Off we go to Spain…Yesterday’s stressful holiday rental situation…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
inge, Gerhard, Rita and Tom and I last night at Jabula.

We’ll be leaving Marloth Park this afternoon to head to the MQP (Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport), which is about a 75-minute drive on the N4 Highway through the winding roads and the gorge, the part of the drive that is most intimidating. With construction on the highway, we must leave an hour earlier than expected to ensure we arrive at the airport on time.

Once we arrive and check our bags, we’ll feel more at ease, even if we have to wait a few hours for the short flight to Johannesburg, where we’ll have a two-hour layover, before continuing on to Doha, Qatar. Hopefully, we’ll have enough time in Joburg to have dinner in one of the many restaurants in the airport.

We decided to eat before boarding, as the food on the plane will likely be Middle Eastern-type dishes, none of which I will eat due to their high starch content, and all of which Tom doesn’t like. It’s easier to dine in a restaurant at the airport and be done with it.

So, here’s what transpired yesterday with our holiday rental in Sant Marti, Spain, that left us exhausted and frustrated, even after we returned from dinner at Jabula with Rita, Inge, and Gerhard.

We booked the holiday home in Spain from Capital One Travel, where we have several credit cards with accumulated rewards points. One of the cards, Venture X, has an annual US $300 perk, which we combined with some reward points, but certainly not enough to cover the entire cost of US $5100 for the six-week stay.

We booked the holiday home in Sant Marti, in a popular, trendy warehouse district, with the credit card travel service handling everything, which seemed fine at the time. We were advised that 72 hours prior to your arrival, we’d receive instructions from the owner/property management company as to how to gain access to the property. Seventy-two hours came and went.

Yesterday afternoon, we called Capital One Travel, and after two hours of long-distance phone calls, we still didn’t have a contact person, phone number, or email address for the vendor. While sitting at the bar at Jabula, we finally received a call back from Capital One, with a lengthy email address, stating we needed to contact the vendor directly and follow their instructions.

Now, keeping in mind we’d already paid the US $5100, we expected to receive a door code to allow us to enter the property. Oh, no, it wasn’t that easy! The process that followed, which we did after returning home from dinner, was comparable to filling out a passport application.

We had to scan our passports to a specific format and size, take selfie photos using my laptop, and enter myriad morsels of information about ourselves, including providing a credit card so they could charge us a Euro $1500, US $1760, security deposit, plus a Euro 18, US $21, service fee (non-refundable). None of this information was disclosed when we rented the property.

We had no choice, or, as the credit card company explained, if we didn’t comply with the process instituted by Barcelona and the property manager, we would lose our $ 5100. They had us over a barrel.

I didn’t finish the application process until after 10:00 pm. Exhausted and frustrated, I tried to get some sleep but awoke at 4:30 am and have been awake since. It’s a sorry state to start the upcoming 23 hours of travel. But, somehow, we’ll get through it.

We only have the duffel bag left to close after adding the toiletries and the clothes Tom is wearing. Then, we’ll be all set. Hopefully, everything will go well when we arrive at the property tomorrow afternoon. We still don’t have an access code. I will be watching my email frequently.

As for a post for tomorrow, we shall see. Perhaps I will be up to doing a new post during our three-plus-hour layover in Doha.

Thanks to so many of our readers who have written, wishing us safe travels and enjoyment on our next adventure. We love that you travel along with us.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, September 14, 2015:

Flowers blooming along the road to the house in Savusavu, Fiji. For more photos, please click here.

Hot, hot, hot…And, the beat goes on…WiFi out all afternoon…

Posted by worldwide-admin on with 0 Comment
Even the minuscule amount of rain brings greenery to life.

“Sighting of the day in the Bush.”

Baby impalas, sheltered from the heat of the midday sun, guarded by one of the attentive moms.

What can I say to avoid sounding as if we’re complaining? We’re not. Instead,
we consider today’s comments as an observation. It’s hot, hot, hot. Today’s high temperature was 42C (108F) which it has reached now at 1700 hours (5:00 pm).

