Excellent evening in the bush…

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Busy morning in the bush.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 8 warthogs – inc. Tiny, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, Sigfried and Roy, and others
  • 7 bushbucks – inc. Chewy, Thick Neck/Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 16 kudus – inc. Bossy, Big Daddy, Notches, and others
  • 18 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 4 wildebeest – inc. Crooked Face, Hal, Old Man, Broken Horn
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Seeing Don again after over two years was quite enjoyable. With Rita and Gerhard here with us for dinner, the five of us had a fantastic evening. The food and the drinks flowed. We had filet mignon on the braai, and Don likes his meat well-done. We always refer to it as a hockey puck. Tom likes medium rare, and R & G preferred medium. Of course, mine is always rare, a quick sizzle on either side.

We were pleased to see so many species in the garden this morning, especially after so few appeared during last night’s dinner.

It was cold outside last night after a warmer day, but we were appropriately bundled up. We had plenty to eat with baked potatoes, sweet corn, Rita’s nice salad, and filets all around. In South Africa, dinner and happy hour (sundowners) guests bring their alcoholic beverages as is traditional. This keeps the cost of entertaining at a manageable level, inspiring more to entertain regularly.

This morning, in about 30 minutes, we’re heading to Malalane for a dental appointment for me with Dr. Singh. I’ve had a severe toothache for a few days, and it needed to be addressed. He’s the most highly regarded dentist in the area. A few months ago, I went to Dr. Singh for a complete check-up, and all was 100% fine. It’s odd that in such a short time, something went wrong.

It’s delightful to see wildebeests and kudus getting along well during the “pellet tossing.”

After finally getting rid of most of the cough, I’m frustrated that this toothache is an issue now. But that’s the way life is, often unpredictable and filled with unexpected events. Bless Tom’s heart for being so patient with me.

Our friend Kathy, Don’s wife, has a British Airways flight booked to Johannesburg in July. In the past several weeks, her flights have been canceled several times. She spent hours trying to find alternatives. We booked our return flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Johannesburg at the end of July, and now, we wonder if our flight will also be canceled.

Broken Horn, an outcast by the other wildebeests, stops by daily on his own.

Most likely, our flight will also be canceled. No doubt, it will be frustrating to be on a tight schedule visiting family in the US and dealing with finding alternative flights to return to South Africa. We all spoke to Kathy last night, and she was scrambling to get here in mid-July.

British Airways is trying to avoid flying to South Africa due to Covid concerns for their crew. We understand that, but they shouldn’t offer flights if they are going to cancel them anyway. Somehow we’ll figure it all out, as we always do. If we cancel now, we’ll be penalized. If they cancel, we’ll get a full refund. We have no choice but to play it by ear.

A Big Daddy and several female kudus visited us this morning.

It’s been a busy morning in the bush. The garden has been packed with animals of many species, and we stayed busy feeding them until it was time to go to the dentist. We just returned from the dentist, and I had a root canal done and will have the crown done after we return from the US.  What a relief. Also, the cost was only US $265, ZAR 3659, compared to three times more in the US. The crown will be about the same price.

Tom dropped me off at the house and headed to the salon for a haircut. He quickly returned home after an excellent cut that should get him through our time in the US.

We leave Marloth Park for the US two weeks from today. I can’t believe how fast time is flying. We’re each bringing one full-sized suitcase and one carry-on. At this point, I am only 50% packed, not entirely, because I have to wear most of the clothes I’ll be bringing. Tom’s clothes are folded and neatly stacked in the closet, and he will be able to pack in minutes.

That’s all for today, folks. I need to get to work on the corrections for the remainder of the afternoon.

Be well!

Photo from one year ago today, June 15, 2020:

During an uncommonly heavy rainstorm in Sumbersari, Bali, I went out to the freezer in the garage to get some ice. I saw this long black thing, referred to as an omangomang in Balinese, moving along the garage floor. I called out to Tom to come to see it. He grabbed the camera and came running. Creepy. Was that an eye looking out at us? For more photos, please click here.

An odd discovery about a favorite animal…Dinner party tonight…

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Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs – inc. Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, Peter, Paul and Mary, and others
  • 12 bushbucks – inc. Chewy, Thick Neck/Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 5 kudus – inc. Bossy, Little Daddy, Notches, and others
  • 33 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 wildebeest – inc. Broken Horn
  • 2 Frank and The Miss
  • 3 hornbills

Something dawned on us in the past few days, but we continued to observe and concluded that Thick Neck and Bad Leg are the same. Shortly after we arrived in Marloth Park, five months ago as of yesterday, we took a liking to a thick-necked male bushbuck; we aptly named Thick Neck. He is shown in the main photo above.

This is Thick Neck, as shown above.

In no time at all, he responded to his new name and made a point of stopping by several times a day. The pellets, carrots, cabbage, and apples were plentiful for him when we could manage to toss the food to him when no pigs were around. The warthogs try to scare off other animals when food is thrown but don’t do well with kudus and wildebeests.

