Cumbersome dining…Like everything else, we’ll adapt…

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It was delightful to see all of these elephants in Kruger from the fence in Marloth Park.

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 our post one year ago today. Please click here for more details.

Ah, it would be nice to go into a kitchen, do some chopping, and dice to prepare a lovely meal with a salad, a protein, and a few side dishes, mainly vegetable-based.

Even the cleanup wouldn’t feel like a task at this point. Instead, as discussed in yesterday’s post here, we have a new routine to ramp up our level of safety… dining twice a day in our hotel room. 

Dad (far left), mom, and ostrich chicks.
After last night’s and this morning’s experience, we discovered it wasn’t as easy as we’d expected/ As planned with the chef, we’d appear each evening at 7:00 pm and pick up our food. Last evening at 7:00 sharp, we arrived in the restaurant standing close to the chef’s counter. 

Our food hadn’t been prepared yet due to a lack of communication between the daytime and nighttime chefs. Don’t get me wrong. This hotel and its staff have been excellent.
 
But, the staff is under enormous stress. They are away from their families, living in the hotel to avoid infecting each other and the few guests here. No doubt, they are grateful to have their jobs still, but this certainly must be a strain on them. 
Tom often sees figures of one type or another in cloud formations.  In this case, he saw an angel.

We never hear a whimper of dissatisfaction due to this situation when serving us, and they are always gracious and kind. It’s up to us to respond in like behavior to appreciate how well they are treating us and what they’ve sacrificed to be here. We often praise them for the great food and service for which we tip staff accordingly.

Luckily, we could get plenty of cash from an ATM before we arrived at this hotel on March 24th. Hopefully, it will last for a few more months. At this point, with the significant number of cases in Mumbai (over 10,000), going to an ATM would not be wise. (Although we can’t walk in the streets here, the hotel’s driver could take us to an ATM or pharmacy if necessary).

The sugar cane burning season has started once again, during which we get soot on the veranda and even into the house when the wind is blowing.

Anyway, back to last night’s dinner. We sat in the lobby for 15 minutes with our masks on, waiting for our food. No one was sitting near us. Finally, our dinner was ready, and each was placed on a very heavy tray. 

With my arms still not as strong as they used to be before surgery, I could barely carry my heavy tray loaded with a ceramic bowl of Paneer Makhani and another full-sized ceramic plate of sauteed cabbage and spinach. 

A mom and her calf cooling off in the river.

All the while, carrying the tray from the restaurant, up the lift, and down the long haul to our room, I felt as if I’d drop it. Tom had his tray to carry, and there was no way he could have taken mine.

As we advance, I won’t order the Paneer Makhani. It’s comparable to a big bowl of soup and too hard to carry on the tray. I’ll stick with the grilled chicken or salmon with two vegetable sides, which will enable me to carry one plate with the metal serving lid. This way, I won’t need to use the heavy tray.

Possibly, a mom and her two offspring, most likely born five years apart or more, which is typical for elephants.

Going forward, after mentioning last night’s delay to the restaurant manager, we’re anticipating our food will be ready at 7:00 pm sharp. This reduces our exposure waiting in the lobby.

This morning, I called to request our usual breakfast 15 minutes before heading down, again wearing the masks. We didn’t want to be locked into a specific time for breakfast which would require us getting up and ready by a particular time, which varies day by day. This morning it was ready when we arrived.

A young bull, most likely ostracized from the herd as he matured, wanders down the hill in Kruger to the Crocodile River.

We’re keeping flatware in the room and washing and drying it in the bathroom. This way, fewer staff members will be handling it. Tom insists on returning the dirty dishes to the restaurant (wearing a mask) when he didn’t want to leave the dirty dishes in our room or outside our door.

When I do my hourly walk, I put on a mask before heading out the door. When I encounter people in the corridor, I face the wall to avoid any head-on encounters. This is odd for me since I’ve always been so friendly. I’m sure many of you are facing this exact situation.

Each day, a mating pair of hornbills stop by and ask for birdseed which we place on the table and the container.  If we don’t quickly respond to their noisy request, they bang on the window glass until we do.

Comparable to the other routines we’ve established during this time of COVID-19, this dining routine will become second nature to us in the next several days. Life during this dreadful period isn’t easy for any of us.

Thanks to our readers/friends for all the positive and supportive email messages. All of you mean the world to us.

Photo from one year ago today, May 2, 2019:

We often see mongooses in the garden resting their chins on branches, rocks, or each other. For more from this post, please click here.

Will our means of protecting ourselves soon be changing?…Assessing the scenario…Bad news about South Africa…

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Elephants on the Crocodile River as seen from the fence in Marloth Park. See the post here.


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 our post one year ago today. Please click here for more details.

We knew this day would come. More guests have check-in the hotel. We’re only days or weeks away from Prime Minister Modi allows some businesses to reopen, although airports and public gatherings will still be in lockdown. We aren’t particular about hotel re-opening as yet.

A tree bark gecko in our garden.

Currently, some hotels only house people like us, along with a low number of Indian citizens who have no place to stay, like us. Other hotels are potential housing carriers of COVID-19 and those still in quarantine with confirmed cases requiring hospitalization. We’re grateful we didn’t have to stay in such a quarantine hotel.

Now, as we’ve noticed some staff members wearing masks that weren’t doing so a week ago, and in seeing a new group of four young Indians, we’re wondering if now is the time to ramp up our safety.

A massive bull elephant in Kruger.

Only yesterday, we noticed tape on the lift floor, designating where guests should stand when riding together. We refuse to enter the lift with any others, even staff we know.

This morning, we had a new server at breakfast. When we inquired, he stated he arrived at the hotel last night to take over for other servers who were allowed to return to their homes after a six-week stint during which they stayed overnight each night.

A rhino in Kruger.

We ask ourselves: Have new staff members been exposed to the outside world, and may they be the invisible carriers we hear so much about from the media? No symptoms. Highly contagious.

