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.

Tom’s laptop died…Its not easy to replace it in South Africa..A time consuming recipe…

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Kudu females and their young stop by frequently, wondering what’s on the menu.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 4 warthogs – inc Lonely Girl and others
  • 10 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Bad Leg,
  • 15 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 1 dove – inc. our favorite, Miss Dove
  • 4 Frank and The Misses

Regardless of where we’re living in the world, at some point, our digital equipment has to be replaced. But, unfortunately, ordering replacement products is pointless to ship to South Africa due to the high cost of shipping, delayed shipping times, and customs inspections and fees.

Crooked Face and Hal stop by for a few pellets.

In some countries, ordering a laptop from the US is relatively easy and painless such as when Tom needed a replacement laptop while we were in Fairlight, Australia. We ordered a new laptop for him from Amazon.com, and a week later, it arrived, not incurring customs fees. But, of course, we always have to figure in the shipping costs, which exponentially impacts our final price for the product, at times as much as 40% or 50%.

Yesterday, when Tom’s Samsung Chromebook’s screen cracked when he opened the lid, we knew we’d better order another from South Africa. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t take the risk of a later delivery and the fact it could easily go “belly up” with its current touchscreen status, and he’d be without a device.

A busy garden on a sunny morning.

We considered the possibility that we may be in the US on July 1, and he could purchase a new device when we were there. But, with that trip up-in-the-air at this point, we couldn’t take a risk and possibly leave him without a working machine. Thus, the online search for another Chromebook, an operating system we both have learned to use and like, after total frustration with Windows 10, we were determined to find another Chromebook.

Chromebook is not popular in South Africa. After hours of research on numerous websites, we finally found a suitable Asus model with a touchscreen and the Chromebook operating system. Recently, we’ve been ordering several items from South Africa’s version of Amazon.com.

But, finding such a model was tricky regardless of what I entered in the search field. It was more of a fluke that I stumbled upon the model we purchased. Fortunately, it will arrive on June 9, only four days from today. Takealot is fairly reliable regarding its promised delivery dates, so Tom needs to make his last only four more days.

A little altercation between Medium Daddy and warthogs.

Tax and delivery were included in the price of ZAR 6200, US $462, a little more than we paid in the US in 2019 when he purchased his current model. If a laptop lasts us two years, we are fine with that. With all the stress on laptops when traveling, we figured two years is a reasonable amount of time for them to last. We haven’t noticed any other more expensive models lasting any longer.

On another matter, since Tom is at his lowest weight and holding his own, even when eating a few higher carb items, I decided to make him some of his favorite low carb meals, maybe once a week, making enough for two or three nights for him. However, because these recipes have too many carbs for me, I won’t eat these meals; instead, I will make separate meals for myself such as chicken, fish, liver, and lamb, all meats he doesn’t care to eat.

Kudus stopped by in the muddy garden after the rain.

I don’t mind making separate meals for us for a few nights each week. But I’d forgotten how labor intensive some low-carb recipes can be. Today, I made Low Carb Chicken Pot Pie, one of his favorites, and long ago, one of mine. But, I have no problem resisting this meal. To aid in my determination, I made individual servings for him in rectangle-shaped tin foil pans. This way, I won’t be tempted to take bites of a single bigger pot pie. For my dinner tonight, I made extra chicken breasts and chicken liver. This will be fine for me.

This morning I got up earlier than usual to begin the multi-step process of making five nights of chicken pot pie for Tom, freezing the extras for other meals. By 11:00 am, I had everything completed and his first pot pie ready for the one tonight. While prepping the many ingredients, I ran back and forth to my laptop, searching for Tom’s new laptop.

Bossy, Big Daddy, and Little hanging around for pellets, carrots, and apples.

With both tasks completed, my dinner ready to re-heat at dinner-time, the remainder of the day can be spent wrapping up today’s post, working on corrections while continuing to recover from my recent illness. All that remains from the flu I had (not Covid) is a cough, no longer painful and gradually waning, a little each day.

Last night, as always, we had a fantastic dinner with Rita and Gerhard at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant. It was so cold, we all wore jackets while eating on the restaurant’s veranda. We didn’t stay long after dinner since it was so cold. When we returned to the house, I was so cold; I wore socks to bed. I haven’t done that since we were in Minnesota in 2019.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, June 5, 2020:

Even imperfection has a certain beauty. For more from the year-ago post, please click here.