Then, over the past three weeks or so, we noticed a thick-necked bushbuck limping with his back right leg totally off the ground when walking. He didn’t seem too miserable and managed to get around with his limitation. We surmise that eventually, it will heal when we’ve seen improvement as days pass.

A few days ago, it dawned on us that we’ve been referring to Thick Neck and Bad Leg as if they were two different bushbucks. After all, many of them look alike. But, none we’ve seen in these past months have had such a thick neck. Thus, we concluded that Thick Neck is also Bad Leg. He responds to his Thick Neck name. From now on, we’ll address him as Thick Neck/Bad Leg until his injury fully heals.

I had to take this photo through the screen, or the birds would have flown away. There were no less than 12 birds in the birdbath at one time. They were as noisy as they could be. Quite adorable!

In any case, we still favor him and knowing he has a little trouble getting around. We can’t help but give him a little more than we may offer the others. Of course, Tom has a particular affinity for bushbucks. He always has. With no less than 10-12 visiting us each day, it’s impossible not to find them as special.

Tonight, we’re having a small dinner party, just five of us including Rita and Gerhard and our old friend Don (of Kathy and Don). Don arrived in Marloth Park, their other home(s) in Hawaii, about a week ago and stayed with Linda and Ken in Johannesburg to buy a car. Once this task was accomplished, he was on his way to Marloth Park. Kathy will arrive in mid-July.

Like many of our old friends in Marloth Park, Don stayed away at their “other” homes due to travel restrictions and concerns regarding Covid-19. Now, slowly, over the next several months, others will arrive after travel restrictions are released and they’ve received their two-dose Covid-19 vaccinations.

Busy time in the garden with 9 warthogs.

I supposed, in a way, we’re not unlike them, when soon in 15 days, we’ll be returning to the US to get our vaccines and then return to Marloth Park, less than a month later. The scary part for us is safely arriving in the US after over 35 hours of travel. Of course, we’ll proceed with the utmost caution.

Tonight, we’re preparing a leisurely dinner on the braai, beef, pork, baked potatoes, and sweet corn. Rita is bringing the salad. Making elaborate meals for guests is a thing of the past for us. We’d rather spend quality time with our guests than spend the bulk of the evening in the kitchen wrapping up the finishing touches of a complicated meal.

In our world, being retired, one day of the week is no different than another. A Monday night is as good as a Saturday night! So, we wish all of you a delightful Monday, wherever you may be.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 14, 2020:

The walled city of Dubrovnik posted one year ago, visited in 2013. For more photos, please click here.

An excellent afternoon with friends, at the Crocodile River and an evening in the bush…

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It had been a while since we’d spotted a waterbuck. But, this female was on the move and was out of sight in seconds.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 5 warthogs – inc. Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, and others
  • 10 bushbucks – inc. Chewy, Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 5 kudus – inc. Bossy and others
  • 48 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 duiker
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Yesterday, Rita and Gerhard picked us up at 3:00 pm, excited to show us their new vehicle, an upscale 4-door Toyota pickup known as a bakkie in South Africa. They couldn’t have been more thrilled with their purchase, and we shared the excitement with them.

Rita and Gerhard with their new “bakkie.” It was a very smooth ride!

The ride to the Crocodile River in this four-wheel-drive vehicle was comfortable on the bumpy dirt roads in Marloth Park, compared to the cheap small car rentals we hire when more smooth riding vehicles are three times the cost of what we’re willing to pay. Unfortunately, the cost of car rentals throughout the world has increased outrageously over the past year of the pandemic, as have many travel-related expenses.

You’d think that the prices of travel-related venues and services would be a little lower to encourage hesitant travelers to begin booking again after this long haul. But, no, the prices continue to climb, which ultimately will impact the future of the travel industry.

Once we arrived at the river, we pulled out our camping chairs, arranging them in a tight row to leave room for others who’d come to the river hoping for exciting sightings. It was busier at Two Trees than we’d seen in a long time. Louise told us that bookings were up, mainly with South Africans, who longed to get out to the bush from the bigger cities in South Africa.

Please increase the size of the photos to see everything in the shot. There were two ostriches and two warthogs eating out of a trough made from a tire. The warthog was attempting to tip it over when he couldn’t reach the food. Very funny!

Few guests were international. For most travelers, flying into South Africa is not appealing at this time, with the Covid variants, increased cases lately, and the lack of available vaccines. We’ve yet to hear back on an opportunity for booking the vaccine in South Africa. However, our friends Linda and Ken, living in Johannesburg, did manage to get called for the first jab.

But, we’ve yet to hear of anyone getting vaccinated in this more remote area, other than healthcare professionals. We doubt we’ll listen to anything before we leave in 16 days to head to the US, where we feel confident we’ll be able to get the jab, now that walk-ins are available at some locations in Minnesota.

A mating pair of warthogs cuddling during a nap in our garden.

After the river, around 4:45, we left, and Rita and Gerhard dropped us off at our house, where we picked up our car and followed them to Jabula for dinner. Tom suggested we drive ourselves to avoid them having to backtrack to take us home at the end of the night. It all worked out fine, and we reached Jabula at 5:30, with plenty of time for fun at the bar and dinner shortly after that.

