Tag: South Africa

WorldWideWaftage > South Africa

Answering questions about Africa from dear friends and readers, currently on a nine-month world cruise…

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One of the most exciting sights in Kruger National Park is the elephants, along with the big cats, wildebeests, Cape buffalos, hippos, small animals, and birds. We were as close as we could safely be when we took these photos without the use of Zoom.

Last night, I received the following email from our dear friends Lea Ann and Chuck, who are currently on Royal Caribbean nine-month world cruise as follows:

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024, 12:21 AM, Lea Ann wrote:
I hope you dont mind we imposing upon your time but you are the most knowledgeable of anyone I know about this park. As you may know we have been rerouted around the African route to avoid the Suez Canal. We are sadly going to miss Egypt but no guarantees on seeing the pyramids anyway due to the other crisis up there. Going to Africa is my dream come true so we are elated!
Now for my much needed information. We want to go on a safari, of course. And what better place than Kruger National Park. Right in your wheelhouse!  Here are our thoughts. We are due into Dubai on 5/9. We would like to fly from there to Kruger NP and leave to meet the ship in Seychelles on 5/14. Not near enough time but it’s the best place in our schedule that we can go without missing a lot of the other opportunities on the cruise.  Here is a link of a place I was looking at for a 4-5 day trip. Have you heard of them? What do you think? We are looking at the luxury one. Otherwise, have you heard of any other types of safaris that can be all inclusive or partially? I know you have lots of contacts and Im hoping you could put me in touch with someone that you could recommend without a lot of trouble for you. I don’t want to impose but for me you are the one that knows this area more than anyone!
We are so excited and cant wait for this adventure. Thank you so much for  any help you can provide.
Chuck says hi too!
Love ya! Lea Ann

Our response:

Lea Ann and Chuck, we’re thrilled to hear that you are coming to Africa, particularly South Africa. We only wish we would be there when you come. We’re excited to hear about your experiences. We’re happy you are enjoying your nine-month cruise. I bet the days are moving too quickly!

We wish we had an easy answer regarding the quality of the tour company and lodges you are considering. During our four years in South Africa, we never stayed at a lodge or camp in Kruger National Park since we stayed in Marloth Park, which was only 20 minutes from one of the ten entrance gates, Crocodile Bridge.

About once a week, we did a self-drive into Kruger, which is allowed, but visitors aren’t allowed, for their safety, to leave the vehicle unless at a camp, lodge restaurant, or petrol station. We often participated in guided tours with visiting friends, using only one of the few guides or safari tour companies recommended by Louise and Danie, our dear friends and property owners/managers.

SanPark manages Kruger National Park, and they have a fantastic website with recommendations on where to stay and the camps approved to conduct business in the park. Their site may be found here. It is an excellent resource for safaris, camps, and lodges.

As for the tour company you’ve selected, we can’t give you any feedback on the quality of their camps and safaris. In our four total years visiting Kruger National Park, we probably went on over 200 safaris, most self-drive, and about a dozen guided safaris. All were exceptional.

But, as we became more experienced, we preferred the self-drive safaris since guided tours with others in the vehicles can become repetitive when they stopped for each impala and warthog when we were easily able to see them in our garden in Marloth Park, along with many other animals.

Since we were so close to the Crocodile Bridge entrance to Kruger, we never investigated any camps or lodges. We’d suggest you deeply research reviews on other sites for this company and its camps on such places as TripAdvisor or other travel sites. We’re sorry we can’t help in this regard. Their offerings may be legitimate and excellent for your five-day needs.

If you would like to check further before committing, since you have plenty of time, I suggest contacting Louise at info@marlothkruger.com. Not only does Louise manage and own many properties, but she also owns a tourist center in Marloth Park that handles everything regarding safaris, camps, and lodges in Kruger National Park. There are many “scam” type operations in South Africa (not to scare you, but it is important to know), as there are in many countries.

Louise is a native South African, and there are no fees to you for her assistance. Her knowledge and experience with Kruger is astounding. She can also book venues for you if you consider other options. Also, she may know something about the company you are considering and if it is safe and legitimate.

As for your Seychelles return….This is urgent! To enter Seychelles, you must complete an immigration/visa form. Without this, you won’t be allowed to board the flight from South Africa to Seychelles. Here is the website with the critical notice you must read and comply with. Please click here. This must be done before traveling to Seychelles. Since you are going off on your own, I doubt the cruise line will arrange this for you. Please check with them for details, but proceed with caution if they say they do it. They may not know the nuances required to enter Seychelles from a plane, not the cruise ship.

I hope that we’ve answered your questions based on our personal experiences. We promise you will not regret visiting Kruger National Park. It remains one of our favorite experiences in our world travels and may prove to be the same for you.

Much love to both of you and travel safely.

Jess & Tom

Photo from ten years ago. February 28, 2014:

As we were getting ready to leave Marloth Park after a three-month stay…Thank you, Mr. Tree Frog, for serving as the mascot for all the “small things” that brought us so much pleasure during our time in Marloth Park. Even you will be remembered. For more photos, please click here.

Thanks for all the positive comments about yesterday’s posts…Not much going on right now, but our readers remain…

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On January 19, 2021, we had a highly venomous boomslang snake with a frog in its mouth; visit us on the veranda, very close to us. It was good for us since he was preoccupied with the frog in his mouth. See the story and how we handled it in this post here.

We were flooded with many messages and comments about yesterday’s post, a topic we’ve covered in past posts. One reader wrote that we may have haters, but we don’t. We have some highly opinionated readers, but none that are hateful and toxic, aimed at us or our site. We appreciate that more than we can say.