Car rental woes…Video..Wildebeest fighting in the garden…What will we do in 26 days?…

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Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 2 warthogs – inc Little, Tiny, Lonely Girl, One Wart, Narrow
  • 4 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Chewy, Bad Leg,
  •  4 kudus – Bossy, Notches, Mom, and Baby
  • 1 wildebeest – inc. Broken Horn
  • 4 Frank and The Misses
  • 1 impala
We were worried for Broken Horn, who was picked on by the three other wildebeests, including Crooked Face. Maybe now, that explains why he often visits alone instead of with “friends.”

It’s windy today. Many animals will hunker down on windy days, either fearful of the wind or anticipating further inclement weather. Does a sunny day like today reassure them that a rainstorm is not necessarily following the winds? Who’s to say how wildlife can determine upcoming temperature when we humans are not good at predicting coming storms with finite accuracy?

The high today will be in the range of 60F, 15.6C, not considered cold in many parts of the world, but for us, after years of hot climates, it feels cold us. It’s still reasonably cool, but we remain outdoors on the veranda. Tonight, we’ll be dining at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant with Rita and Gerhard, most likely on the veranda, and will need to dress warmly. I suppose I’ll wear one of my two jackets and most likely, Tom will do the same.

Although the birdbath always has fresh water, some animals still prefer to drink from the pool.

I’m not totally over the recent sickness, still coughing and congested. Fortunately, I don’t feel too bad and don’t hesitate to go out tonight. We hadn’t been to Jabula in two weeks, while I was too ill to go out. So it will be good to get out at long last.

This morning, we called Thrifty Car Rental in Nelspruit to ask if we could keep the rental car until June 30th when we either have to leave the country for our visa stamps or rent another vehicle for 90 days, if President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa provides an additional 90-day visa extension for foreign nationals.

A young kudu suckling in the bush.

The condition under which we can avoid returning the car on June 11th for an inspection, one of Thrifty’s goofy rules, is to take photos and videos of the interior, the odometer, and the car’s exterior, date stamped and sent them to the manager in Nelspruit. If the manager approves the photos on that date, Tom won’t return the car until June 30th. That will save him half a day in both driving and time at the facility at the airport. Then, a week from today, we’ll take the photos and forward them to the manager. Hopefully, he’ll approve.

As our regular readers are aware, one of two scenarios has to transpire in 26 days. When Cyril extended visas last time, allowing us to stay until June 30th, the announcement wasn’t made until two days before our visa expiration date. If this happens again, we will be thrilled not to have to leave.

In any case, we will have to be prepared to leave South Africa on June 30th if the new extension is not issued and we have to high-tail out of here, fully packed. So we have made a decision, after weeks of contemplation and conversations, that if the visa extension is not issued, we will use our still-in-place flight to the US on June 30th.

It’s not unusual to see the hornbills eating Frank and Misses’ seeds and drinking their water while on the veranda.

We’ll stay for a total of approximately three weeks, including family visits in Minnesota, Wisconsin (Tom’s sister), and Nevada (son Richard). In the process, if we haven’t yet been vaccinated in South Africa, we will be immunized in Minnesota since two weeks must pass after vaccination to be allowed to visit Tom’s sister in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is currently in a nursing facility.

Regardless of this, we will have to completely pack up this house and move out on June 30th, allowing Louise to rent it to others while we’re gone. It makes no sense for us to pay for this house and hotels, meals, and car rentals in the US, which are expensive.

No doubt, it’s frustrating to have to entirely pack up this house toward the end of the month when we aren’t sure yet that we’ll be leaving until the visa announcement is made, if it is, at all. We are so organized and settled in here, I’m dreading the packing, but in reality, I could accomplish this in one day if I had to.

Two or three hornbills will loudly peck on the glass of the dining room window for hours. At times, they give up and go peck on the rental car windows. But, most likely, they are interacting with their reflection in the glass. It’s hilarious!

Days before the “big” packing, we’ll both pack bags with items we’ll need in the US. Then the filling of the balance will begin, including all our food, food supplies, toiletries, clothing, etc. Louise and Danie will store everything for us while we’re gone. We don’t see any other way to do this.