No, we’re not overly paranoid, but we are considering changes we may need to make, especially when servers may be carriers, touching our flatware, plates, glasses, and other food-serving apparatus.

Vultures are on the lookout for their next meal.

The government now requires any facilities that serve food to keep tables un-set until guests sit down to eat. No more linen napkins. No more salt and pepper shakers left on tables. This way, they can sanitize each table after guests have completed their meals.

But still, this is no guarantee of safety. Someone is handling all of these items. And isn’t that one of the many reasons so many passengers and crew became sick on all the cruises we hear so much about?

A parade of elephants crossing a dirt road in Kruger.

Last night, we discussed the following precautions. If we see more new staff and guests entering the hotel, we may have to begin eating our two meals a day in our room.

Today, another comfortable chair was delivered to our room, enabling Tom to stop sitting in bed. We made room for the extra padded chair without sacrificing any valuable space in the room. We turned the TV to watch the news and occasional episodes of Nat Geo, as we often have on in the background during the day.

Cautiously, they make their way across the road.

Besides, no room service is allowed during times of COVID-19. If and when we begin dining in our hotel room, we’ll have to pick up our meals from the kitchen, thus avoiding any servers handling our food. At that point, I think we’ll wash our forks and knives to prevent further handling.

As for the bad news about South Africa, several of our friends have informed us that incoming international travel won’t be allowed until at least December, six months or more from now. We expect India’s international flights will commence much sooner.

Intimidating mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.

We now accept the reality that we’ll need to fly somewhere else before we can plan on flying to South Africa. Our next booked cruise sails out of Lisbon, Portugal on November 10, ending up in Cape Town, South Africa, on December 2, which may or may not be canceled. We have no clue at this point.  

The final payment is due in July. We’ll have to wait and see what transpires with the Azamara cruise line in the interim and if that cruise will cancel down the road. 

Crocs don’t have sweat glands. They open their mouths at rest to cool off.

PS: After completing this post and preparing to upload it, I stopped to do my hourly walk. While in the corridor, I noticed a new couple with luggage entering a room. I spoke to Dash, a manager and also the main chef. The plan as mentioned above of eating in our room is now in effect as of this evening’s upcoming meal. Our dinner will be awaiting us at the service area, an open kitchen as seen from the restaurant, at 7:00 pm each evening. To avoid feeling rushed in the mornings, we’ll call 20 minutes ahead for our usual breakfast order. On each occasion, we’ll wear face masks, including the period during which we wait in the lobby while our room is being cleaned, where to date, we’ve never observed any other guests.

We all must be proactive in securing our safety and designing a plan that works for us, regardless of what others may think of our decisions. At this point, it appears social distancing, wearing a mask and washing hands frequently is a step in the right direction. For us, these added measures are a must.

Photo from one year ago today, May 1, 2019:

The Crocodile Bridge, one of many entrance points that leads to Kruger National Park. For more from this post, please click here.

Part 3…Musings over the peculiarity of life in a lockdown in a hotel room in Mumbai, India…

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Dozens of mongooses are in our garden in Marloth Park. See the post here.

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 our post one year ago today. Please click here for more details.

At the end of yesterday’s post, we mentioned, we’ll be sharing what we’re missing the most during this time of COVID-19 besides the apparent aspects of missing family and friends. 

In speaking with our loved ones, we found that each person and family has their list of how lockdown has impacted their lives and what they are missing the most.

Two barn owls in the rafters at the Mugg & Bean Restaurant in Lower Sabie. For more on this year-ago post, please click here.

It has varied from socializing with family and friends to walks in the park, shopping in malls and local shops, dining in restaurants, to such basic needs as being unable to find favorite necessary foods and beverages.

For many business owners, they are sorely missing the much-needed revenue stream they typically see in their businesses, coupled with the fears as to how long they’ll survive financially if lockdown continues any longer.

For many, they miss the peace of mind they’ve experienced in the past and perhaps didn’t appreciate enough the freedom of not worrying about life-threatening illness befalling them and their family members and friends.

Female lions lounging in the shade

Regardless of what others have missed, our hearts go out to everyone during this difficult time. This is the first time in history that non-infected citizens have been quarantined. Sadly, this insidious virus cannot be detected in the healthy without a test. Taking temperatures is simply not enough. 

As more and more guests check in to our hotel (we’re now back up to about 20 guests), we wonder if they are carrying the virus, although their temperature was taken at the door when they entered. They could easily be carrying the virus without any symptoms at all.

What do we miss while living in this hotel in lockdown in Mumbai, India? Here’s our list, not necessarily in any particular order since it can change each day:

Dinner in Kruger National Park when friends Lois and Tom visited when we’d gone on a nighttime game drive.

1. The freedom to order products we need online, knowing a shipment may be on its way soon:
At this point, no international packages are being delivered in India, not through FEDEX, DHL, or any other service. Our mailing service rep, Eric at Maillinkplus in Las Vegas, Nevada, replied to our inquiry, stating that at this time, there isn’t a single shipping company in the world shipping parcels to India. However, oversized shipments from some companies are arriving. We have a package waiting to be shipped to us with essential supplies that we may not be able to receive for months to come.

2. Purchasing groceries and cooking our meals:
No doubt, I miss having a kitchen to create a week’s menu and shop and cook accordingly. As we mentioned many times, having the same meals over and over again is boring and unsatisfying. Thank goodness the hotel chefs are good cooks and the repetitious meals are flavorful. We both miss the variety.

Ms. Bushbuck is resting in the garden.

3. Beef, snacks, hard cheeses:
Neither of us has had any beef in over three months. This is a first for Tom, not so much for me. I’d love a grass-fed beef burger, minus the bun, with cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo. Tom mentions roast beef, beef taco salad, meatloaf, steak, and hamburger. Snacks would be excellent.