Our biggest concern regarding our readers is that they become bored with our posts when we don’t have much going on, such as right now. Much to our delight, we don’t lose readers during our quiet times. It will be pretty quiet for us during the next few months. We won’t be traveling outside the US until June.

However, we will be making the first of the road trips beginning on April 1,  as follows:

  1. 4/1/2024 – Las Vegas, Nevada to Apache Junction, Arizona – 5 hr 19 min (336.3 mi) via US-93 S
  2. 5/15//2024 – Apache Junction, Arizona to Los Angeles, California – 6 hr 42 min (407.9 mi) via I-10 W
  3. 5/18/2024 – Los Angeles, California to Milwaukee, Wisconsin –  30 hr (2,057.1 mi) via I-80 E
  4. 5/20/2023 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota – 4 hr 52 min (337.1 mi) via I-94 W

As you can see, three of the above road trips won’t require an overnight stay in a hotel, based on the short duration.

From there, on June 14, 2024, the average flight time from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Nelspruit, to South Africa – is 30 hours and 10 minutes. The exact time will be determined by the length of layovers along the way. The flight covers a distance of 14,514.61 miles.

While traveling across the US on these road trips, we’ll stop to take photos and make every moment of our road trips enjoyable for both of us. We’re definitely looking forward to these four trips. Perhaps this will be a foray into what we may do in the future when health may limit our traveling the world as much as we’ve done in the past. We’ve often discussed traveling in the US at some point.

As our readers know. We came to the US for several months to get me signed up for Medicare Part B and a supplement. We needed to be here for Tom’s pulmonology appointment in Chicago on January 10. In the months to come, I’ll go to the Mayo Clinic to have more tests on my heart to determine if further treatment is crucial in the next year.

Of course, spending time with family is also a huge motivator in spending time in the US. During this trip, we’ll see more family than we have in the past in any single stay. We’ll have accomplished a lot by leaving in June and feel at ease returning to South Africa.

Today is cleaning day. This morning, I did laundry and my share of the cleaning, and now Tom is vacuuming and will wash the floors. We’ll dine in tonight, and tomorrow, on Saturday, we’ll head down the one flight of stairs to the Village to go out to dinner.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 19, 2014:

Tom volunteered to feed the vultures raw meat at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa. He wore a leather sleeve on his right arm from fingertips to shoulder. As soon as our guide put the raw meat into his hand, several vultures flew at him to grab it, leaving two to fight over it. It’s exciting! For more photos, please click here.

Two funny things…Another fantastic goodbye with friends at Jabula!…Five hour layover in Johannesburg until 17-hour red-eye to Atlanta…

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Norman, with his mouth open a little as if he’s talking back to me. He will be dearly missed.

We are seated in a restaurant with less than stellar food, the only place open at this hour close to our gate. We’re boarding the plane in 70 minutes, so I must rush through this.

A few funny things happened in the past 24 hours. One occurred when we were at Louise and Danie’s house before we headed to Jabula to say goodbye to more friends. We were seated at the bar in their lounge, and suddenly, I heard the funny squeaking noises that mongooses make.

I ran out the back door, and there they were, our usual band of mongooses. Now, I should say there are several bands of mongooses in Marloth Park. But, when they saw me, they stood up on their hind legs and stared at me. Out of context, they didn’t know what I was doing at this other house. I made our usual little clicking sound, and they got so excited they started coming into the house and running around.

We all laughed out loud. I didn’t have paloney for them, but this morning, when they reappeared while we were finishing the packing, I was thrilled to see them again. This time, they got little chunks of cheese and savored every bite. When we left several hours later, we left nine eggs in the garden that we hadn’t eaten. They will undoubtedly wonder where we went, won’t they?

Then, we hadn’t seen Norman since last Wednesday, before I went to the hospital. I was hoping to see him once more time before we left. But with the holidaymakers in the park, we doubted he’d return. He had surely been eating “people food” and had little interest in his healthy diet at our place.

Wouldn’t you know, about 30 minutes before we were to head out the door to drive to the airport, there stood Norman in the garden with that little smile on his face. I squealed with delight! I couldn’t have been more excited to see him. Immediately I ran to the kitchen to cut up the remaining apples and cabbage I’d left for him, just in case.

I tossed the food to him. but he didn’t seem interested in eating. Oh, he nibbled on a few pieces of apple I’d cut for him in his preferred small piece. But he only ate a few. Instead, he stood there looking at me, relishing every word I said, almost as if he knew exactly what I was trying to convey…plain and simple…love.

He stayed quite a while, and after I stopped chattering at him in my high-pitched voice, he finally wandered off. “Bye, Norman. I will miss you and hope to see you when we return in 14 months. Be safe from the lions and take good care of your little family. You’ve brought us both such joy for quite a long time.”

Then, there was last night when several couples stopped by Jabula to say goodbye one last time. The kindness and love couldn’t have meant more to us. Of course, Dawn, Leon, and David offered us an outpouring of love that’s hard to describe. It was all so unique.

This afternoon at 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs., we stopped at Louise and Danie’s to drop off the key to the house, and once more, the warm embrace of loving friends filled our hearts. How did we get so lucky?

Now, as we’re seated in this restaurant at the Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, we are ready to move on. The long flight is ahead of us, but as always, we’ll get through it with optimism and hope for the future.

Thank you for sharing this life with us, day after day, night after night, and country after country. It’s been quite a journey.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 29, 2013:

There was no photo on this date as we sailed on a ship through the Strait of Gibraltar. For the story, please click here.

One day and counting!…The packing is in full swing!…

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Bossy and her newborn, born in the past few weeks, came for a visit. The baby was shy and uninterested in pellets. Give them time, and that will change.