Last time, the visa extension occurred before we began packing, and then, when the visa extension announcement was made, we decided to stay. This time, we’ll be a little more proactive and get as much done ahead of time as possible. Of course, it will be easier for us to get the vaccine in the US, with many walk-in locations now available, even without an appointment.

No, I don’t like not knowing. I am a planner. But, in this case, this time, we may not have many options. We’d considered visiting other countries, but, bottom line…we need to get a vaccine. If we can get it here before June 30th, everything may change. But, it’s in our hands, hearts, and minds to decide what ultimately will be the best for us. We can decide, last minute, if we so choose.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 4, 2020:

Mumbai cyclone
This is the first such storm to hit Mumbai in over 100 years. Dark clouds hang over the city ahead of cyclone Nisarga making landfall in Mumbai. For more photos, please click here.

Water back on for full use…Load shedding this morning…Getting ready for winter…

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Medium Daddy gave us “the look.” Notice his tongue sticking out in anticipation.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 4 warthogs – inc One Wart, The Imposter, Lonely Girl, Lonely Boy
  • 6 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Chewy, Bad Leg, Spikey
  • 7 kudus – inc. Bossy, Notches
  • 4 wildebeest – inc. Broken Horn, Crooked Face
  • 2 hornbills
  • 13 helmeted guinea-fowl
  • 4 Frank and The Misses – they got into a fight. No one was injured.

It’s very cool this morning. With the water out since Sunday and finally fully restored late yesterday, I started doing several loads of laundry, including the warm pullover sweatshirt of Tom’s that I wore every day I was sick. It needed a wash, and it’s currently outside, drying in the breeze. Unfortunately, it’s so cool and humid; it may not dry today.

Three hornbills were dining on seeds.

This morning, I went through all of my clothes and couldn’t find anything warm to wear other than a long-sleeved tee-shirt. A jacket over it is not comfortable to wear all day. The wind is whipping around us right now while we’re seated on the veranda.

Vusi and Zef are in the process of getting the house ready for winter. Yesterday, Vusi cut down several large branches hanging over the braai (the firepit). Unfortunately, the dried-out branches above the braai created a fire hazard, preventing us from making a bonfire. Fire hazard is huge in Marloth Park, especially during the dry winter months. However, he did a fantastic job, enabling us to enjoy a bonfire while seated on the benches, especially when guests.

Medium Daddy was drinking from the birdbath.

Whenever we’ve gone to Kathy and Don’s house overlooking the Crocodile River, they’ve built a fire. We all pulled up camping chairs around the fire, staying warm and comfortable for hours on end, engaged in lively conversation. Also, Tom and I can enjoy a fire for the two of us on cold nights.

Don will be arriving in Marloth Park next week, and Kathy will come in July. We are looking forward to seeing them both and having many fun social events with them as well. As we’ve often mentioned, one of the joys of living in Marloth Park is the social life as well as the immeasurable pleasure of seeing the wildlife.

Medium Daddy was waiting for us to bring out some pellets.

Also, this morning, Vusi and Zef brought the outdoor gas heater over after getting it ready for us to use over for the winter. We used that same heater when we were at the Orange House in 2018/2019, and we look forward to using it again to stay warm on the veranda.

Next week, Rita and I are going shopping in Komatipoort to see if I can find a few warm hoodies to get me through the winter. It will be pretty unusual for me to shop with another female instead of the rushed feeling I have when Tom is waiting in the car, outside the shop, while I try to find something in a hurry. Of course, he doesn’t rush me, but I feel bad leaving him waiting.

Hornbills certainly enjoy the Frank and The Misses’ seeds.

As mentioned, I don’t drive here in South Africa (or many other countries) with only manual transmission rental cars, which would require me to shift using my left hand while driving on the left side of the road. I am not coordinated by any means, and this would be an accident waiting to happen.

This morning, I spent time reorganizing some of the kitchen cabinets. Rita motivated me when I noticed how tidy her cupboards were at the Hornbill house. In my old life, I never had messy cupboards and drawers. But, when we left our former lives behind, I also left behind my obsession for tidiness.

Our new regular “Go-Away” bird.

Lately, I noticed how hard it was to find anything in the kitchen cupboards, of which there are few.  So today, I tackled the long-overdue task. I’m still a cleanliness freak, but tidiness has not been a priority, although our vacation homes are always reasonably organized. Both of us are tidy in cleaning up after ourselves.