4.  Wine for me, beer, or cocktails for Tom:
This speaks for itself.

5.  Paper towels, Windex, and disinfectant cleaner:
I’ve always been a paper towel person. Although I was always careful in not using them excessively. Now, I’d love to be able to wipe things down, although our room is immaculate.

A cute bunny on the road in Kruger National Park.

6. Freedom:
To be unable to continue on our travels as we have over these past 7½ years is frustrating, along with the uncertainty of the future. Here, we cannot go outside for a walk or sit in the garden (yard) for some fresh air and sunshine. We’re taking big doses of Vitamin D3 to compensate for the lack of sun.  Being unable to jump into a car and drive somewhere will be significantly appreciated sometime in the future.

7. Socializing:
It’s true, in some countries we don’t have an opportunity to make friends and socialize. But it’s been such a joy to engage in lively conversations with others and on cruises. Now, we only speak casually to the courteous staff, but it’s not necessarily considered socializing.

A pair of hippos and a couple of cape buffaloes.

8. Cruising:
A big part of the joy in traveling the world has been the pure pleasure of cruising to many exotic locations and frequently conversing with travelers from all over the world. The entire ambiance of the cruise experience has been a vital part of our lives, also in getting us from location to location, enabling us to avoid flying as much as possible. Will this ever be possible again?

9. Living in a more spacious environment:
Living in one room, except for a few hours a day, isn’t easy. We keep our room tidy and relatively clutter-free, but even so, it’s a small space.

.
A Nyala, the first we’d spotted in Kruger National Park.

10. Doing laundry:
We’re sure you’ve heard about our laundry situation ad nauseam, but I do miss doing laundry, providing more options on what we wear.

11. Sightseeing and taking new photos for our posts:
It’s been about six weeks since we were sightseeing in India, taking and sharing many photos along the way. We look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead. 

More Nyala in Kruger.

Sure, we miss all of the above-listed items and maybe a few more we don’t recall at the moment. However, we’re both holding up quite well. Our biggest goal through this entire process has been to maintain a good attitude with hope for times to come, regardless of the inconveniences we may be experiencing now.

We hope and pray for all of you as we each work our way through these difficult times. 

Stay safe.

Photo from one year ago today, April 30, 2019:

The only squirrel we’d ever seen in South Africa. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…Musings over the peculiarity of life in a lockdown in a hotel room in Mumbai, India…

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We had an opportunity to see the feared Tasmanian Devil while in Tasmania. They weren’t terrifying with their mouths closed. See more at this link.

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 our post one year ago today. Please click here for more details.

Frank, our resident francolin, lived in the garden with his mate, The Mrs. (shown below).

A few days ago, while chatting with our DIL Camille, she and I were laughing over our peculiarities living in this hotel room, now for 37 days. Not only did we discuss the nuances of our day-to-day lives during these circumstances, but we also discussed what we miss the most, which we’ll share with you today.

Here is a list of the challenges we’re facing under these unusual circumstances, some of which we’ve mentioned here and there in prior posts:

The Mrs.

1.  Do we have access to food during the day?:
You may ask, why don’t we eat lunch to hold us over for dinner? There are several reasons, including that neither of us cares to eat lunch since we don’t eat when we’re not hungry. But, if we become hungry around 3:00 pm, we’ll have a piece of cheese in our everyday lives. No cheese of this type is available here. Instead, we have the coffee/tea, which seems to hold us over. We don’t eat anything after dinner.

2.  Where do we sit all day long?:
There is only one comfortable chair in the room (besides a desk chair) with an ottoman. I have always felt uncomfortable sitting on a bed, even propped up with pillows. Tom sits on the bed all day with his feet up, except for the times when we dine twice a day and a third time when our room is being cleaned. I sit in a comfortable chair, jumping up once an hour to do my walking. This past week, I walked 24 KM, 15 miles in the corridors, and now have begun increasing the number of times I embark on the walk along with increasing the speed.

This oxpecker is singing in sheer joy after eating some bugs off of this kudu’s back.

3. How do we wash our clothes?
Today, we gave the laundry service two pairs of Tom’s jeans. They are too difficult to wash by hand and wring out, taking days to dry. Nor do we have ample space to hang them. Otherwise, we hand wash all of our pants and shirts in the shower while bathing. We each have two pairs of pants we alternate and three shirts. I’ve stopped wearing a bra since it results in one less item to wash. We wring out the items as well as possible and hang them in the closet on hangers to dry, with a bath towel placed on the closet floor to collect the drips. This is working well for us so far. We each do our laundry every other day.

4.  How do we pay bills? Handle our mail?
We performed these tasks in the same manner as when living in holiday homes or hotels. The only bills we have are credit cards and insurance, all of which we pay online. Our online mail service in Nevada, USA, receives our small amount of mail and collects any purchases we’ve made, storing them in our oversized box. Soon, we’ll be ordering a shipment of items waiting in our mailbox to be sent to us in India. But, we are currently checking to determine which services such as FED EX or DHL are delivering packages in India. It’s questionable at this point.

5.  How do we stream movies and TV series? 
Since we both acquired Chromebooks, we can no longer use Graboid, a fantastic streaming service for INR 1570, US $20 a month. Instead, we’ve mostly been reliant upon Amazon Prime (US version). However, Amazon doesn’t allow streaming outside the US. Subsequently, we have a VPN, Express VPN, opening our access to streaming shows on Amazon and other US streaming services. Netflix and HULU don’t work for us from India. At the moment, through Amazon Prime Video, we are subscribed to HBO and Acorn (British shows) for a combined total of INR 1441, US $19, per month. We just ended two subscriptions after seeing everything that interested us in Showtime and CBS All Access. We don’t watch shows during the day. Instead, we listen to podcasts and watch the news on the TV through the BBC worldwide and India News.

A handsome male impala in the garden.