For a Saturday night, it wasn’t as busy as it had been pre-Covid. The four of us sat at the bar, chatting among ourselves and others, and by 6:30, our meals were ready, and we headed to our usual table on the veranda. It wasn’t as cold as it had been a week earlier, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our delicious meals and the lively conversation.

A mom and baby bushbuck have been stopping by each day.

We’ll be busy getting ready for guests coming for dinner tomorrow, including Don (of Kathy and Don), Rita, and Gerhard. Kathy will arrive in Marloth Park a few weeks before returning from the US at the end of July. Even more, fun social times are on the horizon!

Have a fantastic Sunday! We plan to!

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

Us in front of one of the most exciting ruins of Ephesus Jordan on this date in 2013. For more year-ago photos, please click here.

Fun outing today…A logical solution for load shedding!..Thanks, Gerhard!…

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Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 13 warthogs – inc. Little, Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, and others
  • 12 bushbucks – inc. Chewy, Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 5 kudus – inc. Bossy, Big Daddy, and others
  • 41 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Today, Rita and Gerhard are picking us up at 3:00 pm, 1500 hrs., in their newly purchased vehicle, and we’re all heading to the Crocodile River for game viewing, photos, and sundowners. As soon as darkness falls, we’ll head to Jabula for dinner. There’s load shedding tonight from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm, 1900 hrs to 2130 hrs.

Since we’ll be at Jabula for dinner, most likely, it will only be a short time until we have power, when later they’ll drop us off at our bush bouse. We usually sit at the bar for an hour or more and dine around 6:30, 1830 hrs. It’s easy for us to entertain ourselves for several hours.

An oxpecker on the back of a kudu.

Recently, when load shedding ramped up again, I thought we could watch a few shows during the outage to download some movies or TV series. However, after trying several possibilities, I realized how difficult it is to download movies or tv series on a Chromebook.

As mentioned in a prior post, we can no longer use Graboid, a straightforward monthly fee download site. It just doesn’t work for Chromebooks. As it turns out, for the same reasons, Graboid doesn’t work, nor do Hulu downloads, and many others available online. This was frustrating.

Tom’s new device is also a Chromebook; since he disliked Windows 10 so much, he didn’t want to start that up again. Had we known this when we purchased Chromebooks, we undoubtedly would have stayed with Windows 10, although we weren’t keen on that operating system with its weird nuances. So, here we are, with what we have.

This morning, Big Daddy stopped by to see what was on the menu.

Gerhard doesn’t use Chromebook. However, he had read our previous post, where I mentioned our inability to download movies, and he surprised me while we were out to dinner at Bos.Restaurant here in the park. He handed me a flash drive with approximately 50 movies on it from 2016 and 2017, all Academy nominees, and offered to let us download them and return the flash drive to him when we were done.

This way, during power outages, we can watch movies in the dark. How do we do this with no power? Simple. Our Chromebooks have a massive advantage over other operating systems and devices; the batteries may last as long as 14 hours since a recent charge. This was a big motivator for us in choosing Chromebooks.

Of course, playing downloaded movies may reduce the available charged time considerably. But, with the inverter Louise and Danie provided for us in this house, if our laptop or phone’s batteries are low during load shedding, the inverter will recharge them. The inverter kicks in when the power goes out.

At times, bushbucks nibble on these plants in the side yard.

The inverter doesn’t provide enough power for the entire house, only one lamp in the bedroom, two-floor fans, and sufficient ability to recharge our phones and laptops. Nevertheless, it’s all we need during load shedding. So, when Gerhard gave us the movies, I downloaded them onto our external hard drive, which fortunately had enough room for all of them.

Then, a dilemma presented itself. There was no sound in any of the movies, although the video quality was good. Unfortunately, Chromebooks have lousy sound systems. We’d downloaded an app, Ultimate Volume Booster, from the Google store for our regular viewing. It works excellent for Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon but wasn’t available to use for Gerhard’s movies.

Then, I downloaded the app, VLC Media Player, and finally, we had sound, easily adjustable for Tom’s loss of hearing. Next, the challenge was finding all the movies on our two terabytes hard drive that is almost full after adding the movies. I needed to know each movie’s name to find it or spend at least 30 minutes or more scrolling through all the files.

Little and some friends.

Yesterday, on an app on my phone, entitled “Keep,” I created a list of every movie. Once we watch one of the movies, I’ll make a note next to each item, “watched.” That way, we don’t have to recall what we’ve watched. In going through the list of approximately 50 movies, there were 8 to 10 of them I know we’ve already watched. Tom rarely remembers the names of movies or TV series we’ve seen in the past.

Now, when the power is out, I open VLC, type in the name of the movie we’d like to watch (from my phone app), watch it, and mark it as “watched.”  Easy peasy. Of course, all of this took a few hours to set up. But, now, when there’s no power, we have an easy solution to keep us from staring at our phones, playing the same dumb games over and over again. Thanks, Gerhard! We so appreciate the movies!