It’s been a good and productive morning.  We hope you have a meaningful day as well.

Photo from one year ago today, June 3, 2020:

Nisarga Cyclone Live Tracking: Know The Current Location of Cyclone, Get Movement Alerts
The weather map of the anticipated course of Cyclone Nisagra. As you can see, Mumbai is located on the map in the dark green area indicated as the cyclone’s path. For more, please click here.

Water, day 4…The pipes are filling…Keyboard issues…Website glitch resolved…A reader’s suggestion…Blissful rain last night…

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Little Daddy comes to call. As a youngster, he certainly knows how to give the “look,” indicating he’s up for some pellets.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 10 warthogs – inc. Little, Tiny, Fred and Ethel, Benny, Henny, Lenny, and Penny, Lonely Girl
  • 6 bushbucks – inc. Thick Neck, Chewy, Bad Leg, Spikey
  • 1 wildebeest – Broken Horn
  • 4 hornbills
  • Frank and The Misses

Ah, relief! The water is now coming into the lines. The reservoir is full, and the water is gradually filling all of the lines throughout the area. There are still many air sounds coming through our pipes, but we should have water by the end of the day. So the first thing we’ll do is to take showers, then turn on the dishwasher and later the washing machine.

This is a Yellow Vested Bul Bul; thanks to friend Linda for advising me on this bird. Sorry for the fuzzy photo.

We didn’t accumulate much laundry since we wore the same clothes, only changing underwear and any odorous tee shirts. So far, all we’ve been able to do is flush the two toilets, which we’ve been flushing a few times a day using the pool water. They flushed, but as yet, we don’t hear the tanks refilling. So we’ll be patient and wait.

Hopefully, by the time we return from grocery shopping in Komatipoort today, we’ll be able to run the dishwasher and the washing machine. It will feel great to shower before we head to bed tonight. It wasn’t as awful as it would have been in our old lives. Then, we probably would have whined and complained to the water company. But, not here. It’s different.

Note Broken Horn’s broken horn on his right. He must have been in an altercation to cause this broken horn.

This morning, we received an email from the dentist in Komati to tell us our 11:00 am cleaning appointments have been moved to two weeks from now. This is because there’s been a resurgence of Covid-19 in Komati, and getting our teeth cleaned right now is not a priority. We totally agree.

I hesitate to go to Komati to shop today, but we are totally out of food. We haven’t shopped in 15 days due to my illness which continues to improve each day. Last night, I barely coughed all night long, resulting in a better night’s rest. However, I was so tired I fell asleep with my spectacles on, and the battery died on my phone, still in my hand. It was a good sign.

Soon, we’ll take a video to share the fantastic sounds that come from these special birds, referred to as the “Go-Away” bird, aka the Grey Lourie.

I don’t know what’s happened, but my keyboard isn’t working correctly. This morning I looked up instructions for resetting my Chromebook’s keyboard so all of the letters will work. It seemed to have worked overall, but there still is a problem with m’s and n’s. So another reset will be necessary before I start working on the corrections this afternoon after returning from shopping and putting everything away.

Now, with the dentist appointment canceled, I have time to finish and upload today’s post before heading to Komati. Speaking of our posts, we had a glitch yesterday, and our site was down for many readers worldwide. We received more messages than we could respond to. So please know, we saw all your messages and appreciate you letting us know. I notified our web people to resolve it promptly, and everything was up and running in a short period.

Lately, Little has visited several times a day, not only for pellets, carrots, and apples but also for leftover seeds from Frank and The Misses, mess on the veranda.

In an email yesterday, a kind reader pointed out that I have been misspelling Ethel’s name. Without giving it a thought, I spelled it Ethyl, like to fuel, not the person. Thank you for your input and correction, Linda. I never take offense to our reader’s suggestions and corrections. But, unfortunately, when writing 365 posts a year, it’s so easy to become oblivious to a repeated spelling error that spell check fails to note.

Last night, after delightful conversation and sundowners with Rita and Gerhard, who left as darkness fell, it rained in buckets. We stood at the veranda door, watching the rain in awe of the power of the storm, the thunder, and the lightning. But, of course, we were thrilled we didn’t lose power or WiFi in the process and ended up having a lovely evening indoors.

We are grateful for the rain that always helps the wildlife, but it would take a lot more to make up for the months of no rain, lacking the green vegetation they can eat. So we’ll continue to feed them consistently.