6.  How do you get exercise?
Tom doesn’t, and as mentioned, I do the walking every day, ten times a day at this point.

7. How do we make phone calls?
Although our cell phones are supposed to make calls in other countries, we find we can’t do so from here. Instead, for friends, we talk for free on Facebook Messenger (but who’s listening???) and Skype with a cost of about INR 73, US $.01 per minute when calling from Skype to a phone. I load money directly from PayPal to the Skype app, and it’s straightforward. When I get low, they automatically add a small sum.

8. Are we collecting packages locally?
We have placed a few online orders from Amazon India, some of which have been delivered and others that never arrived, and we were credited. Why this happens is most likely due to COVID-19 and lack of delivery staff. We have ordered a few much-needed toiletry items such as toothpaste, contact lens solution, and a few other things. The packages arrive at the guard gate, and then a staff member walks to the entrance to collect the parcel. If a package doesn’t arrive, we re-order the same items after the credit comes through. Amazon India has limited supplies at this time and only necessities.

Tree frog foam nest, made overnight above the cement pond.

9. How are we holding up without an occasional cocktail?
No doubt, a glass of wine, beer, or cocktail would be significant during the lockdown. It’s now been a month since we last had a beverage. No liquor stores or bars are open during the lockdown, nor is the hotel’s bar. All the alcoholic drinks were removed from our tiny refrigerator when we arrived, and the lockdown commenced. Sure, we certainly would enjoy an icy cold beer or a glass of wine for me. It could easily be another month or more until such items are available for purchase.

10. What are we doing for ice?
The hotel is not making any ice during the lockdown. Tom keeps two Crystal Light Iced Tea bottles in the very cold refrigerator and drinks them without ice. I rarely drink iced tea, but it’s the same way, without ice when I do. During the day, I drink plain bottled water (provided by the hotel in six bottles a day) or decaf coffee or green tea. During dinner, we consume “purified water” provided by the hotel also at no charge.

Movie night in the bush as a charity event for saving wildlife in Marloth Park and its surrounds.

So there it is folks. As you can see, we’re managing just fine. From what we can determine from local and world news, we could end up staying in India through the summer. We continue to strive to make these adjustments work well for us without any whinging! In tomorrow’s Part 3 post, we’ll share what we’re missing the most.

Stay safe. Stay strong. Would you please share some of the challenges you’re experiencing during these unusual times of COVID-19?

Photo from one year ago today, April 29, 2019:

Our boy “Little” is attempting a nap in the garden when even his tiny tusks get in the way. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…Musings over the peculiarity of life in a lockdown in a hotel room in Mumbai, India…

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Elephant seals cuddled together in Gyrtviken, South Georgia Island, on our way to Antarctica.
See the link here.


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 our post one year ago today. Please click here for more.
As inquiries as to our well-being flood our inboxes, we can’t help but feel humbled and blessed to experience the outpouring of love and concern from our family and readers/friends throughout the world.
Mr. & Mrs. Hornbill was eating seeds off the veranda table. We weren’t able to put up the birdfeeder with monkeys nearby and placed the seeds on the table after they’d banged at the window with their beaks to remind us to feed them.  

Living in a hotel room which may prove to be for many more months to come, is rather peculiar, especially under these trying circumstances. Fortunately, based on our years of attempting and often succeeding at being resilient and resourceful, these circumstances are not unfamiliar territory for us.

Of course, being entrenched in a pandemic is new for all of us, including the complicated mechanics of protecting ourselves from contracting the virus, even here in our somewhat pristine environment.
 
At this point, no new guests are allowed to check in to the hotel. But, as India’s Prime Minister Modi and state officials have begun to lessen a number of lockdown restrictions and domestic travel is reinstated, we expect this business-friendly hotel will start booking business travelers.
Willie loves making eye contact when I talk to him. But, since his eyes are far apart, he tended to look at me by tilting his head using one eye.

From what we’ve observed thus far, it appears domestic travel will be instituted long before international travel, which could leave us in a precarious position with guests from all over the country beginning an influx into our otherwise safe surroundings.

Will we need to start wearing masks and gloves to go to dinner or sit in the lobby while our room is being cleaned? Or will we escalate our protection and ask for room service and never leave the room, even during the period when the room is being cleaned?  The cleaners wear masks and gloves now. What added protection might they need?
 
Will staff and cooks still sleep here at night as they do now, which provides us with an added layer of protection? Will our food be safe if they start returning to their homes at night when the lockdown potentially changes on May 3rd?
Suckling baby kudu and her mom.

All of this is up in the air right now. They don’t know the answers to these questions. Nor do we. Our current safety from the virus is predicated by our lives in this hotel, and until international flights re-open, not only here but worldwide, we have nowhere else to go.

I freely admit I am considerably more concerned about getting the virus than Tom is. Then again, he tends to worry a lot less than I do under certain circumstances. He worries about the small things. I only worry about the big stuff.
 
If we were in a holiday home, it would be much easier in many ways. If we chose to keep ourselves in lockdown long term, we could make that decision easier by receiving food and supplies from online retailers. 
Sunset over the Crocodile River from the veranda at Ngwenya Lodge.

We could cook our meals, tend to tasks around the house, and live a somewhat everyday life while we waited for such time as we felt it was safe to venture outside, see friends, and interact with others.

Here, although for the moment, it’s been safe, going forward is questionable. Once we can fly out of here, the situation at the airports will be frightening, filled with potentially infected individuals who may not even know they are carrying the dreaded virus.

Blooming Bird of Paradise.

Still, we remain assured we made the right decision not to return to the US. With today’s number of cases in the US at 1,010,507 and 56,803 deaths compared to India’s 9,451 cases and 939 deaths, it feels safer to us here in a hotel than we’d be in the US.

As for our hope to return to South Africa, as of today, with 4,973 cases and 90 deaths, we’d feel safer there as well. Of course, we realize all of these numbers could be inaccurate, but it’s all we have to go by at this point.

A majestic waterbuck.

So, we wait. And, oddly, while we wait, we are both OK, both sleeping well, both learning as much as we can, with neither of us exhibiting any signs of stress. We have hope, determination, and faith, all of which will see us through, however long it takes.