That’s it for today, folks. We hope that you, too, find workable solutions for the challenges facing you!

Be well.

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

After returning from Kruger on a Sunday, we headed to Amaazing River View, Serene Oasis, to watch the sunset and wildlife on the Crocodile River. This waterbuck was busily grazing on the vegetation as we captured his reflection in the river. For more photos, please click here.

Load shedding shortly…Trying to hurry and get post uploaded…Rental car challenge…

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This wildebeest came up onto the veranda to let us know he was looking for some pellets.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 12 warthogs – inc. Little, Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, and others
  • 8 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 11 kudus – inc. Bossy, Baby Daddy, Medium Daddy, two youngsters, and others
  • 5 wildebeest – inc Crooked Face, Hal, and others
  • 32 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Tom was chasing Little this morning, spraying him with water from an orange spray bottle to keep him away from Frank and The Misses’ birdseed in the little container on the veranda. He comes right up onto the veranda and eats from the container making an awful mess. Besides, he’s well-fed by us; pellets, carrots, and apples.

T75

I can’t help but laugh when this happens, although I say, “Little, don’t eat the seeds each time.” Pigs are intelligent and can quickly learn commands, not unlike a dog. Pigs are listed as smarter than dogs, as the 6th most intelligent land animals on the planet.

I suppose it’s one of the reasons I like warthogs so much. They make eye contact and respond to being spoken to, tilting their heads, stomping their feet, and moving about in animated ways, easily indicating they are paying attention. Of course, we laugh at every instance! I know it’s hard to believe but, if my favorite warthogs are anywhere in the area, they come when responding to my voice.

T75

Now, of course, we’re wondering what happens when we are gone for almost a month, leaving Marloth Park in a mere 18 days on June 29th. Even the wildebeests who frequently visit have begun responding to my voice. Surely, all of these animals will return not long after we do, at the end of July.

Now that my cough is finally improving, I feel more at ease about traveling to the US and, a day or two later, getting a Covid vaccine. It appears we’ll be able to make an appointment for the jab before we even leave Marloth Park, which will give us peace of mind.

Today’s photos include a few shots of the porcupine from last night’s trail cam that we were thrilled to see once again. Unfortunately, there was only one, not two, as the last time, but the one is fine for us. Any chance we have for photos of the more unusual visitors is always extraordinary.

They didn’t take their eyes off us until we offered them the pellets.

We’ve been trying to get Thrifty Car Rental located in Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport to return the rental car on the day we leave rather than today on June 11th. This is because Tom had driven back to Nelspruit a month ago for the mandatory car inspection, and we didn’t want him to have to make that half-day round trip once again.

Speaking to the manager of Thrifty a few weeks ago, we got him to agree to us sending him dated photos and a video of the car to avoid the long trip. He hesitantly agreed. First thing this morning, we headed outdoors with the camera in hand to take the photos.

But, it’s not as easy as you’d think. Taking photos on a camera and then loading them on Google Drive to attach and send via WhatsApp wasn’t as easy as you’d think. The images didn’t roll over to Google Drive as quickly as we needed, and I spent no less than 90 minutes figuring out a workaround. Load shedding was around the corner.

Tom stayed busy for quite a while tossing pellets to these five wildebeests.

Finally, I called the manager and asked if we could email the photos, make a video of the car, and send him the link. He agreed. Finally, we got it all done and sent everything to him only 30 minutes before load shedding started when WiFi would also be out.

We anticipated we wouldn’t hear back from him that he approved the photos and video until the power returned a few hours later. But, much to our relief, he sent a message stating he agreed to the photos and video and could keep the car until June 29th. Of course, we’d already paid through June 30th, but Thrifty required the vehicle be returned for an inspection every 30 days, something we’d never experienced in the past.

Whew! What a relief! Tom didn’t have to drive to Nelspruit today, and we could relax about the car, one less thing on our minds with so little time remaining until we leave South Africa.

They scattered throughout the garden to get every last pellet.

The load shedding period ended by 1:08 pm, 1308 hrs., 22 minutes earlier than expected. Finally, I was able to get back to work finishing today’s post and getting it uploaded by 2:30 pm, 1430 hrs, another relief!

Today, we’re staying in, cooking on the braai, and enjoying a quiet evening with the animals, for as long as we can stay outdoors in the chilly air.

We changed our usual reservation for Jabula Lodge and Restaurant on Friday evenings with Rita and Gerhard to tomorrow, since today they were busy with the new vehicle they purchased and dropping off their rental car in Nelspruit. So instead, we’ll all meet at Jabula on Saturday for another enjoyable evening.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 11, 2020:

The contrast between old and new is breathtaking in Istanbul. For more photos, please click here.

Oh, no!…Monkey invasion…

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There are two Spikey bushbuck males with tiny budding horns. This is the older of the two.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl, One Wart, and others
  • 8 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 4 kudus – inc. Bossy, Baby Daddy, Medium Daddy, two youngsters, and others
  • 3 wildebeest – inc Crooked Face, Hal, and  another
  • 7 Vervet monkeys
  • 36 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

When we first came to Africa, we thought monkeys were the cutest animals. But, after our first month here, we felt otherwise. They may be adorable to the newbie, but it doesn’t take long for the more experienced African resident or traveler to find out how awful they are.