Have a fantastic day!

Photo from one year ago today, June 2, 2020:

There were no photos posted one year ago today due to a pending hurricane in Mumbai, India, on this date.

No water, day 3…

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Three go-away birds at the birdbath. The grey go-away-bird (Crinifer concolor), also known as grey lourie, grey loerie, or kwêvoël, is a bold and common bird of the southern Afrotropics. They are present in arid to moist, open woodlands and thorn savanna, especially near-surface water.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 14 warthogs – inc. Fred, and Ethyl, Little (he stayed for hours), Benny, Henny, Lenny, and Penny
  • 11 bushbucks – inc. Chewy and Thick Neck and others
  • 1 wildebeest – Broken Horn
  • 7 kudus – inc. Little Daddy, Bossy, and Notches
  • Frank and The Misses

Now, it’s getting a little tricky without water. We’ve got the toilet flushing covered using pool water to flush. For sponge baths, we use a small bowl of bottled water and a bar of soap. To wash our hands and wash dishes, we use a bowl of hot water with dishwashing soap. But, it’s interesting to see how many times a day we usually use tap water, although we don’t drink it or use it in cooking.

A warthog drinking from the birdbath. Some are having difficulty drinking if their tusks are too large. But, Tiny, with huge tasks, managed to take a drink, slurping all the while.

I suppose the most challenging part is not showering. Louise offered Khaya Umdani house for us to go shower. It has a tank with its water supply.  But hauling clean clothes and bathing supplies doesn’t appeal to me while still recovering from my recent virus (not Covid). So we’ll keep doing the sponge baths for now.

I’ve changed today’s late afternoon sundowner location with Rita and Gerhard from the river to our veranda. It’s cool, cloudy and by later afternoon, the weather may not be conducive for sitting by the river where it’s cooler. But, they didn’t mind at all. It will be the first time we’ve seen them in 10 days. It will be wonderful to socialize after so long.

Mongoose and warthog mom with babies in the garden. Mongoose doesn’t eat pellets, so no sharing is required.

We have felt like hermits these past two weeks, staying in, not going out to dinner, and avoiding our friends, not feeling up to it, but not wanting to infect anyone. I am surprised Tom didn’t catch it from me with our constant proximity. But he’s always had a better immune system than me.

Today is a lazy day. We can’t do laundry without water, and cooking is challenging without water. So today, I am making slow-cooked baby back ribs in the oven, seasoned but sauce-free, for tonight’s dinner. Most likely, our sundowner time will end by dark or shortly after that. Then, we’ll have a quiet evening to dine and watch a few shows.

A female kudu in front of a Big Daddy and, of course, a warthog standing by.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been likely we’d have invited Rita and Gerhard for dinner. But, I am still not feeling 100%, and we don’t have water for doing dishes, we’ll plan that for another day. We’d heard stories in the past about residents in Marloth Park being without water for five days.

When we heard that, we were aghast at the prospect of such a dilemma. But, here we are well into the third day, and the possibility of it going five days is not as unlikely as we perceived in the past. Yesterday, for a short period, we were also without power and WiFi.

As tough and resilient as we may have been in our world travels, with many harrowing situations, I don’t think we’d quickly adapt to no services; no power, no electricity, and no water. That’s not our thing. That would be called “camping,” and we don’t do much of that.

These four wildebeest like to hang out in the driveway, near the car. Go figure.

When the power and WiFi returned, it made us appreciate only being without water, after all. A short time ago, Louise sent me a message to inform us that there will be load shedding tonight, from 11:00 pm to 1:30 am. Fortunately, that’s a time of less importance since we are usually just about ready to drift off to sleep.

The fact load shedding is resuming will mean that we’ll be without power and subsequently without WiFi in other more critical hours of the day. They go hand-in-hand. It’s the nature of the beast. This is Africa. The infrastructure is unstable. We knew this “going in” back in 2013, and it hasn’t improved much in the past eight years.

For us, it’s all about trade-offs. Africa is in our blood. We can leave…but it always draws us back in. We choose this life, and we decide to accept the challenges we encounter along the way, in the best ways we can.

Have a fantastic day.

Photo from one year ago today, June 1, 2020:

Beautiful flowers grow freely everywhere in Madeira, Portugal. For more, please click here.

