Off and on water and electricity…Hot and humid…Forecast for Sunday,106F, 41C…Lions…Keeping humans and wildlife safe….

This puffy red flower blooms in the spring is a fireball lily. Quite beautiful. Danie told us he’s chased off a man who tried to dig up this flower from their property, the house we live in now. We will keep an eye out to ensure no one can steal the three of these in our garden.

These two notices were posted on Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation’s web page on Facebook as shown at the end of today’s post. We take these circumstances seriously and hope all of our local readers, of which there are many, would kindly heed these warnings.

Fortunately, we have the birdbath in the garden from which countless wildlife drink throughout the day. We’ve seen many species drinking from the lower and upper areas, which we keep filled with fresh water daily. However, with no running water over the past 24 hours, there was little we could do to top it off.

Instead, mny of the larger species have been drinking from the pool, but we worried about the little creatures. Danie had installed a JoJo tank for us, but then there was a problem with the electricity running the power to the JoJo. Danie was all over this with an electrician here both yesterday and today.

Stingy got into a little scuffle with a young male bushbuck, or…they could have been playing.

Finally, a few minutes ago, we have water after the repairs were made on the JoJo and the power came back on. The recent outage wasn’t load-shedding. It was a fault at an electric supply station. In another hour, load shedding again in a little over an hour.

On Sunday, when the temperature rises to 106F, 41C, we won’t have power and possibly no water during the following hours:

  • 11:00 am to 1330 hrs. (11:00 am to 1:30 pm)
  • 1900 hrs. to 2130 hrs. (7:00 pm to 9:30 pm)

Without power, we will all be subject to this awful heat during these hours. But, the Catch 22…when the power returns, many people hide away in their bedrooms where they have aircon and crack it to the lowest possible temperature. This behavior precipitates more faults and subsequent outages.

Norman likes eating pellets off the railing to avoid warthogs and helmeted guinea fowls from eating them.

We have to keep in mind that we are still experiencing spring, fast heading our way to summer, which starts on December 21. If it feels hot right now, we’d all better brace ourselves.

So, dear readers, how do we deal with all of this? We’re certainly not exempt from becoming frustrated. Nor are we foolhardy to say it doesn’t impact us. It does. Last night, the power was out twice during the night, and I awoke each time, sweating when the fan wasn’t doing it to cool the room.

Last evening, we sat outdoors at the table on the veranda, sipping on our sundowners while the temperature was 38C, 100F. We were in the shade under the veranda roof. When our chicken dinner was done on the braai at 6:00 pm, 1800 hrs., we moved indoors to eat at the dining room table…there’s no aircon in the main living area.

We added some cut-up carrots for Norman to enjoy as well.

We turned on the little portable, rechargeable fan Louise bought for us, and we were okay. The bacon-wrapped, mozzarella, garlic-stuffed chicken breasts, and salad were delicious. I’d accidentally overcooked Tom’s white rice, but he ate it anyway without a complaint.

This morning I asked Tom, do you want to leave and go somewhere else?  Without hesitation, he replied, “No, I’m good here.
I agreed. In a little over a month, we’ll be heading to Seychelles for a glorious cruise in the country’s islands.

Tonight, as always, we’re headed to Jabula, but this time for a birthday party for our friend Sinndee who lost her dear husband, Bruce, only a week ago. It will undoubtedly be a tough evening for Sinndee, but we and others who love her will provide compassion, love, and support.

Kudus finishing the last of lucerne in the nearby garden. Tomorrow, we’ll receive another bale while it’s still busy in the park with holidaymakers.
The Lowveld is currently going through a massive heatwave of 42C (108F) degrees and more, and the animals are struggling. Could we please ask you a favor? – please put out a shallow bowl of water for our small reptiles, birds, and mammals. We have been called out for many smaller animals that are suffering due to dehydration with the last heatwave. This is the least we can do for our little neighbors until the heat subsides.
If you find an animal that looks lethargic please do not try and hand feed water. It is very easy to drown them. If they can drink on their own, put fresh water down and keep a close eye on them. If their condition doesn’t improve move the animal to a cool dark place and phone your closest Wildlife Rehab Centre immediately!
From Wild and Free Team
Deidre – 079 988 5748
Juan – 060 665 5000
Mark – 082 498 6599
Anneke – 079 931 8744″
‼️MARLOTH GENERAL CARNIVORE ALERT‼️
7th October 2022
The Carnivore Team has released another GENERAL WARNING that at least four lions were spotted and could be busy hunting. The Carnivore Team is monitoring the situation.
A very urgent alert for the following block: Maroela, Olifant, Volstruis, Renoster and Crocodile.
Everybody in these areas need to be extremely cautious and an urgent alert for joggers, hikers and cyclists along the fence and also in these areas!
Please do not allow children in these areas, as the lions could be hiding anywhere! 😳
Unfortunately the warnings are not taken seriously! The onus is on each and everyone to adhere to the alerts and warn others of the dangers.
❗️NOTE❗️
If you happen to come across a carcass, do not leave your vehicle to go searching and if you are walking or cycling don’t be brave and search for the lions! They will find you! They are extremely dangerous in the vicinity of a kill.
Should you spot the lions, please contact any one of the following persons:
Rangers 082 802 5894
CPF/ Nadine 082 672 4545 Gerrie Camacho 082 353 9097,
Ernst Röhm /MTPA 083 626 6309,B
April Lukhele: 082 807 1057. Jan Koekemoer 063 053 7601.
Thank you for your cooperation and understanding – Carnivore Team, Rangers, MTPA, CPF, Security and the Vet.”
And so it goes, the challenges of life in the bush, always interesting, often unusual from our former way of life but always softened by the glorious enjoyment of the wildlife and the people, all of whom we love dearly.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, October 7, 2021:
This morning, nine bushbucks stopped by. We gave them carrots, cabbage, and pellets. For more photos, please click here.