We are back up and running…Another fiasco, no fault of our own, or our web people…Tiny, today, a refreshing diversion…

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Tiny worked with me during his photoshoot to ensure his poses appeal to most of our readers.

Yes, I could go on and on with the frustration of the past several days when our site wasn’t visible to our readers. It reminded me of when, three weeks ago, my error in posting new photos prevented the photos from displaying. It took several days to figure out what I was doing wrong…using a third-party app to upload the latest photos. Who knew?

Our web people worked with me via WhatsApp for hours on end, attempting to figure out the problem. As soon as they said, “No third-party photo apps,” a light bulb went off in my head. I had to load photos from a “local” source, not an app. This confused me because this was the first time I was uploading photos using this Chromebook I’d purchased in India.

Tiny, using his snout like a vacuum cleaner to find every pellet.

If any of you use a Chromebook with its hard-to-figure-out cloud, you’ll understand what I mean. Otherwise, no point in going into that here and now. All the photos I added in that hotel was taken from past posts and copied and pasted. It wasn’t the same process once we started taking new photos. Now, I have designed a simple-to-use process that gets me through each day’s post with new photos.

But that wasn’t all. When three or four days ago, I noticed difficulty in preparing a post, mentioning some apparent WiFi issue, it proved to be much more than that. It was a hosting issue on the servers at Hostinger.com, a substantial hosting site with an excellent reputation, from whence the problems seemed to arise.

Tiny posed on his knees for this appealing shot. Good job, Tiny! Although the following few images of Tiny look similar, you’ll notice the subtle differences as he adjusted for the shots.

Now that we’re back up, I sent them an email asking how and why this happened and how it can be prevented in the future. From my perspective over the past several days, everything we wrote for over eight years was gone, gone, gone. We’ve heard of this happening to websites. It’s no wonder I didn’t sleep much for the past three nights, worrying and worrying, awakening almost every hour.

Last night was no exception, when on top of that, “load shedding” started up again and for over four hours, from 2100 (9:00 pm to 2300 hours (11:00 pm) and again this morning from 5:00 am to 7:00 am. The power will be out for at least seven hours today, again from 1300 hours to 1530 hours (1:00 pm to 3:30 pm) and again tonight from 2100 hours to 2330 hours (9:00 pm to 11:30 pm). This schedule will be repeated over the next several weeks.

Tiny tucked his legs under for yet another good pose. He certainly knows how to highlight those big warts on either side of his head and those monstrosities on his face.

I have to plan to work out on the treadmill based on when we have power and cooking using the stove. As always, we’ll figure it out. Fortunately, Danie had set us two fans to use during load shedding, powered by the inverter in the second bedroom. This is our saving grace on those tortuously hot nights.

As for today, otherwise, all is well. Later today, our friend Alan is visiting for sundowners and snacks, mainly cheese and biltong (South African jerky, the best!). He eats a low-carb diet as we do, making visits easy with so few food options. When we invite other friends over, without special diets, we will add some items we eat and others more befitting their standard diets.

Last night was busy in the garden. Our new favorite warthog, Tiny, came to visit, staying for a few hours. Although we’ve diligently looked for our favorite warthog Little from 2018/2019, we’ve yet to see him. Sadly, several warthogs were culled in Marloth Park last year, and we fear he may have been among them. Instead of moping over Little, we decided to find a new favorite, and we have… our boy Tiny, the biggest warthog we’ve ever seen.

Tiny raised a bit on his knees for another angle. He’s had some modeling experience in his past. See that post here. 

Yesterday, when he came up onto the veranda with his muddy feet, we were reminded of Little who was so bossy, he insisted on coming into the house. We laughed so hard then and still laugh hard about it now. We never thought they would be another Little.  But now, Tiny, has become the warthog that stares into my eyes when I talk to him, comes when I call him when I see him nearby, and can’t seem to get enough human interaction. It’s astounding.

Surely, in time, as we come to more fully “know” our regular visitors, many stories of special interactions will follow. We’ve been busy interacting with the wildlife and,d in many cases, giving them names when we observe they are regulars who come by for treats and the familiarity that ensues over time.

Have a fantastic day! We’re thrilled to be back among you!