Most often, the peak temperature for the day occurs around 1500 hours (3:00 pm) and begins to taper off an hour or two later. The evenings aren’t nearly as
bad but it’s impossible to stay indoors in the living area of this house. The
massively high ceilings contribute to a level of heat indoors that is hard to
take.
An awkward sitting position for a female ostrich. Could she be on her nest?
It’s like an oven with no way to cool it off, even late into the evening. We run a
fan in the living room, but all it does is blow hot air around. Thank
goodness we have an aircon in the bedroom, but even that chugs along in this intense heat.
How much hotter can it get? We heard from locals that in 2016, December highs were in the 50C range (122F). Over the next few days, even higher temperatures are predicted. 
Cape buffalos on a hill on the Crocodile River in Kruger National Park.
We recall it being hot here five years ago but not quite this hot day after day. It
has a tendency to make one feel exhausted and listless although we both make
every effort to go about our days as we would during cooler periods.
Now, we’re having wi-fi issues due to all the “extra” people in Marloth Park
during the holiday season. The system can only handle so much. Fortunately, the load shedding power outages are on hold at the moment. 

We’ll see how that goes over the next few weeks during the holiday season. As I write on an offline app, I realize I may never have an opportunity to upload this post before the day’s end.
Two male cape buffalos, who most likely were ostracized from the remainder of their “obstinacy” when a more significant or stronger other male won the favor of the females. These males form groups for life since they’ll never be allowed to return to the herd.
In South Africa, the school holiday ends on January 9th, when most holidaymakers will leave Marloth Park, their holiday having ended when their kids return to
school. That’s almost three weeks from today.
We understand and respect the importance of tourists coming to the park to
generate revenue for shops and homeowners of holiday properties but even they,
fully grasp how everything changes when the tourists are here.
Baboons and monkeys are our least favorite animals. Due to their intellect, they are crafty and dangerous and can destroy a house or garden in minutes, searching for food or merely being destructive for entertainment.
We won’t be able to go to Kruger for the next three weeks either. We’ve already
heard about the delays at the Crocodile Bridge, and soon, guests will have to
pay a fee to enter at a specific time of day on top of the regular entrance
fees.  

Our annual “Wild Card” doesn’t afford us any extra privileges. We’d
also have to pay additional for a “reservation.” Only 600 cars are allowed into the park at a time at any of the many entrance gates.

An elephant family drinking from the river.  The drought continues relentlessly.
Over the past few days, to cool off, we’ve driven through Marloth Park looking for wildlife photo ops but more so to stay cool for a few hours during the day.  

This morning at 7:30 am, we headed to Komatipoort for my dentist appointment at 8:00 am. After the appointment, we walked the short distance to Stoep Cafe for breakfast, grabbing our favorite table on the veranda. 
Eating a hot breakfast in the heat proved to have been a bad idea. We were both
“sweating up a storm” while we ate, and foolish me had ordered hot tea. By the time we finished our meal and headed back to the air-conditioned comfort of the car, we were drenched in sweat. I don’t usually sweat much, but the humidity, coupled with the high temps, has changed everything.
Two males impalas stop by for food and a rare visit.
We remind ourselves, over and over again. This is Africa, and we chose to be here. Most of the time, it’s been a glorious experience. And we face the reality, that along with amazing adventures of our lives, there is a price to pay, beyond money, beyond mere inconvenience. It’s all part of the experience.

So today, as we wait for the temperature to drop and the WiFi to come back on, we look forward to our evening on the veranda tonight, as always, hoping a few, if only a few of our wildlife friends will stop by.  

Last night we had 10 warthogs come to call. Let’s see if they return tonight. We have pellets, a fresh batch of lucerne, ice-cold carrots, apples, celery tops, and lettuce, and we’ll be waiting for them.


Have a great holiday season evening.

Photo from one year ago today, December 18, 2018:

Stunning view of Ushuaia from the veranda while on the cruise in South America. For more photos, please click here.