Be safe. Be strong. Be hopeful.

Photo from one year ago today, April 28, 2019:

Parade of elephants crossing the bone dry river before the rains. For more on this story, please click here.

Poll response from many of our readers…

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Although this video isn’t relevant to the cruise photos below, this video was from rough seas as we sailed through the Chilean Fjords in December 2017. See that post here.

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.

White sand beaches on the island of Vanuatu in April 2017. See the post here.

Today’s photos are from a 24-night cruise on this date in 2017, on Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas from Sydney to Seattle, while visiting the islands of Vanuatu and Isle of Pines, New Caledonia. See the post here.
Here we go! I know many of you are anxious to hear the results of yesterday’s poll as to whether or not they are interested in COVID-19 news on our daily posts. And the response was overwhelming.

These tropical island musicians and dancers greeted us in Noumea, New Caledonia.

It could take months to respond to all the wonderful email messages I received in the past 24-hours. I will respond to the messages in which readers wrote a message included with their yes or no responses. 

I will personally respond to several messages each day, but it could be quite a while until I get to you. Please know we are reading every message and taking your responses to heart.

She was writing in the sand. Sweet.

Most readers wrote “yes” or “no,” and to the best of my ability, I ticked them off as they flooded my inbox, keeping fairly accurate records. But, it was in the first hundred responses that a pattern came to light.

As it turned out, 55% said no, 40% said yes, and about 5% said they wouldn’t mind one way or another. But, the consensus was apparent in the “no” responses. 

The coral reef in the Isle of Pines was exquisite.

Many mentioned they read our posts to escape from the constant news on TV, podcasts, and online. Thus, our site is a respite from the bombardment of COVID-19 news, which can be discouraging and disheartening.

We understand and respect your opinions and will continue to post as we have in the past. Thus, our response going forward will be like most of you requested; information about our current situation, whether during this period of the lockdown or once we’re on the move again, when we can continue with our world travels.

View toward our tender boats waiting at the pier to return us to the ship.

Thank you to all who have responded. Having compiled a great sampling of our readers, responding to the yes or no inquiry is no longer necessary. However, please feel free to write, and I will respond as quickly as possible.

As primarily a travel site, of course, we’ll continue to post information on our (and your) ability to travel going forward. Many of our readers and friends have been communicating with us by email, sending data back and forth. We’ll continue with this communication.

Me, at the beach in the Isle of Pines.

Thanks to many of you who’ve mentioned they don’t mind seeing our previously posted photos again. As you are all aware, new photos are not an option at this point.

Some readers were concerned we would start getting “political” here. We will not. Although a few of our comments may have led some to believe we’re espousing a particular political viewpoint. That is not our intention. In the future, we will make a more concerted effort to keep such inferences in check.

Tom on the beach in Isle of Pines, New Caledonia.

As for what’s happening today… Like most of you, not much! Our daily lives are relatively repetitious, aside from our communication with all of you and family and friends. 

We spend part of each day researching future travel plans and discovering when airports will be re-opening, enabling us to leave India. With little hope for South Africa allowing incoming international flights over the next several months, we’re trying to find other countries that will be opening their borders once the airport re-opens in Mumbai. So far, no luck.

The pier where we waited to reboard the tenders to return to the ship.

If we can find an appropriate country that will allow us to enter, which is a reasonable distance to Africa, we’ll wait it out there. Perhaps, a tropical island? Looking at today’s photos made us think how nice it might be for some sun and sand!

Keep the faith!

Photo from one year ago today, April 27, 2019:
There was no post one year ago today due to a power outage lasting throughout the day.

Haters in the time of COVID-19…Yesterday was a stressful day…Urgent scientific update on COVID-19…

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We took a heartwarming video of a precious little bird hitting the glass walls in the house in Costa Rica in October 2017. It’s a long video but worth watching. See the original post here.
 

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 the post on this date in 2018. Please click here for the link.

We were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive responses we received from many of our readers yesterday based on my rant about losing our freedom of speech, particularly during this time of COVID-19. If you missed the post, please click here. Thank you, dear readers, for the feedback!

Happy caterpillar dancing across the floor! Later on, I learned these caterpillars cause a nasty itch that lasts for days when coming in contact with their venom. Later I realized these are Processionary Caterpillars who form a train and crawl up walls, verandas and form a train across the garden.  Not so cute, after all.

Fortunately, we didn’t receive a single message from any “haters” which I honestly don’t believe we have who read our site. It’s not necessarily a site that would appeal to haters since we keep controversial topics primarily to ourselves and among our like-minded family and friends.

Haters are not necessarily searching for travel-related sites on which to espouse their toxic opinions. Most travel sites are happy places, sharing the joyful nuances of travel and its many benefits and pleasures.

Now, in this time of COVID-19, while stuck in lockdown with most of the world, I can’t imagine haters will come our way. What’s to hate about these two senior citizens without a home, traveling the world on their own dime, without too much drama other than occasional travel challenges.

We shot this photo of the Crocodile River while standing at the brick overlook. 

Speaking of travel challenges, yesterday presented a few (unrelated to our post) stresses we’ve yet to discuss in detail here. One was the fact that our newer travel health insurance policy through United Healthcare Global’s Safe Trip, was expiring on April 28th according to notes I’d made on our online Cozi calendar.

Noticing this in the morning sent me into a tizzy when based on the time difference, I wouldn’t be able to reach the company until their offices opened in the morning, which would be close to dinnertime here.
 
I tried to renew the policy online, but their online site wouldn’t open to their usual purchasing page with various options. All I could find was a notice in bold to call their offices directly, due to COVID-19, during business hours. This meant we had to wait until 5:30 pm. I tried a few numbers, and a message stated. “This is no longer a working number.” I panicked.
 

Could United Healthcare, a vast US insurance company, be going out of business? Finally, I called the phone number on our insurance card for medical emergencies when the rep gave me a working number.