It’s down to the wire. The house is a mess with stuff everywhere as we wrap up the packing, which includes everything we’re taking with us and everything we’re leaving behind in the house’s storeroom across the driveway, between the two flats. Thank goodness Louise was more than willing to let us leave several bins of food supplies, the clothing we won’t need with us, and miscellaneous household items we accumulated in the past few years we spent in Marloth Park.

On Tuesday, after returning to Marloth Park, I couldn’t do anything other than make an easy dinner. I didn’t think I was feeling well enough to tackle this entire house full of “stuff,” but somehow, once I got started, I was on a roll. I stopped every hour or so to take a short break and managed to finish most of it in the past two days.

The next day, I started to regain my strength. and began tackling one area after another. Before I knew it, I had it under control. Tom would gladly have helped with the household items, but he didn’t have a clue what was ours and what came with the house. I remembered everything here and what we’d purchased since January 2021. It was easier for me to do it.

As I write here, Tom is in the bedroom packing his clothes and miscellaneous items. He also will pack all of our digital equipment, cords, chargers, inverters, and adapters. I’ll pack the camera and its equipment, all of which we’ll take with us.

Several bushbucks in the garden, including Jasmine and her son Johnny and Tulip and Lilac.

Packing the kitchen was a challenge, deciding on what we can store and the few items we’ll bring with us. There were a lot of spices in the spice drawer, but I remembered what I’d purchased and what was here when we arrived. I didn’t want to lose some of the favorite pans I’d bought in the past 2½ years. I could have left many of those items here in the house for other guests, although we’ve heard that some guests take things home with them from holiday homes… stealing what isn’t theirs.

As for how I feel now, since many of you have written and asked (thanks for your concern and well wishes), which we so appreciate, each day, I regain a little more strength. It was quite an exhausting ordeal, and I am still getting some of the FDA-designed Black Box drugs out of my system, such as a drug called Amiodarone which stays in one’s system for many months and causes me awful side effects while receiving it in the IV while in the hospital.

Hopefully, soon, I’ll return to my usual energized self. Right now, everything I do requires an enormous amount of effort. We have been unable to continue on the walks on the uneven dirt roads. Once we get settled in Florida we’ll be able to start walking on the many paths and trails in The Villages. I’m looking forward to that time.

Bushbucks seem to get along well with one another. However, Johnny is known to nudge another with his tiny horns when jockeying for pellets.

Tomorrow, we’re leaving Marloth Park at 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs. Our flight from Nelspruit is at 5:15 pm, 1750 hrs., and we have a 4-hour, 45-minute layover in Joburg. During that time, we’ll have dinner and play games on our phones while we wait. After the 17-hour flight from Joburg to Atlanta on April 30, I’ll do a new post while we wait for our next flight to Orlando, with another long layover of 5 hours, 50 minutes.

Although jet lag is usually not a problem for us, it will be straightforward this time since the time difference between here, and Florida is only six hours. We won’t even notice that little of a difference. But, we will notice the lack of sleep on the 17-hour flight. Neither of us is ever able to get any sleep on long red-eye flights. However, after one good night’s sleep, we’re always back to our usual eating and sleeping schedule. It may be a little trickier this time since I am still a bit under the weather.

This is the Freedom Day holiday weekend in South Africa, as described on this site:

Freedom Day on 27 April is an annual celebration of South Africa’s first non-racial democratic elections of 1994. It is significant because it marks the end of over three hundred years of colonialism, segregation, and white minority rule and the establishment of a new democratic government led by Nelson Mandela and a new state subject to a new constitution.  The holding of the first nonracial elections was the culmination of years of struggle and a negotiated settlement which led to the unbanning of the liberation organizations, the release of political prisoners, and the return of exiles, and the formal all-party negotiations which drafted an interim constitution.

The moment which changed the path of South African history came after long and tension-ridden negotiations held between 1991 and 1992. The South African government, the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP), and other liberation movements engaged in these talks.”

Please take a look at this ultra-dark bushbuck we started noticing recently. We’ve never seen such a dark bushbuck in the past.

Due to the busy holiday weekend, we are seeing very few animals in the garden. The only visitors we’ve had today are the mongooses to whom we gave the last of the paloney. Tomorrow, we’ll leave them the remainder of our eggs after we’ve made breakfast.

I doubt I will have a chance to say goodbye to Norman, Nina, and Natalie. They usually visit many times a day, but we haven’t seen them since Wednesday, when the influx of holidaymakers began. It’s funny how we’ll see photos of Norman on Facebook when he visits holidaymakers for their “exceptional food,” which he loves as opposed to the healthy treats he gets from us. I will miss him and hope to see him when we return in 14 months.

So it goes. Life in the bush. Unique, memorable, and heartwarming. Tonight will be our last evening at Jabula, where some of our friends are stopping by for a final farewell hug. Before we head to Jabula, we’ll stop by Louise and Danie’s place and say goodbye. They are very busy with their holiday rentals and visitors to the Marloth Park Info Centre so we planned this short goodbye before we head to Jabula.

We’ll be back tomorrow with one more post until the journey begins, and post otherwise, as mentioned above. Thanks for all the love, support, and continued readership during this extended stay in South Africa. As we progress in our world travels in the 14 months, we look forward to sharing many more photos, stories, and adventures. While living in The Villages in Florida, we’ll write about what it’s like living in this massive retirement community of over 100,000 residents. It should be fun sharing all of this information with you.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 28, 2013:

Gina and I were in the kitchen of our future rental home in Madeira, Portugal. We can’t wait to sit on the barstools drinking coffee and enjoying the sea view from almost every room. For more photos, please click here.