Warthogs and helmeted guinea-fowl, all were getting along nicely. The guinea-fowls also eat pellets, breaking them up into small manageable pieces.

No, we don’t blame them for being the scavengers they are. It’s in their nature to scavenge for food. The problem is they are too clever and can figure out how to drive humans crazy with their tactics and destructive behavior,

The biggest fear for residents in bush areas where they live and propagate is that they will cleverly figure out how to enter the house of an unsuspecting resident and wreak havoc with everything in the house, tearing everything apart, pooping everywhere.

In record time, a house can be destroyed by baboons and monkeys, leaving a mess unlike anything you’ve ever seen. When we were here in 2018/2019, we heard of many monkeys entering houses when residents/guests were home or away.

Tiny and the first monkey we spotted this morning.

They open refrigerators, cupboards, and freezers, eating everything in sight and then pooping accordingly. They open drawers, cabinets and tear apart anything they can get their nasty little mitts on. It’s a fiasco.

They tear apart pillows and furnishing, often resulting in horrible sums of money to repair and replace. And yet, it continues to transpire even after guests have been warned. Residents are less likely to experience this disaster when taking many precautions to avoid costly and time-consuming disasters.

As is evident in many homes, here in Marloth Park, most windows and doors have iron or metal security bars, not only to prevent thefts and home invasions, which do happen but even more so, to keep monkeys and baboons from “breaking in.”

Helmeted guinea-fowl congregating in the empty cement pond.

We are extra careful. We never leave doors and windows open and unattended, although many do. While living in the Orange house for 15 months in 2018/2019, which had no screened door, we experienced a few minor invasions.

The double front door had to be left open during the day when it was so hot in the summer to allow for some airflow in the house. So we were either on the veranda or in the kitchen when we were able to keep a watchful eye on the doorway.

One day, I cut carrots and apples for the animals, and a Vervet monkey ran into the kitchen and grabbed an apple and a carrot off the kitchen countertop. I was so startled I screamed and scared it out the door. Here’s the link to that story from three years ago, almost to the day.

A full-grown male bushbuck can cause severe harm or fatality to a human with what ends up being sharp, powerful horns.

On another similar occasion, a baboon blasted into the house and grabbed two or three whole eggs from an egg crate container of 60 eggs we kept out for the mongoose. He ran upstairs with the eggs to the second story of the house and started eating the eggs.

Tom chased the baboon with a broom handle, hoping to send him outdoors before he did too much damage. But, alas, he ate the eggs and pooped everywhere. What a mess!

So today, when we saw the seven monkeys in the garden, Tom turned on the garden hose and chased them all away. Monkeys don’t like being sprayed with water.

Bossy is not happy to see wildebeests in her territory.

So, today, a little warmer and pleasant, we’re sitting outdoors, enjoying the constant stream of wildlife, now monkey-free.

It will be a good day. We hope the same for you.

Photo from one year ago today, June 10, 2020:

Beautiful colors and scenery at high tide from our vacation villa in Bali. For more, please click here.

Load shedding is annoying…New friends in the garden…

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Here is our new friend, One Tusk. We’ve seen another warthog with only one tusk, but this one has a substantial remaining tusk.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 5 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl, and others
  • 11 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 12 kudus – inc. Bossy, Baby Daddy, Medium Daddy, two youngsters, and others
  • 1 wildebeest – inc Broken Horn,
  • 2 Frank and The Misses
This is another new friend, Old Man, who had lost both of his horns. He is very old based on visible signs of aging on his face and body. However, he seems to have a friendly disposition. We hope to see him again.

Load shedding during the evening is the most annoying time for us, especially from dark to 10:00 pm, 2200 hrs. Now, as the cold winter weather rolls in, staying outdoors is uncomfortable. Also, we noticed very few animals stopping by after dark, based on photos on our trail cam during this cold spell. They, too, are chilled and prefer to hunker down together for warmth or find a warm spot for the night in the case of solitary animals.

If the power is out for 2 ½ hours from 7:00 pm, 1900 hrs, there’s not much to do in the dark other than play mindless games on our phones. Unfortunately, when the power is out, so is the WiFi, and we cannot stream any of our favorite shows. I tried downloading some movies from various sites, but this is not easily accomplished with a Chromebook. Doing so would get us through these dull and boring periods.

Old Man and Broken Horn arrived in the garden within minutes of one another. Of course, they could be related, but many of the animals in Marloth Park are related in one way or another.

We can add a few apps to aid in this process, but at this point, I don’t feel comfortable downloading these obscure apps with few, if any, reviews, which could easily create some issues. We don’t want to take any chances right now. Tom’s new laptop should arrive today and my keyboard, although improved, is still acting up.