No water, day 2…

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Wildebeest Willie, our most regular wildebeest visitor.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 11 warthogs – inc. Fred, and Ethyl, Tiny and Little, Benny, Henny, Lenny, and Penny
  • 6 bushbucks – inc. Chewy and Thick Neck
  • 1 wildebeest – Broken Horn
  • 8 kudus – inc. 1 Medium Daddy, 1 mom, and baby, Bossy and Notches
  • 6 hornbills
  • Frank and The Misses

It’s not surprising to us that we don’t have water. It’s either no electricity issues due to downed power lines, load shedding, or no WiFi when the power is out, or a tower is damaged, and now, no water. Not a trickle. We don’t fuss over this. There’s nothing to be accomplished in doing so.

Warthogs in a scuffle over pellets.

Last night, we put our dirty dishes in the dishwasher after carefully scraping the plates. Then, we brought in a big bucket of pool water to flush the toilet. This morning, I warmed up bottled water from the water machine in the microwave to take a “sponge bath.” Tom made for the big spouted pitcher. We have plenty of bottled drinking water, ice cubes, and ice tea.

This morning, Louise sent the following message:

“[05/31, 08:05] Denis Gofinet: The water tanker will be at Marlothi Shopping at 09:00 this morning. You can fill up your containers. Waiting for an update on the Eskom repair. We will keep you posted. [05/31, 08:06] Denis Gofinet: Message from the Muni: Hectorspruit, the treatment plant, is pumping currently. Marloth Park is still not pumping. I believe Eskom is still busy replacing stolen components. We have also arranged for a water tanker to assist Marloth park with some water until Eskom has completed their work and the Marloth plant is running. Thanks.”

Mom and her two babies.

We do not need to fill up containers from the water tanker, which is certainly not intended for drinking or bathing. The cleanliness of that water could easily be questionable. Many locals have adapted to the local water over the years and won’t get sick from drinking it. For us, that’s not the case. We take no chances.

Based on Louise’s above message, the entire water issue results from the theft of various components Eskom, the electric company, used to run the pumps. This is not unusual in South Africa. Crime is rampant, and this part of the country is no exception. However, corruption is considerably less prevalent in Marloth Park than, let’s say, in Johannesburg, Pretoria,  Cape Town, Durban, or other big cities.

It seems as if we have a lot of warthogs right now. But, as winter approaches, there will be more and more other species coming to the garden.

This little haven in the bush does provide an element of safety compared to many other areas. We are very grateful for this, yet we’re always “on-guard,” utilizing our security system, keeping doors locked day and night, and keeping out a watchful eye.

When we spend time outdoors on the veranda, as we’re doing now as I write this, we bring all of our equipment indoors if we so much as go to the bathroom or to get a glass of ice tea. There have been countless cases of residents leaving their laptops and phones on their veranda table, only to wander indoors for a few minutes, to return and find their equipment is gone.

Two wildebeest, Willie, and Willard snacking on pellets.

Each week, there are burglaries of TVs, digital equipment, and household goods of any value. Weekly, we see the reports on Facebook. So when Tom leaves me alone at the house, I stay indoors, lock the doors and set the alarm. Fortunately, the local security company responds quickly when an alarm goes off.

Yesterday, when we uploaded the post, we had water. An hour later, we did not. So, continuing today on Day 2, we are without water. It could be a few more days or longer until it’s restored. In the interim, we are fine. I am still recovering with considerable improvement daily. I should be able to go to the river with Rita and Gerhard tomorrow afternoon, but at this point, we’re playing it by ear.

Crooked Face, a unique and handsome devil.

Today, it’s cool and cloudy. We are still wearing sweatshirts with long pants. Tonight, we’ll hunker down for a nice steak dinner cooked on the braai. We have power. We have WiFi. We’re content.

Be content and healthy!

Photo from one year ago today, May 31, 2020:

In Abu Dhabi in UAE. This looks similar to an ATM, but it’s actually a gold dispensing machine, not an ATM. For more photos, please click here.

Anxious to get “back into the game”…

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This dung beetle is on top of his ball, pushing it along to his preferred location, wherever that may be in the bush.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • Nine warthogs – inc. Fred, and Ethyl, Tiny
  • 8 bushbucks – inc. Chewy and Thick Neck
  • 44 mongoose
  • 1 dung beetle with a ball
  • Frank and The Misses

For the past several days, I’ve been wearing Tom’s sweatshirt, leggings, and socks, even when it was as warm as 90F, 32C. As a result, my head was foggy, my thoughts scattered, and my energy level was non-existent. Hopefully, by tomorrow, I will be myself again.