Part 2…Finally, we’re back!!!…What an ordeal!…Two days and counting…Adults only photos, please…

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Big Daddy was following this female kudu around the garden, attempting to sniff her.

Note; If you are not receiving the automatic email messages with the newest post, we have notified our web guy, and he is working on it. In the interim, you can type in: www.worldwidewaftage.com in your address bar or bookmark it. Thank you for your patience.

I’ll never know what caused the terrifying heart event, which kept me in hospital for three days at Mediclinic in Nelspruit. Was it the vigorous walking we’d done for many days? If there were something lifestyle-wise that I could do to prevent it, I wouldn’t hesitate to incorporate it into my daily life.

I asked the doctor if it could have been stress-related, and he said it was unlikely. Besides, I wasn’t feeling stressed. I was excited about continuing our world journey, especially looking forward to the upcoming three months in The Villages in Florida, where we’ll have an opportunity to see many old and new friends.

Please, if you are planning to get together, don’t hesitate to contact us so we can do so. If you’ve already contacted us to get together, we will reach out to you as soon as we’re settled. and get our passport renewals mailed to the company we’ll be using in Washington, DC.

His failed attempt caused her to move to the opposite side of the garden.

The cardiologist didn’t restrict my activities since I wasn’t partaking in any activities that could cause such an outrageous heart event.  I refuse to live my life in fear of another such event occurring. That would create stress. I have medication to take in case these symptoms occur again in the future, which hopefully can put an end to such an occurrence. Of course, it’s expected that I’d be a little concerned flying on the 17-hour flight from Johannesburg to Atlanta, let alone the other two shorter flights along the way.

But I am not going to let myself focus on that. Instead, I will look forward to arriving in Florida and beginning the next leg of our worldwide journey after spending so much time in Marloth Park, all of which we thoroughly enjoyed. We will miss it, the people and the wildlife.

The three days I lay in that bed in ICU passed quickly with so much activity around me. My sisters (nurses) took great care of me, and the kitchen staff worked hard to ensure that I only received healthy food for my two meals a day; no sugar, no starch, no crisps, and no unhealthy vegetable oils. My eggs were cooked in butter, and I was served meaty back bacon.

Finally, it appeared he was successful.

One of the nights, Tom brought me leftover dinner from Marloth Park in a chill box covered with bags of ice. Also, he included the balance of my keto chocolate cake from the farewell party. What a treat that was! Dinner the last night was two chicken legs with thighs attached with delicious zucchini and cauliflower, actually seasoned well. I was surprised by how good it tasted. I didn’t eat much for most of the three days, but those few good meals meant a lot.

On the second day, we were instructed to head to the cardiologist’s office for cardiac and carotid ultrasounds. Since we didn’t have an appointment, we waited for some time, me in a wheelchair, wearing a hospital gown and long pants. About 30 minutes after the tests were completed by his technicians in his office, he opened the door to his office and invited us in.

We were thrilled to hear that everything looked good on the scans, other than an anomaly in my right lung which the doctor suspected was one or more pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in the lung) due to the cardiac event. Immediately, he scheduled a CAT scan with iodine contrast to see what was wrong.

Being unable to take a deep breath and gasping for air was concerning, and I was anxious to get the test done and the results revealed. It was only a few hours later that my sister/nurse handed me the results of the scan (I never told the doctor she did this, or she’d have been in trouble for showing this to me).

Tom took this photo of a gecko on the window of the veranda door. Check out those sticky feet!

With the report in my hands, I read through it quickly to see if there were any issues. I couldn’t stop smiling when the report clearly stated there was nothing of any concern anywhere in my chest (including my lungs), stomach, and pelvis. Whew! When the doctor appeared at my bedside with the report in hand, I acted extra pleased with the good news to avoid revealing that I already knew the results to prevent getting the sister/nurse in trouble.

He attributed my breathing problem to being on the drug Amiodarone, by IV, an FDA-designated Black Box drug, only to be used in a life-or-death situation. At that point, as the breathing got worse, I was thrilled when the IV bag ran out of the drug and another was not being used. Thank goodness. I was given this dreadful drug after a similar cardiac event after the original surgery, and cardioversion was required at that time, as it was on Saturday.

No doubt, it was a harrowing few days. I felt relieved to be off the drug, and within hours I could breathe again. The doctor assumed the dangerous drug caused the breathing issue, a common side effect.

A young female kudu was resting in the garden.

On Tuesday morning, the doctor came by and released me from the hospital. Tom arrived shortly later, and we headed to the accounting department to settle the bill we’d paid in advance upon arrival. I am still waiting for the final bill to see if we owe more or if we paid enough upon admission on Saturday. I should receive that today and will share the details in tomorrow’s post.

Well, folks, that’s the story. This morning, awake at 5:30 am, I got up, showered and dressed, and started packing our stuff in the kitchen that we’ll leave in large plastic totes. We’ll only bring a few kitchen items with us. In all, it looks like we’ll be leaving behind three totes and two duffle bags with our stuff, items we’ll use when we return to Marloth Park in 14 months.

Tomorrow, after a quick trip to Komati to pick up the new emergency prescription and stop at Theo’s office to pay the bill from Saturday and also say goodbye one more time to Doc Theo, we’ll return to the house to continue to work on the packing. It’s a bigger task this time than in the past since we’ve been here for so long.

Again, thanks for all the love and concern from countless readers worldwide. Please accept my apology if I failed to respond to your thoughtful messages. There just aren’t enough hours in the day, especially right now.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 27, 2013:

While on a cruise with a poor WiFi signal, we couldn’t post any photos on this date. However, there is the text for the post we uploaded on that date. Please click here.