Before having Chromebooks, we used the fantastic downloading site Graboid for US $19.95, ZAR 271 a month. When we tried to download the app after buying the Chromebooks, we were disappointed to find out that it wouldn’t work on them. Downloading a different browser wouldn’t help. It was due to Chrome’s operating system. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do about that.

Old Man’s small horns could have been from fighting over the years.

Tonight from 7:00 pm, 1900 hours, load shedding will commence for 2 ½ hours. When Rita and Gerhard suggested we all get together, as usual, it dawned on me that if they came here for sundowners at 4:00 pm, 1600 hours and the four of us entertain ourselves in idle chatter, we can head to a restaurant (most have generators) for dinner by about 6:30 pm, 1830 hrs, and take our time ordering diner and dining.

It’s not too difficult to spend three hours in a restaurant with fun friends. At least, we’ll get through another night this week during load shedding. As for restaurants, meals and drinks must be paid in cash since WiFi is out during load shedding, and they aren’t able to use their credit card processing machines. Makes sense.

Another thing we noticed about Old Man was the length of his tail which almost reached the ground. Broken Horn’s tail is half a meter shorter.

Load shedding requires residents to do a little planning, especially in the evenings. Daytime is less bothersome when most have tasks and projects they can do around the house during the day. Heading to Kruger National Park is a great way to spend time during power outages.

Walking in the park is also an excellent way to pass load shedding time. Unfortunately, with my legs less steady from the surgeries two-plus years ago, we don’t take a risk and walk on the uneven dirt roads in Marloth Park. Reading books, either paper or on devices, is an excellent way to spend time during outages.

He appeared rather content in our garden, staying for over an hour, spending most of the time looking at us.

For us, we had both read so many books in the first few years of our world travels that we have since lost interest in reading any fiction, preferring to read non-fiction on topics we enjoy online, at any given time which may not work during load shedding.

Some locals may stay busy with puzzles during load shedding if they have some suitable source of light. I like this idea, but we don’t have a proper table where I’d be willing to leave an unfinished puzzle. Moreover, Tom has no interest in puzzles. And, after years of playing Gin and me beating Tom, he lost interest in that. Ha!

Today, Tom will set up his new Chromebook that just arrived from Takealot, South Africa’s version of Amazon. Tonight, we’ll have a delightful evening with Rita and Gerhard.

Have a fantastic day!

Photo from one year ago today, June 9, 2020:

An appropriately named Fish Eagle stood watch over the “catch of the day.” For more photos, please click here.

The booking process has changed over the years…The itinerary for our US visit in 3 weeks…

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Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 13 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, The Imposter, Peter, Paul and Mary, and others
  • 6 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 10 kudus – inc. Little Daddy, Bossy, Baby Daddy, Medium Daddy
  • 2 wildebeest – inc Broken Horn, Old Face,
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

Note: Included above is our video mentioned in yesterday’s post. As it turned out, only a few minutes after making this video, two more bushbucks appeared for a total of 10. What a fantastic start to a chilly morning in the bush!

On our way to the river, we encountered a dazzle of zebras.

At the beginning of our world travels in 2012, when we first started booking holiday homes, flights, and rental cars, the process was very different than it is now. At times, it was slow and cumbersome with inconsistent methods, including sketchy confirmations when we were done booking.

It’s a whole new world now. Websites are working more efficiently, and the booking process is easier than ever in the past. That’s not to say we don’t encounter problems. We do. But they are minimal and often quickly resolved,

Great message on this sign on the fence at Two Trees Crocodile River viewing location.

Over the past three days, we’ve been busy planning and booking the following for our trip to the US, leaving in a mere three weeks from today.

  • June 29, 2021 – Flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to Johannesburg, South Africa
  • June 29, 2021 – Hotel in Johannesburg (awaiting next day’s flight)
  • June 30, 2021 – Flight from Johannesburg to Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
  • July 1, 2021 – Rental car upon arrival in Minnesota
  • July 1, 2021 – Hotel in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
  • July 16, 2021 –  Drive to Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Hotel yet to be booked
  • July 18, 2021 – Return Drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for an upcoming flight
  • July 18, 2021 – Flight to Las Vegas, McCarran Airport
  • July 18, 2021 – Hotel at Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Nevada
  • July 24, 2021 – Flight from Las Vegas to Johannesburg, South Africa
  • July 26, 2021 – Flight from Johannesburg to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger
  • July 26, 2021 – Return Drive to Marloth Park, arriving late afternoon

    More elephant photos from our visit to the Crocodile River.

As mentioned above, we’ve found that booking all of these flights, cars and venues are considerably easier than they were in the past. In some cases, the payment process may require a few steps to verify the use of a credit card which we don’t mind. Our credit card numbers have been stolen on several occasions, demanding that we find a way to receive a new card, which is tricky in some locations.

For most of our travels, we’ve used either of two credit cards, one of Tom’s and one of mine, that both accumulate tons of points for travel, which we often use to pay down a new balance, rather than specify it for a particular event. So for us, it’s the best way to take advantage of accrued points.

The majestic elephant never disappoints.

