.

While viewing the Crocodile River in Kruger National Park from Serena Oasis, aka Amaazing (spelling is correct for this restaurant) River View, we noticed this solitary giraffe approaching the water.

Much to our surprise, even when the topics were somewhat infinitesimal,  our loyal readers still “came to call” to see what was transpiring in our little world, often a vulnerable reveal of our thoughts, concerns, and dreams. We thank you for that.

However, when the lockdown in Mumbai began months ago, I knew for a while we’d have no trouble coming up with topics as life settled into its new, relatively boring state of being. But, now, all this time later, we’ve hit a wall.

Several times, he bent down, preparing to take a drink but hesitated, standing and looking around. Giraffes are most vulnerable to predators while bending down to drink. The only times they bend down other than to care for a newborn.

It’s a wall so massive that today, after a bad night’s sleep and my brain operating on “slow” mode, the very topic has become “it,” the hitting of that wall. 

Last week there was a cyclone. Tany weeks earlier, we weren’t allowed to leave our floor, having to dine in our room, which in itself became a topic for several posts, eventually bleeding into several other posts.
That gave us a few days of fodder.

Many of our topics have included repeats of old topics going back as far as 2013. At times, while on the 27 cruises on which we sailed since 2013, I worried I’d run out of topics, especially on the longer cruises from 24 to 33 nights. Somehow, something transpired each day to elicit a new post the following day easily.

Lions, cheetahs, leopards, and crocodiles may attack a drinking giraffe.

While spending a total of 18 months in Marloth Park out of the first seven years, I was concerned that the endless flow of wildlife photos and stories would eventually bore our readers. Apparently, they didn’t, when our readers continued to visit, day after day, month after month.

While in 2019, spending months recovering from open-heart surgery while in South Africa and beyond, unable to go out and about, you stayed with us when I whined about not feeling well and the slow recovery. But, even then, you stayed with us.

He didn’t stay down for more than a few seconds, well-aware and fearful of his vulnerability.

And now… Here we are, entering the third month of a mandatory lockdown in a standard-sized hotel room in Mumbai, India, with no new photos and no new events other than the mundane realities of our current status, and yet, you are still here.

No, I don’t say this as a prelude to ending our daily posts. We will continue as long as we have access to a decent WiFi signal and the electrical power to supply a router’s operation.

Carefully bending his knees, he gracefully dipped for a drink.

The fact you have stayed with us drives us to continue regardless of how profound the topics may or may not be. Our lockdown status could conceivably last for a few more months, maybe as far as September when we speculate we’ll be able to fly somewhere in this world.

Please, dear readers, feel free to email us with any topics you’d like to see, regardless of how vulnerable and sensitive they may be. Through all of this, we can only say “thank you” with all of our hearts. It’s YOU who have held us steady in our commitment to say “hello” one way or another every day.

That morning, I was cutting vegetables for roasting when a Vervet monkey entered the house. There were two apples near this pan. He took one of them. We had to chase him back outdoors.

Please stay strong, safe, and healthy. We will follow your lead.

Photo from one year ago today, June 9, 2019:

What a face on an adorable lamb in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here.