Part 1…Finally, we’re back!!!…What an ordeal!…A few more photos from the farewell party…

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The various types of meat on the braai. You can see the shadow of me trying to take a photo in the dark.

First off, let me begin by thanking multitudes of our readers, reaching out with the most thoughtful and kind wishes and concerns while we didn’t post for several days. Knowing all of you are there for us means the world to us. Thank you!

I don’t know where to begin. I still don’t know what precipitated the event and never will, leaving me unable to prevent it from happening again. It was an experience I will never forget, once again staring my mortality in the face wondering if I’d survive this harrowing cardiac event.

It began on Saturday morning at 3:00 am. I was dreaming that my heart was racing and awoke to find that it was racing. When I looked at my Fitbit and saw it was over 200 beats per minute, I immediately grabbed my blood pressure monitor from the closet in the bedroom and was shocked by what it read. I took it again and again, and it read similar numbers. If you know anything about blood pressure, 200/148 was horrifying, to say the least. I could have a stroke or heart attack imminently.

Immediately taking an extra dose of my blood pressure medication, hoping for some relief, I practiced deep breathing and concentrated on relaxing. Stressing about it would only make it worse, but it was pretty hard not to be somewhat panicky. I didn’t awaken Tom.

The braai was ready to cook everyone’s food.

If we had to drive to the hospital in Nelspruit, it would be dark, and the N4 highway is a dangerous road to drive at night, very dangerous. If we called an ambulance, they’d have to go that same route, and ambulances have also been attacked on this road. I imagined my added terror riding in a speeding ambulance on the dangerous road and going through an area of the drive, the gorge, which always is frightening in itself., even during daylight hours.

The only thing I could do was wait it out until it was a decent hour and I could call Doc Theo and ask him what to do. He gave me his personal WhatsApp number, which he answers 24/7. But, what could he do in the middle of the night other than recommend we drive to the Mediclinic Hospital in the dark? I had to wait it out.

After a few hours, the added dose of the blood pressure drug kicked in, but my pulse was still around 160, and my blood pressure was 180/120—still a dangerous reading. Never sleeping a wink, when Tom awoke, I told him what was going on and that  I would call Theo at 9:00 am; six hours had passed. Of course, Tom was distraught, insisting we go to Nelspruit right away since it was light, but I needed to see Theo.

At 9:00 am, I reached him at his home. He said,  “Get to my office as fast as possible and meet me at my office.” I grabbed a few things, tossing them in my carry-on bag, and we were out the door in minutes. It’s a 22-minute drive from Marloth Park to his office in Komatipoort. We arrived 30 minutes after I’d talked to Theo. He was waiting for us and came outside to escort me into his office.

More partygoers sitting around the braai area.

Seconds later, he hooked me up to the ECG machine, and seconds later, he was on the phone with Dr. Fanie Fourie, explaining, speaking Afrikaans, what was going on with me and that we were on our way to the hospital in minutes. Dr. Fourie was the cardiologist with whom I had the angiogram four years ago to determine I needed triple coronary bypass surgery when three of the four main cardiac arteries were 100% blocked.

Theo gave me a small tablet, walked me out to the car, and, after a big hug, put me in the passenger seat, attached the seatbelt, and lowered the back of the seat, telling Tom to go to emergency at Medicilnic as fast as he could safely do so. He suggested we could order an ambulance but felt it was OK for Tom to drive, which ultimately would be quicker, with me feeling less stressed.

We were off. I barely remember the drive, not paying attention when we drove through the gorge. Once at the emergency department for only a few minutes, I was whisked away to a treatment room while I was hooked up to an ECG machine, had an IV line inserted into my hand, and was told I was going to have cardioversion which I knew was the preferred treatment for a situation like this.

From John Hopkin Medical in the US, cardioversion is described as follows:

“What is electrical cardioversion?

Cardioversion is a procedure used to return an abnormal heartbeat to a normal rhythm. This procedure is used when the heart is beating very fast or irregular. This is called an arrhythmia. Arrhythmias can cause problems such as fainting, stroke, heart attack, and even sudden cardiac death. With electrical cardioversion, a high-energy shock is sent to the heart to reset a normal rhythm. It is different from chemical cardioversion, in which medicines are used to try to restore a normal rhythm.”

After I had open heart surgery in 2019, I experienced a similar situation while in ICU. I wasn’t afraid, just anxious to get it over with, hoping one time would work. The two doctors treating me explained if it didn’t work the first time, they’d do it again. I had to be anesthetized for this procedure.

Pao bread was placed on the braai to heat. This is a favorite bread among South Africans.

They gave me an injection of morphine. I wasn’t sure why since I wasn’t in pain, but I assumed it may have been a part of the procedure to relax the patient beforehand. Wow! What a high that was! But I experienced that for only a few minutes until they injected the anesthetic into the IV, and I was out like a light in seconds. I believe they used a similar drug to that which is used for colonoscopies and other procedures, which is short-acting.

In what seemed like seconds, I was awake and could tell the procedure had worked. My blood pressure and heart rate were almost back to normal. A second “jolt” wasn’t necessary at that point.

Much to my dismay, I was admitted to the hospital ICU/High Care, where the ratio of nurses/sisters to patients is one-to-one. By then, it was Saturday afternoon, and that day was somewhat of a blur for me, during which I didn’t remember much. By Sunday, I was more alert and could determine what was happening.