After our extended stay in the hotel in India, using Hotels.com on our site, we accumulated many credits we’re using for the hotels in the US. Every ten nights that we stayed in that hotel which we booked through Hotels.com, we earned one free night, which is limited to the average dollar amount spent for previous hotel rooms. Because the hotel in Mumbai averaged around US $100, ZAR 1359 per night, our credits are limited based on the high cost of hotels in the US.

After totaling all of our expenses, including still paying rent for this house in Marloth Park, we’ll easily spend US $10,000, ZAR 135942, for the 28 days, averaging US $357, ZAR 4853, per day. Of course, we will be keeping track of all of our expenses and include them here at the end of our stay.

No doubt, birds are used to being fed while humans watch the action on the river.

Meals will be a considerable expense during the trip. Fortunately, our hotel in Minnesota has a kitchen. That’s not to say I will be cooking all of our meals. Breakfast is included in the hotel. But, I can easily see us heading to Costco to purchase a few dinners from time to time.

In Las Vegas/Henderson, we’ll be staying at the fabulous Green Valley Ranch Hotel, Spa, and Casino, where breakfast is not included. With numerous restaurants within walking distance, we will indeed have trouble finding a good spot for breakfast. Most likely, we’ll be dining out most nights with Richard and friends. It will all work out.

More entertaining us in hopes of being fed. Next time, we’ll bring birdseed.

As for today, we’re staying put. There is an endless stream of wildlife to entertain us. We’re making a big pot of slow-cooked short ribs for dinner. And, after the past few days, busy booking for the trip, I need to spend some serious time getting caught up doing post corrections. Unfortunately, I doubt I will have time to do edits while we’re in the US, so I’d like to double up until we depart or the next three weeks.

We hope you have a fantastic day!

P.S. I have been inside trying to stay warm for the past hour, with the door closed. In the bedroom, I opened the bedroom door to check out the garden’s action and found Frank wandering around inside the house. LMAO!!! Frank, what a guy!

Photo from one year ago today, June 8, 2020:

While on a walk in the neighborhood in Sumbersari, Bali, in 2016, we spotted this friendly neighbor (she spoke no English) making bowls as shown that are used for offerings at the Hindu temples. For more photos, please click here.

Lovely early evening at the Crocodile River…Now, I’m having computer issues…

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An elephant is drinking and playing in the river.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 13 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Lonely Girl, Fred and Ethel, The Imposter, Peter, Paul and Mary, and others
  • 15 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg, Spikey, and others
  • 2 kudu- inc. Little Daddy, Bossy
  • 10 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 wildebeest – inc Broken Horn
  • 1 Frank and The Misses – inc. Frank, by himself
  • 1 go-away bird
  • 1 – Miss Dove

This morning, Tom called out to me to hurry and come outside. There were ten bushbucks in the garden, the most we’ve ever seen at one time. Immediately,  we started cutting up carrots, breaking up a head of cabbage into bite-sized pieces, and tossing pellets their way.

I took a few photos and made a video which we’ll share tomorrow since today we have photos from yesterday’s trip to the river with Rita and Gerhard that we’re posting today.

Such wonderful beasts…

On another note, I am having trouble with the keys on my keyboard, making it very difficult to type. This has worsened over the past few weeks. I researched some fixes, removed the problematic keys, and cleaned them as recommended by the manufacturer.

I am not in the mood for this right now. However, we have other fish to fry with our travel date coming up in 22 days. I followed the online instructions carefully, which resolved some of the bad keys, but the space bar remains the biggest problem. It’s challenging to type without easily pressing the spacebar.

He walked further and further into the Crocodile River.

It may require that I purchase a new device when we get to the US, but for now, I can do a few workarounds until we get there. I have set up to use voice activation on a google document and then copy and paste it into the WordPress editor. I am doing it the hard way right now and will decide which will be the best way to go by tomorrow.

Right now, Broken Horn (wildebeest) is resting in the garden, leaning his head against his body for support, as shown in the photo below. We love to see our regular visitors be so at ease when visiting us that they can relax and sleep without constantly being in defense mode in anticipation of apex predators.

Broken Horn, peaceful and content sleeping in our garden using his side as a place to rest his head. Wildebeests can weigh as much as 600 pounds, 272 kg.

Although there is little risk of being killed and eaten by other animals in Marloth Park, their instinct is always alert. Of course, there are lions inside Marloth Park from time to time and always a few leopards at any given time, who mostly hunt at night, when most of the wildlife is hunkered down in spots they feel are safest.

Many animals in herds and groups may have a few group members on the lookout during the night. We see this with impalas and other animals who tend to habitat in numbers, instead of loners like warthogs, (some) wildebeest, and bushbucks, all of whom may wander the park on their own, except for those families with young.

An elephant was coming down the hill in a hurry.

I often think about the loners, wondering why they don’t assemble for safety and companionship. But, like humans, they don’t always gather in groups to make their way through each day. If not close to tight family members and friends, humans can easily be loners if shy, reclusive, and withdrawn.