On that day, we didn’t see any wildlife along the Crocodile River but, the scenery was always stunning.

Moments later, I was speaking with a competent-sounding representative who explained, after looking up our policy, that our current policy was good until July 28, 2020. 

When my computer crashed several months ago, which I replaced with a Chromebook I purchased in India, I’d misplaced the latest purchase on the wrong cloud and couldn’t find anything except the one that expires on April 28th.
 

We both had forgotten that at the beginning of the explosion of the virus when we hoped to return to South Africa, we’d read online they now require proof of insurance. Thus, we ordered the extension to July while we were still touring India. We would have done so anyway, but in this case, we called it to extend beyond April to be safe.

Male ostriches typically have black feathers, while females and youngsters are a greyish brown color.

Once we recalled this, we remembered the day we ordered the new policy and moments later the rep sent me the updated documents. He also explained, based on my inquiry, that even during this pandemic, we will still be able to renew in July for an additional 90 days. Whew.

By the time I was done on the phone, we had headed to dinner, both of us feeling relieved. The next thing on our mind was getting our refund from Viking Cruise Line for almost INR 1,526,360, US $20,000, for their cancellation of the 29-night cruise that was scheduled to embark out of Mumbai on April 3rd. 

We’d been notified of the cancellation on March 12th and had begun to worry the smaller cruise line might go bankrupt with all the cancellations and subsequent refunds. Since that day, I checked our credit card balance to see if a refund had been posted.

When we saw these baboons, we immediately shut the doors to the house.  Once baboons enter, they can tear a house apart.

Last night, after watching two episodes of a British TV series on Acorn TV, I decided to check one more time before settling in for the night. Alas, the credits appeared. We couldn’t have been more thrilled and relieved (other than the day we can finally leave lockdown in Mumbai). 

I slept like a log, as they say. My Fitbit displayed that I’d slept for 8 hours, 9 minutes, only awakening a few times for short periods. I am a new person today.

With renewed enthusiasm and energy based on these two positive outcomes, it feels a little easier today as we tackle yet another day in a small room in a hotel in Mumbai. We’ll all get through this, each in our way of coping with a variety of stressors and complications.

What a shame, broken pottery next door, all caused bt the baboons. I suppose this lighter-weight pottery makes no sense in the bush.

URGENT: We do not profess to be medical experts by any means. However, the attached link of a scientific study on COVID-19 found that high doses and exposure (sunlight) of Vitamin D3 may be influential in reducing the severity of the worst cases of the virus. Right now, with so many of us indoors and not exposed to direct sunlight with bare skin, we may be particularly low in this essential nutrient.

Please see this link and decide from there if it’s appropriate for you. Patients with low Vitamin D3 levels are more susceptible to severe cases of the virus. I just ordered six bottles of 10,000 IU gel caps at this link. Please check with your medical professional if this is appropriate for you.
(We are not affiliated with this company in any manner other than for personal purchases).

Stay safe. Continue following guidelines…

Photo from one year ago today, April 25, 2019:

Rhino was hanging out with warthogs. For more photos, please click here.

Prospects for airports allowing us to enter diminishes over time…

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A group of five ambitious men met each day to ride the FlowRider on the ship. 
See this link here for that post two years ago.

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.

Most weekdays, Josiah stopped by in the morning to wash and sweep the veranda, rake the garden and clean the pool. No more than an hour after he’d done, the veranda would dirty again with leaves from the trees, pellets residue, and soot from the burning sugar cane a few kilometers away. Tom was constantly sweeping to keep us from tracking the house’s dust, dirt, and debris. By the end of each day, the bottoms of our bare feet were so dirty we’d have to shower again before getting into bed. Today’s photos were from this post two years ago.

Today’s photos are from two years ago today at this link.

With the US closing its borders to all immigrants over the next several months to reduce the spread of COVID-19, we are faced with the reality that many other countries will follow suit.

If we’d been in Kruger National Park, we wouldn’t have been able to gain access to this area.

Currently, almost every country worldwide has closed its borders to international travel and its airports, and travel is at a standstill. Today, I asked Tom, “How long can we hold out here?”

He answered with a wide grin on his face, “With the Mumbai airport closed, we won’t be going anywhere.” 
 

Duh, I get that. But at some point, the Mumbai International Airport will open, and the challenge for us at that time will be where we will be able to go? What country will allow us to enter after living in India for three to six months (or more)? 

Taking photos through the fence in Marloth Park was tricky, so we got what shots we could.  At times, we were pleasantly surprised at the finished product.

It may not be South Africa if they, too, impose a ban on all foreigners entering the country for an extended period. Right now, all we’ve heard so far is May 31st. But we don’t have a lot of faith that they’ll allow foreigners to enter even at that date.

Well, the world is a prominent place. And once the Mumbai airport opens, we’ll let it settle for a few days while we decide where we’d like to go that has an open airport. The possibilities may be few.

But, the magic of our lives is the fact that we can go anywhere we’d like that will be open to our arrival, which we’ll confirm in detail before we book a flight and accommodations. 
Male elephants are kicked out of the herd (parade) when teenagers.  When we saw large numbers, many were unlikely males except for those youngsters yet to reach maturity at 13, 14, or 15 years of age.

We can pack and be out the door in a few hours. We both believe that we’ll have some options within three months if South Africa isn’t one of those. We can always go there later when the airports open.

Oddly, we have an Azamara cruise (690 passengers) booked for November 10th from Lisbon to Capetown. If things improve and we aren’t yet in South Africa, we may make this cruise. The question will be, where will we wait for the cruise in the interim if we can leave Mumbai.
 

Tom’s dear sister Colleen kindly offered her place in Arizona if we returned to the US. However, as we’ve mentioned many times in past posts, we have no interest in returning to the US at this time. 

A mom was fussing over her offspring.