Yesterday, we returned to Marloth Park after I was released from the hospital. In tomorrow’s post, I will cover this experience’s details. Now, we have to get to the business of packing since the doctor cleared me to travel on Saturday.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 26, 2013:

We had just gone through the scariest few days and nights on a cruise ship when we went through a storm with 50-foot waves. There were no photos posted on this date ten years ago. For this story, please click here.

Part 1…Fantastic farewell party in the bush with friends…More photos to follow tomorrow…

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Tom and Danie is a huddle chatting up a storm, as always.

Last night, it was quite a party poolside at Jabula. Dawn, Leon, and the staff went over the top to ensure it was a perfect party, and it was. Almost everyone we invited appeared with their meat to braai and drinks. We brought 12 bottles of wine to share, six red and six white left from my birthday party in February, which we knew wouldn’t stay fresh in the store room with the heat and humidity.

Trevor and Wimpy (pronounced VImpy in Afrikaans) are enjoying the evening with drinks in hand.

The kitchen staff had made salads, pap and Sheba, and other sides to go with the meat while Dawn arranged ice, glasses, plates, and flatware, making the event easy to maneuver for our guests. Staff members Eric and Ivan ensured everything flowed smoothly after the guests arrived. Dawn and Leon worked hard to ensure everything was set up for easy access, and we couldn’t thank them more for their hard work.

Estelle, a lovely friend we’ve enjoyed over the years with Les, Tom, and Leon in the background.

By 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., everyone was there, and the party was in full swing with lively music, drinks, and a bonfire. Fortunately, it wasn’t a scorching and humid day which made the party all the more enjoyable. The mozzies were at a minimum. I’d brought a spray can of repellent to share, but few took advantage of it. Tom and I sprayed ourselves well a  few times before the party got so lively we’d forget.

The two cakes I baked were a huge hit, and by the time we left, they were gone, with some taking their pieces home in styrofoam containers Dawn provided. Nothing was wasted.

Our dear Dawn, Maria, and Marilyn were seated at the high-top table on the veranda.

Of course, this party was quite lively with a friendly, fun-loving group of people with whom we’d been together many times in the past. Looking around the area, we couldn’t help but smile and remind ourselves how lucky we’ve been to have such good friends during all of our time in Marloth Park, now coming to an end in eight days.

Tom, Leon, Trevor, and Wimpy, as the party was just getting started.

We both moved from person to person, ensuring we had to chance to talk to almost everyone there. We may see those we missed at Jaula sometime in the subsequent three visits. Before leaving around 10:00 pm, 2200 hrs., with many hugs and kisses, many said they’d stop by and see us there on one of those three nights before we depart a week from tomorrow.

Is it any wonder they call these “monkey bars” in some countries? This was actually a jungle gym intended for kids who stayed at the lodge.

It couldn’t have been a more fun evening, and we’re grateful for Dawn, Leon and their exemplary staff, and all of our lovely friends who came to say goodbye at this lively event. I took as many photos as possible, and our friend Janine also sent me many photos this morning on WhatsApp.

Marilyn and Erica were fun and friendly, as always.

I’d never downloaded several photos at one time from WhatsApp, which proved to be a bit tricky. I ended up linking my WhatsApp phone account with a desktop version I downloaded, and using a QR code, I could connect the app on my phone to my laptop version. I could download and save all the photos Janine sent me using WhatsApp.

I’ve always wondered how to do this since it doesn’t appear user-friendly in the app itself. I looked for instructions online and could easily maneuver the photos to my laptop, which I use for doing the daily posts. It’s nearly impossible to do the posts on my phone other than for a short notice, such as when we’re unable to post due to WiFi issues.

Darling Felix and Tom chatted by the steps.

This morning, after an excellent breakfast, we went for our walk, and for the first time, I noticed I was able to walk with a little more ease. It’s walking on dirt rocks filled with rocks that make walking all the more challenging for me. I believe once we get to Florida, it will be easier to walk on flat, even surfaces. I’m hoping this will be the case. as we’ll continue to walk up until the last day we’re here.

Felix’s husband, Lorne (pronounced Lon in Afrikaans), is a serious-looking guy who’s quite funny and friendly!

I continued to work on extricating the hundreds of tablets from the cumbersome plastic blister packs to minimize the amount of packaging we’ll take with us. Doing so is a wise decision since taking all the paper and plastic with us made no sense. However, getting this job done and out of the way takes a lot of time.

More party photos will be shared in tomorrow’s post. Also, I did one load of laundry.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 21, 2013:

Photo of a photo of the Norwegian Epic on its maiden voyage in 2010. For more photos, please click here. Click this link for a news story about us in a local US newspaper.

Farewell Party day at Jabula poolside…Baked two cakes with photos…Covid-19 one year ago today…

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This morning while frosting a cake, this Big Daddy was looking for me through the kitchen window. LOL.

I spent the past day thinking about and making the two cakes in today’s photos below. With load shedding for 9½ hours daily, finding a good time to turn on the oven was tricky. The oven is the only electrical appliance we can’t use during load shedding with the inverter system in this house.

Once the powers came back on, I quickly turned on the oven and got the cakes baking, each separately since the two cakes required two separate oven temperatures. It all worked out, and all I had to do this morning when there was load shedding again was wait for the power to return after 9:00 am to broil the frosting on the oatmeal cake under the oven’s broiler

A short time later, Bossy was looking for me through the kitchen window when she didn’t see me outdoors. Too cute for words!

When I made the oatmeal cake in the US, the frosting was much darker since brown sugar is much darker in the US than in South Africa, where it’s a bigger grain and is very light colored. With yesterday’s heat and humidity, the frosting for the keto cake had to go into the freezer to harden a little since it was too runny when I first made it. It all worked out, frosted well, and I’ve kept the cake in the refrigerator to keep it from melting.