It’s not surprising to us to see how much alike we are, humans and animals. We learn so much about them and ourselves by watching their behavior, day after day, month after month. We all find great comfort in lingering in a safe space, with or without others at our side.

This elephant’s left tusk looks broken, but it’s not. Enlarge to see the complete tusk.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll keep coming back for more as our three-week countdown begins tomorrow, with us leaving Marloth Park On June 29th since we must go South Africa on June 30th, and we have a long travel experience ahead of us.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 7, 2020:

It looked like smoke, but it was fog in Madeira, Portugal, in 2014. I took most of this photo from the freeway through the car’s windshield. For more historic travel photos, please click here.

Rainy Sunday morning…Will our plans for the river be dashed?…A decision is made…

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Wildebeests in the driveway near the rental car.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs – inc. Little, Lonely Girl, and others
  • 12 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg,
  • 6 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 kudu- inc. Medium Daddy
  • 3 hornbills – banging on the kitchen window for hours
  • 2 Frank and The Misses

With plans for river sightings with Rita and Gerhard today at 3:00 pm, a rainy morning may indicate that we won’t be heading out today. Anxious for new photos to share here, after a steady stream of regulars in the garden, day after day (which we love but our readers may not), we have been looking forward to seeing our friends again with an opportunity to take big game photos.

The wildlife tends to hunker down on rainy and windy days, so if we go, regardless of the weather, we may not see much action on the river today. However, right now and last night, we could hear lions Fluffy and Desi roaring in Lionspruit, which abuts the end of our back garden. We’ve listened to that roar over and over again, and it always makes us smile. What an exquisite sound!

Hornbills next to the veranda enjoying Frank’s seeds.

It’s not only the photos and videos we take that make this experience so delightful. The sounds, day and night, are thrilling and, at the same time, heartwarming; whether it’s birds or animals, it all sends a chill down our spines. So many of these sounds may be heard when viewing any of our videos, over and above my endless chatter describing the current scene in view.

Of course, our big concern is that our readers will become bored with photos of warthogs, bushbucks, and kudus and lose interest in our site. So we always strive to “shake it up,” but with the limitations for travel due to Covid-19, we’re fast running out of new and exciting photos.

Then again, I have been under the weather for almost three weeks, continuing to cough, and haven’t felt like doing much of anything other than sitting on the veranda watching our furry friends stop by for a warm “hello” and, of course, pellets, carrots, apples, and cabbage.

A dark-capped bulbul. Sorry for the blurry photo. They don’t stay still for a good shot.

Well, folks, maybe it will get more interesting coming up here in 23 days when we are finally leaving South Africa for about a little over three weeks to return to the US for several reasons; 1. to see our family members in Minnesota, Nevada ad Wisconsin; 2. to get the Covid-19 J & J  vaccine, which is readily available at many locations in the Twin Cities; and 3. to get that darned visa stamp we so much need, when our visas expire on June 30th.

It doesn’t seem realistic that SA President Cyril Ramaphosa will be extending visas for foreign nationals again in the next 24 days. He opened visas last time at the beginning of a month to June 30th, not at the end, as we need at this point. So it’s doubtful the dates will coincide with our needs.

Thus, yesterday afternoon, we began booking rental cars and hotels for our already-in-place flight from Johannesburg to Minneapolis on June 30th with Lufthansa Airlines. So all we have left to book is:

  1. A round trip flight from Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger to Joburg
  2. A one-way flight from Minneapolis to Las Vegas to visit son Richard
  3. A return flight from Las Vegas to Joburg

    Warthogs and mongoose get along well, paying little attention to one another.

We have yet to book the Las Vegas/Henderson hotel, which we’ll do today, planning on staying at the Green Valley Ranch Spa and Casino in Henderson, which is close to Richard‘s home. Unfortunately, we will be in Las Vegas during the hottest month of the year, so we won’t spend much time outdoors if we can help it.

As for visiting Tom’s dear sister, Sister Beth, a nun in a nursing home in Milwaukee, we will drive from Minneapolis, returning a few days later to fly to Las Vegas from there. We’ll see Sister Beth, and then Tom wants to visit a few cemeteries for his Ancestry stuff.

It will be a busy time, and we hope to take many photos along the way. But, of course, we’ll continue to post each day, even during the long travel days while on long layovers.

At this point, regardless of the visa scenario changing again for foreign nationals in South Africa, we’re committed to leaving Marloth Park on June 29th to begin the long journey to the US. We hope to get our J & J vaccine on July 2, which we plan to book before leaving here.

Also, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. It looks like we’ll be able to go to the river today, after all! We’ll be back with more tomorrow, including what we’ll be doing with our vacation home during our absence.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Photo from one year ago today, June 6, 2020:

While in Campanaria, Madeira, Portugal, we heard the music coming from the fish guy’s truck and raced up the hill to meet him. He held up a tuna for us to inspect. It was smaller than some of the others, but this size was perfect. It weighed 7.7 kg, 17 pounds, and the cost was INR 2569, US $34. He cut them into portion-sized pieces, wrapping each piece individually. For more photos, please click here.