Even in months from now, the virus in the US will still be rampant, nor do we want to live in the high heat in Arizona during the summer and fall months, there again, stuck inside all day. 

As mentioned in several posts, I am very high risk with asthma, heart disease, and age, and our health insurance can only be used outside the US. We don’t want to take any risks being in the US at this time. Then again, how would we get there with no airport open here?
 

There are many other countries we’ll be able to travel to at some point. Fortunately, as much as we don’t like wasting valuable time as we age, we are prepared to stay in Mumbai as long as necessary to get us to a suitable location where, perhaps, it will feel more like a continuation of our world travels than trapped in the lockdown.

Neither the elephants nor the waterbucks seem to mind one another’s presence.

Oddly, we are OK, as we’ve mentioned. Nor do we expect our emotional state to change as time marches on. We are doing what many are doing now; reading, watching the news, streaming shows, listening to podcasts: and for me, exercising throughout the day while eating a healthy diet. 

Tom has been eating a high carbohydrate diet and, for now, isn’t gaining weight or suffering any ill effects at this time. (We don’t have access to any snacks or alcohol). Once we get somewhere when I can cook again, he’ll get back to eating a diet similar to mine. 
 

For us, accepting the realities of this dreadful virus and the consequences facing all of us has provided us with a sense of peace while reducing stress and worry. 

Each day these two females stop by several times with two piglets, most likely several months old.  The two females may be sisters, a mother, and a daughter from a prior litter or, who knows, another relative of one sort or another.  This particular morning the two of them played a nose-to-nose game while the two piglets busied themselves with pellets.

Now that DIL Camille is on the mend and sister Susan has been allowed to stay in her assisted living facility (for now due to COVID-19), I can breathe a sigh of relief and make every attempt to live in the moment.

Our hearts go out to all who have lost loved ones during this trying time, either through COVID-19 or other illnesses, and to all of the millions of citizens who have lost their jobs, businesses, and sources of income. 
 

What are you doing today to bring you comfort and reduce boredom? We’d love to hear from you!

Photo from one year ago today, April 21, 2019:

An elephant in the bush was watching us take photos. For more photos, please click here.

Photos from April 2017 while in Australia…Waiting for refunds…

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Here’s a video of rough waters in Sydney Harbor on our way back to Fairlight.

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.

We met up with old friends Linda and Ken from South Africa in Sydney, Australia, on March 16, 2017.  It was a perfect day among friends! We had a great lunch and an early happy hour with them that day! Once we get to South Africa, we’ll hopefully see them again along with our mutual friends, Kathy and Don, and many others. Here’s the link for today’s photos.

The photos from Kauai, Hawaii, from five years ago today weren’t suitable for today’s post. Instead, we found a few favorite photos from the time we spent in Australia in 2017. That particular post may be found here.

Again, seeing these photos brought back many beautiful memories of the long period we spent in the South Pacific, which proved to be a total of two years, traveling in and out of Australia due to 90-day visa restrictions.

Our friend, Mr. Magpie, who’d visited us inside the house.

During those two years in the South Pacific, we embarked on eight cruises, which included one back-to-back cruise that circumvented the entire continent of Australia. What a stunning adventure!

Now, we wonder if we’ll ever cruise again. Will it be safe to cruise when already they have been referred to as a petri dish (I wouldn’t say I like that description, but it says it all)? It was no wonder, even then, that we became ill on many cruises, usually with a virus which often included an awful cough, lasting for weeks.

Hand-feeding Kookaburras in the garden. They are carnivores, so I fed them raw, grass-fed ground beef.

The thought of exposing oneself to such illnesses and the recurrence of COVID-19 makes sailing on a cruise very unappealing at this time. Wearing a face mask while cruising would eliminate all the fun for us and others when socializing and dining is often the most significant highlight and a huge source of pleasure.

Speaking of cruises, we’re still waiting for the refund from Viking Cruise Line for their cancellation of the cruise, on which we were supposed to sail on April 3rd from Mumbai. 

The scene is in Manly near the ferry.

Viking contacted us via email on March 12th that the cruise was being canceled due to COVID-19, and we’d have our full payment back within 21 business days. This would have resulted in our receiving the refund of almost INR 1529001, US $20,000, on our credit card on or about April 10, 2020.

When April 10th came and went, we contacted Vacations to Go about why Viking hadn’t returned our full payment for the canceled cruise. After some checking, our rep replied, “Refunds won’t be coming until 90 days,” changing their original commitment for 21 business days.
A Cockatoo visitor in the garden.

This is infuriating. It’s a huge amount of money we could undoubtedly use now, living in a hotel and dining in a restaurant. Our biggest fear is that in the next two months, Viking will go bankrupt, and we’ll lose the money. We’re on pins and needles over this.

Besides this, when Kenya Airways refused to allow us to board our flight to South Africa on March 20th, the day South Africa started refusing international travelers, we tried to get a refund for this flight which was INR 63424, US $830 (for two).  

Giant surf at Manly Beach on a gorgeous day.

In researching the Kenya Airways website, there was a statement explaining that no refunds would be provided for canceled flights or refusing to allow certain foreigners to travel.

Each day I’ve continued to watch their site, and yesterday a form appeared online, enabling us to apply for a credit that can only be used as a credit within 12 months of the original flight date. The 12 months could easily pass by the time we hear something. We’ll see how that goes. 

Luna Park in Sydney Harbour at night, taken from the Manly Ferry.

This is no doubt worrisome. We hadn’t written about it since we thought the refund would be coming by April 10th from Viking and that we’d lost the money from Kenya Airways.

COVID-19 has an impact on all of us, in one way or another. Certainly, we are incredibly grateful for a roof over our heads and meals and especially for having air conditioning as the temperature rises each day as summer approaches in India.

The Sydney Opera House at night, taken from the Manly Ferry.