Today, we’ll store it in the fridge at Jabula since it would surely melt if it sat outdoors by the pool where the party is being held. We’ll bring it out after everyone has had their dinner.

Spikey is Bossy’s son from last season and is growing up quickly. Check out those tiny horns, eventually growing to Big Daddy size.

Again, we wish we could have invited more people but we were faced with space limitations. If you live in Marloth Park and we didn’t get to ask you due to those limitations, please contact us, and we’d be happy to get together with you before we leave in nine days.

We’ll still be at Jabula tomorrow evening, Friday, and again on Saturday. On our last night here, we’ll have dinner at Jabula one last time before we depart a week later on Saturday, April 29. Our flight from Nelspruit is at 5:15 pm to Johannesburg (an almost five-hour layover) and then on to the long red-eye at 9:35 pm.

Female kudu and two female impalas in the garden.

Hmmm…the time is coming up quickly. I’ve started going through the cupboards, sorting what we’ll leave here and take with us. Louise said we can use the three big bins we have in the storeroom across the driveway where the two flats are located. No future renters will have access to this area, so our belongings will be safe.

Last time, we left several bins in the room; baboons got in there and destroyed so much that most of it had to be thrown away. Since then, Louise has had baboon-proof windows installed that should prevent this from happening again. We won’t keep any foodstuff that may emit a smell and attract baboons or monkeys.

This is Tom’s mother’s recipe for an oatmeal cake I made from scratch with broiled coconut and almond frosting. This is not low-carb! I will only enjoy looking at it once cut. It is also going with us to the Farewell Party.

At 3:45 today, we’ll be leaving the house for the party, bringing the two cakes and several bottles of red and white wine left from my birthday party to share with the guests. Indeed, if we stored the wine, it wouldn’t keep when the temperature rises in the heat and humidity.

This weekend, I will begin packing, doing some of it each day rather than leaving it all for the last few days. I always get peace of mind by not leaving anything for the last minute. There are certain items we’ll be using right up until the last few days, but we’ll figure that out, and all of it will be organized and fine.

This is my favorite chocolate keto cake that Dawn also loves that I made, especially for her, to bring to the party.

With so much to do yet today, I am wrapping up this post now, and we’ll be back tomorrow with photos from the party and more.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 20, 2013:

We disembarked one cruise and boarded another on the same day. Here’s our cabin on the Norweigan Epic, where we experienced our scariest storm at sea a few days later. For more, please click here.

A must-watch mongoose mania video…Shocking drug prices in South Africa!…

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Yesterday, when I arrived at the pharmacy to pick up the 12-month supply of medications prescribed by Doc Theo, the pharmacy was busy and hadn’t put the entire order together. However, about half of it was ready to go. After waiting in the queue for about 15 minutes, I told them I’d go to Spar and come back in another 15 minutes if they thought they’d be ready. They assured me they’d be ready.

I had dropped off the prescriptions last Friday, but they didn’t have enough of some of the meds to complete my order and assured me they’d have everything by Tuesday. They did, and I was grateful for their efforts in getting it ready as much as they did. It’s a very busy place.

By the time I returned 20 minutes later, the order was ready to go in several large plastic bags I had to take to the check-out counter to have the staff member check off every single item, one by one, to ensure nothing was missing. I waited another 20 minutes until she was done, but I could tell she was working diligently to complete it as accurately and quickly as possible. I didn’t complain.

We are always thrilled to see the mongoose stop by. They are cute, funny, and anxious to see what meat treats we may have in store for them. They love it! See the above one-minute video of them receiving their bits of paloney, a soft roll of baloney.

When I checked out, I cringed a little over the total of ZAR 12599.21, US $700.11, which also included a few toiletry items totaling about ZAR 225, $12.30. Let’s ignore those items for illustrative purposes today and go with the total for this post.

When we returned to the house, I looked online to see the pricing in the US for only one of the medications to use as an example. I visited Drugs.com at this link and was shocked by what I discovered. Only one of the multiple drugs shown in the bulk photo below included today is Premarin 0.3, a hormone I’ve been taking for years. I take one tablet each day. Here’s was I found:

“The cost for Premarin oral tablet 0.3 mg is around $715 for a supply of 100 tablets, depending on the pharmacy you visit. Quoted prices are for cash-paying customers and are not valid with insurance plans. This price guide is based on using the Drugs.com discount card, which is accepted at most U.S. pharmacies.”

This young Big Daddy couldn’t resist eating the bird seed off the feeder ledge.

Ironically, the 100-tablet cost for this medication is comparable to the entire bill I paid yesterday for multiple prescriptions for one year, not only 100 tablets of one drug. If I did the math for 365 tablets a year with the cost of 100 tablets, the total cost for the one drug would be as follows:

3.65 X US $715 = $2609.75 (ZAR 4753.66)

I could buy all the drugs for the 100-day supply and subsequent cost in the US for one drug. Wow.

No, I am not factoring in what a co-pay might be with insurance in the US. But since we have no health insurance in the US other than basic Medicare, which doesn’t include drugs, these figures are relevant to us. At that point, I didn’t start looking up prices for the other medications since my curiosity was satisfied by this one example in the lot. Surely, if I wanted to take the time and effort to research pricing for each drug, I’d find a similar scenario.

Now, it confirms the logic for us to purchase my meds in South Africa whenever we visit and perhaps even warrant future trips in years to come, let alone the enjoyment we glean from spending time in the bush with friends and wildlife.