The dung beetle is contemplating his masterpiece, a well-formed ball of dung.

This morning I bolted out of bed, took care of some laundry, showered and dressed, and felt more enthused about a new day than I had in almost two weeks. With the sore throat gone, the cough less frequent, energy-returning, and my state of mind more upbeat, I am looking forward to resuming life as we knew it, such a short time ago.

I never took the antibiotics, which was a tough call, but I promised myself if I didn’t improve the day after I got them, I’d bite the bullet and do so. Fortunately, the progress was palpable day after day. So now, I don’t have to deal with the lingering effects of many days of taking big doses of antibiotics the clinic gave me when I came in for the second Covid test. I am grateful and relieved to have recovered on my own.

A female with perfectly matched tusks. She is new to the garden.

Today, Sunday, we’ll continue to take it easy rather than jump into a flurry of activities that could potentially set me back. Hopefully, I will be up to grocery shopping in the next few days, but if not, we have enough food on hand to last for several more days. We’re looking forward to seeing our friends again soon.

As we write here now, Tiny just left after spending a few hours in the garden. There are two bushbucks nearby, Chewy and Thick Neck, and one pushy female pig. We’d love to feed the bushbucks, but this female we call Lonely Girl is persistent, and if we toss pellets to the bushbucks, she chases them away.

So sorry about the less-than-original photos taken while I was under the weather. This is the mom of four babies.

This is a common occurrence that many residents of Marloth Park lament. How do we feed the bushbucks when the warthogs always hear the pellets fall, regardless of how gently we toss them onto the ground? Instead, they wait in the bush long after we’ve fed them plenty, hoping other animals will stop by and for pellets. Then, immediately, they charge into action, overtaking any possibility of the pellets for the other animals.

Of course, the wildebeest and kudus will overtake the warthogs, and pigs like Tiny of such massive size will overtake most of the other warthogs on the scene. It’s a constant quest for dominance for food. Sure, some say, “Don’t feed at all.” But, it’s hard for those of us who genuinely love the wildlife to stop feeding when we see how hungry they are.

This unknown male warthog arrived with the mom and four babies. Here he is with only two of the youngsters, politely sharing pellets.

We need rain. But, as the locals say, it may not rain for many months, as far out as September or later. As we look into the bush, we see mostly dried brown leaves at a level the animals can reach. Recently, we’ve watched Big Daddies tear down large branches from trees in an attempt to get to the remaining green vegetation at the upper limbs. Once the branch is downed, many other animals also partake of its lush leaves.

But, in a matter of a day or two, the branch is stripped bare. Yes, we understand…its nature. But sadly, the animals contained in this fenced conservancy, although fairly good-sized at 3000 hectares, 7413 acres, don’t allow for the natural migration of wildlife in search of food in distant areas.

A few mongooses,  and warthog mom, and four babies.

Although many animals are territorial and may not wander far even if given the opportunity, some locals have expressed that the fences should come down. This way, the animals could go in and out of Kruger National Park from Marloth Park. Kruger is only across the Crocodile River. But, in doing so, all the apex predators could enter Marloth, significantly changing the dynamic of the conservancy.

It is illegal to get out of one’s car while in Kruger, day or night. Can you imagine how dangerous life in MP could be if the fences were down? Many of the wildlife here now can easily cause fatal injuries if not respected. This would only be exacerbated without the fences.

Here is a mom and four babies and a friendly male. He could be “courting” her and on his best behavior.

No, there’s no easy answer. We go through three 40 kg, 88 pounds, bags of pellets a week, which translates to 120 kg, 265 pounds, not nearly enough considering all the visitors we see each day. However, in the interim, we’ve chosen to continue to feed the animals. Others, concerned like us, are doing their share.

I just received the following message from Louise that reads:

“Message from the Municipality: We are arranging a water tanker to assist the community; it will be collecting water at the Malelane water treatment plant. We request residents to please bring on containers, buckets, or anything you can use to collect some water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. It will be going along the main streets.”

At the moment, we still have water. We’ll see how that goes.