Today, on the news, there was a story about South Africa Airways going out of business. This will result in more incredible difficulty and higher fares to fly to South Africa when other carriers pick up the slack. Also, they were the primary airline that flew into the tiny airport in Mpumalanga/Nelspruit/Kruger, which brought us closer to Marloth Park.

Subsequently, we may have to drive for five hours from Johannesburg to Marloth Park in the future. Here again, we’ll play it by ear.

Beautiful sky at sunset, taken from our veranda.

You may ask, “Why deal with all these hassles? Why not return to the US, rent or buy a condo and settle down for our remaining years?”

To us, it’s no different than us asking you to leave your home for good and do what we do. We each have our own chosen path, and ours, my dear readers, is to continue on our way for as long as we can. We aren’t bored. We are tired of it. But we are anxious to get back to it!

As some restrictions loosen, please continue to stay safe.

Photo from one year ago today, April 20, 2019:

Mongooses on the veranda looking for eggs. For more photos, please click here.

Five years ago photos…Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center…

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A visit to a pig farm in Penguin Tasmania. See the original post here with some fun “pigs in the mud” photos.

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.

At the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, Tom donned a huge leather hand and arm protector and was handed a massive chunk of fresh meat to feed this vulture at the rehabilitation center.  It was quite a thrill to get this photo.  I love the look on Tom’s face!  As their injuries healed, these vultures would soon be returned to the wild. Photos today are from this post on this date in 2015, which included some past-posted photos.

Today, while deciding on which past photos to post, I started with the post we wrote five years ago while still living in Princeville, in Kauai, Hawaii.

Then, we’d posted so many photos of Kauai. We were running low on new photos to post, so we reached back to these photos from 2014/2015 since we found them to be of particular interest to us and, hopefully, to our newer readers who may not have seen them in the past.

We apologize for the repeats if you have seen these photos in the past, perhaps even a few times. We aren’t taking any photos during the lockdown and, based on recovery from four surgeries a year ago. The pickings were also slim at that time.

It was exciting to touch the vultures.  We were told to keep moving while around the vultures.  They only eat what appears to be dead meat.

For us, seeing these photos again is comparable to watching a favorite movie a second time, especially one that makes us smile. It only reminds us how anxious we are to get back out into the world again, sometime in the future.

In actuality it was on January 19, 2014, we visited the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre, which may be found at our link here. We were so enthralled at the experience of making the tour of the well-known Panorama Route in South Africa. The photos have been fascinating.

If you ever can visit South Africa, this road trip is well worth the effort. The Panorama Route is a series of sites to see while driving along the highway, veering off periodically to stop at yet another stunning point of interest during the self-drive tour. For more on the Panorama Route, please click here.,

An eagle on the mend at the rehabilitation center.

Hmm… Do we ever get to visit South Africa? If we ever get to see South Africa again??? That’s the proverbial question for us. At this point, it’s hard to imagine when the airports and borders of both countries will open again. 

The number of cases in India is growing, not diminishing as expected from the lockdown, with 16,345 cases and 521 deaths. But, this was to be expected when many were not able or willing to honor the lockdown. Protests in the streets, in massive crowds, wanting businesses to open immediately, as is the case in parts of the US, significantly contributing to the added new cases each day.

Poverty is an enormous factor in the public’s response to lockdowns. On the other hand, South Africa, making it a crime to be out and about, has 3034 cases with 52 deaths. But, there, too, protesting workers are angry and anxious to get back to work to support their families.

We had an opportunity to interact with a cheetah at the wildlife rehabilitation center. The particular cheetah wouldn’t ever be able to return to the wild due to injuries sustained in the wild for which he was rescued.

All of these statistics can change dramatically in a day, in a week. We’ll continue to watch and see. In any case, we are continuing to feel safe here in India with virtually no need to go out.
In the interim, we’re accumulating supplies we need now and will be shipped here to us in Mumbai over the next year. Imagine you could never go to a Target, Walmart, or Walgreen store. Of course, over time, one’s list of needed items would grow. We don’t purchase anything unnecessary. 

Recently, I ordered such items as large bottles of Tylenol, Tums, contact lens solution, toothpaste, and many more. If we went out to a tiny roadside pharmacy here in Mumbai, we’d have no say in the products we’d like since the little lean-to shops have a minimal inventory of such items, if they have them at all.

A Vervet Monkey and her baby were peering at us one morning while we were sitting at the table on the veranda.  Check out that thin pink ear of the baby.

All of our purchases are sent to our mailing service in Nevada (free shipping on most), and then all will be packed into one box and shipped to us soon. Daily I cross-reference the items I’ve ordered with those that have been received by our mailing service. Once everything has arrived, we’ll order the shipment.

Cargo planes are flying into Mumbai, and we should receive our shipment within 10-days of ordering utilizing the fastest possible service. Our only fear is that the hotel will close while we’re awaiting the shipment. But, they continue to assure us they will be staying open through the lockdown and beyond.

The fifth animal in the Big 5 (Leopard, Cape Buffalo, Rhino, Elephant, and Lion) this herd of elephants blocked the road as we drove through Kruger National Park.  Notice the babies are kept protected in the middle of the herd.  The most giant elephant, the Matriarch is often twice as large as the other adult females, holds up the rear with a keen sense ensuring their safety.  Seldom are elephants attacked in the wild based on their pack mentality of safety in numbers and their massive size.

So, today, after completing this post, we’re back to our usual routine; me walking once an hour while listening to podcasts, playing online Scrabble on my phone, and streaming shows while I play using my earbuds. Tom listens to Garage Logic and other podcasts while researching his favorite historical topics and, of course, ancestry.com.

How we manage to stay busy enough to keep from going crazy baffles me, but we’re doing it. We hope you’re doing the same.

Stay healthy. Stay safe.

Photo from one year ago today, April 19, 2019:

Duikers are incredibly cautious around warthogs, especially when there’s food being offered.  Tom makes a special effort to ensure the smallest of the antelope in Marloth Park is given pellets when no pigs are in close proximity. For more photos, please click here.