Here is the receipt for the 12-month supply of prescriptions I picked up at the pharmacy in Komatipoort, totaling ZAR 12599.21, US $700.11.I also purchased nail polish and a battery-operated toothbrush included in the total.

The task now is to minimize the packaging as much as possible since, due to humidity in South Africa, most meds are individually plastic wrapped. It can take forever for me to pop out each tablet and put them in a container which I am doing with a few of them, which is why three large empty containers are shown on the right side of the photo.

Of course, I am bringing along the prescription Doc Theo wrote with all of these meds if questions are asked as we enter any country along the way. Also, I am including the more detailed receipts from the pharmacy to substantiate the excessive amount of tablets further. Hopefully, we won’t encounter any issues along the way, especially since the majority of these items will be in my carry-on baggage.

We’ve never had problems bringing large amounts of medication into a country, but one never knows, as we learned from losing our bags most recently when it hadn’t happened in the first eight years of our world travels. One can never take anything for granted.

Here is my 12-month supply of medication, three I regularly take, while many of the others are for allergy symptoms should they arise, as they did here in South Africa, due to dust, dander, and pollen.

Today, I am busy organizing the meds and also baking two cakes for tomorrow’s farewell party, one keto chocolate cake, and one regular cake, Tom’s mother’s delicious oatmeal cake with broiled coconut and almond frosting, which is exceptional. It’s baking in the oven now. When it’s done, I will make the chocolate cake but might leave the frosting to make tomorrow.

That’s it for today, dear readers. Thanks for joining us in our less adventurous posts as we wind down the time until we leave South Africa in 11 days.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 19, 2013:

The cruise line-owned beach is set up in Grand Turks and Caicos, with “pay for” cabanas. We didn’t care to bake in the sun in the sand and stayed behind on the ship to enjoy the quiet time. For more photos, please click here.

Off to Komatipoort for our final teeth cleaning, trip to Spar and pharmacy…

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Broken Horn’s tongue when he notices cut veggies on the ground in the garden.

Our teeth cleaning appointments begin at 11:00 am this morning. We’ve already had breakfast and taken our walk. The walk continues to be painful for me, but it improves a little each day. Walking on rocks is hard on my legs, and every five minutes or so, I have to stop for a minute or less and stand still to recover. This issue is due to the surgery I had twice on both legs after heart surgery and my unstable spine.

Following is the bill for today’s two teeth cleaning appointments in Komatipoort:

Today’s ZAR teeth cleaning bill for each of us was ZAR 640, US $71.06, for a total of US $35.53 each. What a deal!

Each day when we return to the house, I am glad we did it, and I got through yet another walk on the rocky dirt roads in Marloth Park with many potholes. Over the many years we’ve lived here, I always hesitated to walk on these roads for fear of falling. Once we get to Florida and we can walk on smooth paths and paved roads, I will have built up endurance after walking on these hazardous roads. I am looking forward to that.

Last night, I spoke to my dear friend Karen (and Rich) in Florida, and we planned a time to get together in early May. They will stop for lunch or dinner on their way to see Karen’s mom Donna who lives a few hours from The Villages. It will be wonderful to see them again after an entire year since we last stayed at their home in Apollo Beach, Florida.

Now, as we head to Komatipoort, we’ll not only get our teeth cleaned but also head to the pharmacy to pick up my year’s worth of prescriptions and then to Spar for a few more essential grocery items we need to make the cakes for our upcoming farewell party on Thursday. Dawn is doing all the side dishes, and guests bring their meat to braai, a popular tradition in South Africa.

With lots of wine left from my birthday party, we plan to bring a box of wine to set up for the guests to enjoy at the party, which starts at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., and will continue well into the evening, knowing this lively group of friends. We expect about 20 guests, including Dawn, Leon, and us. They only have so much room poolside, so we kept the number of guests small for this event.

Kudu foreplay. It looks as if Big Daddy has been digging in the mud.

We just returned from our trip to Komatipoort. Tom filled the little car with petrol while I headed to the pharmacy to pick up the 12 months of prescriptions which included some drugs “just in case” that we may not use during those 14 months we’re away. A few items had to be specially ordered, but fortunately, everything arrived in time for today’s pickup. It took quite a while for the pharmacists to put the entire large order together.

It will take me several hours to go through all of it and remove much of the unnecessary packaging. Some tablets will have to stay in bulky plastic packages since humidity can deteriorate certain drugs. In Florida and South America, plenty of humidity will inspire me to keep them in bulky packaging.

When arriving in certain countries, it can get tricky at some security check-in areas. I got a copy of the prescription Doc Theo had written in the event I am questioned about carrying so many drugs, none of which are narcotic or mood-altering. When arriving in certain countries, based on the fact that our checked baggage had been lost several times in the past few years, I will be carrying all of these prescription medications in my carry-on bags.

In tomorrow’s post, I will share the unbelievably low prices of the medications we picked up today. You won’t believe the prices compared to prices in the US and perhaps many other countries. It was mind-boggling. It’s unreal! For us, it will be worth it to return to South Africa for the enjoyment of the wildlife and the people and the low prices of all these medications.

Jasmine, the mom, was standing in the garden while her son, Little Johnny, was lying by the fence.

We stopped at Spar for a few last-minute items we needed for our remaining 11 days in Marloth Park. We won’t need to shop again. I’ve started doing a few organizing tasks toward getting the packing done, including handling the prescriptions and toiletries we’ll be bringing with us as opposed to items we may leave behind.

We’re allowed to check two bags each at 23 kg, 50.6 pounds. We’ll be weighing everything as we go along in the packing process.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 18, 2013:

Parrots posing for us as we walked along the boulevard in San Juan, Puerto Rico. For more photos, please click here.