After all, this is Africa.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, May 30, 2020:

Umer, our driver, and guide insisted we stop for a photo op in front of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on this date in 2013. For more photos, please click here.

I considered not posting for a few days…Hard to do…

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Last evening while sitting at the table on the veranda, both Little and Tiny visited at the same time, a first since we’ve been here. It was quite a thrill to see them generally getting along while eating pellets. Little deferred to Tiny a few times but mainly due to his massive size and enormous tusks.

Who’s in the garden this morning?

  • 9 warthogs – inc. Peter, Paul, and Mary, and Fred, and Ethyl
  • 11 bushbucks – inc. Chewy and Thick Neck
  • 2 wildebeest – inc. Hal and CF (aka Crooked Face)
  • 25 mongoose
  • Frank and The Misses

Over the past week, when the worst of the virus I contracted from where, I don’t know, I’ve struggled to do the posts each day. My thoughts were scattered, my photos were few, and I had difficulty coming up with a topic to encompass most of the text each day.

Here is Hal and CF standing at the veranda railing this morning, awaiting their pellets.

Today isn’t a lot different. I am still a bit foggy and under the weather, although the sore throat, breathing issues, and cough have improved dramatically in the past few days. Unfortunately, tonight, we’ve had to cancel our dinner reservation with Rita and Gerhard at Jabula. I am not up to going out yet.  So instead, we’ll do takeaway from Jabula for the items we’d have ordered at the restaurant.

It will be an easy day for me with laundry dried, folded, and put away and nothing to cook for dinner. Of course, Tom had been more than willing to do “my jobs” all week, but I felt I needed to keep moving to recover sooner. Laying in bed while sick is not my thing. So I always try to do a little around the house.

Last evening, Tiny and Little I was mulling around the garden searching for pellets, which Tom distributed evenly between the two.

My biggest problem these past 11 days since this virus began; each day, I considered posting a notice that read, “Sorry, readers. Due to illness, there won’t be a post today” I didn’t want to lie and say there was another reason. After all, we have always promised to be transparent here, and there have been few exceptions.

I didn’t mention being sick on a few occasions, realizing that our readers may be “sick and tired” of reading about me being “sick and tired.” I get that. When we began our world travels, we knew that with my past less-than-ideal health issues, due to genetics, certainly not a lifestyle, that this risk existed that I’d be sick from time to time.

We never once had a doctor’s appointment the first few years, even with the countless times we both became ill with viruses we caught while cruising. We managed it all on our own, mentioning some of the cases, but not all. We didn’t want to lose readers from complaining about illness.

Thick Neck, an older bushbuck, stops by several times a day. We always welcome him with some pellets.

But, let’s face it, as we age, we are all subject to becoming ill. Ask a person over 65 how often they’ve visited their family practice physician or a specialist in a typical year. Of course, fewer people took the risk of being at their doctor’s office during the pandemic, fearful of Covid-19, and rightfully so.

Yes, I am stuck with bad genetics. Regardless of how hard I’ve worked on improving my lifestyle, eating a suitable diet for me, exercising, and avoiding stress, I still can’t avoid becoming ill from time to time. Although I don’t smoke, drink in excess, only consume small amounts of low alcohol wine, avoid unnecessary risks, I can’t prevent days such as I experienced beginning a week ago Tuesday when the virus symptoms began.

Medium Daddy on the far left with Bossy and Notches in the forefront and bushbucks in the background.

Why would we keep wanting to travel the world with this fact in mind? Simply put, because we want to. That’s not me. I have no desire to become a perpetual patient, living in a retirement facility, going to see the doctor once a month or more. That’s not us. After all, I survived major open-heart surgery here in South Africa 27 months ago, and we’ve since been able to do considerable traveling, enjoying every new experience along the way. Happiness surely must account for a portion of good health.

Yes, we both accept the reality that we’ll have to stop traveling sometime in the next several years. But, the thoughts hover in our minds that perhaps we’ll be able to travel to some degree when that time comes. But, like always, we’ll figure it out then, not now. So, now, we’re living life on our terms, with the only thing over our heads at the moment is the fact that we need to go somewhere for our visa stamps in 33 days. We’ll figure it all out.

We hope you are healthy and enjoying life on your terms. Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, May 29, 2020:

Tom had to duck his head to enter the house at the Connemara Heritage and History Center. For more photos posted one year ago, please click here.