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

Comfortably seated on fluffy cushions on the sand, we enjoyed free-flowing beverages and snacks. Gosh, I was chubby then, almost 13 kg, 28 pounds, ago, and not as healthy as I would have liked when my blood sugar and blood pressure were high.  It is great to now be off of all blood pressure medications and have normal blood sugars. For more photos, please click here.

A day in the life…Challenges…Resolutions on the horizon…”Floaters?”…What???…

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A little plant growing on the muddy foot of a bushbuck made us laugh.

It’s 1:00 pm on Friday, and our site is still having issues. According to our web developers and our hosting company, it is necessary to “debug” our over 3000 posts. This is taking quite a while. Our web guy just sent me an email, saying they are working on our 40,000 plus photos and with only 10,000 of them processed so far. It could be a while. We are anticipating another day or two.

Of course, we’re frustrated, but there’s nothing we can do but wait until they are done, and we are back up again. In the interim, I will continue to post, which you should see, although there is some computer dialogue on the page you can ignore.

Since we handle all of our financial matters and banking online, we often see popular sites we use down for a day or two during this process. We certainly understand the frustration of all of our worldwide readers. Also, we realize the frustration over our site being down off and on over the past nine months since we began the process of moving over to WordPress as opposed to Blogger.

This adorable male bushbuck and others have become regulars in our garden.

We had no choice but to make this transition. The web company we’ve used has been on top of all of this, and we feel confident they will resolve this soon. In the interim, I will continue to prepare new posts while taking many new photos to share once everything is back on track.

Sadly, we realize we may lose many of our readers whose frustrations cause them to read our post no longer. We feel wrong about this and wish there was something more we could do. We can only promise that once we’re back up, we will continue to strive to provide all of you with the best possible content and photos from our current base of Marloth Park and wherever we may go from here in the future, yet to be determined.

As mentioned a few days ago, we’re continuing to research our options when we have to leave South Africa in April for our visa stamps. We selected a few possible options. But, here’s the dilemma. If the virus escalates in South Africa between now and then, we could potentially lose a ton of money if the borders are closed again, not only for South Africa but also for wherever we are planning to go.

Four warthogs stopped by for a snack.

Many would assume that when borders close due to Covid-19, those travel expenses are automatically refunded. This is not the case. We have spent days in total frustration attempting to receive refunds for various plans we’d booked. Some took months to receive, and others required us to contact our credit card companies to help us in getting a refund. It’s such a harmful process.

Thus, we’ve decided to “wing it” and wait until two or three weeks before our visas expire to pin down where we’ll go and what we’ll do for those possible ten days when we leave South Africa. The countries we may choose now may present an entirely different situation in the next 60 days. Again, our lives are based on a “play it by ear” scenario. WE can live with this.

Yesterday morning, Thursday, February 4th, we headed to Komatipoort for an eye doctor appointment for me. As it turned out, it was the same doctor we’d visited in 2018/2019 from whom we had eye exams, who was still working at the exact location in town, next door to Dr. Theo, family practice doc, and Dr. Luzanne, our dentist both of whom we’ll see while here.

These four appeared to be a family group. Any grouping of warthogs is called a “sounder.”

We both have dental appointments this upcoming Monday with Dr. Luzanne for a cleaning and dental check. Also, I suffered from an abscessed tooth early on in our confinement in the hotel room in Mumbai and desperately need to get that tooth checked out and resolved if necessary. It no longer hurts but in these situations. It’s best to get it checked out. Also, Tom lost a tooth implant while in India, which we’ll bring with us and see if it can be re-inserted. If not, a crown might be in order, perhaps for both of us.

But, yesterday’s eye doctor appointment was necessary to give me peace of mind when several nights ago, while eating dinner, I noticed I had something in my eye, something I’d never seen in the past. It appeared to be a black stringy-looking thing in the right corner of my right eye. Immediately, I removed my contact lens and rinsed my eye with sterile saline solution. I kept doing this throughout the evening, and yet the particles would not go away.

Then, by the end of the evening, it dawned on me it might be a “floater,” not necessarily a dangerous condition, common as we age. If one’s vision itself is not impaired, there’s no light flashing and no pain; generally, a floater is not worrisome, although very annoying. After my considerable “Dr. Google” searches, Tom insisted that I have it checked out to ensure it wasn’t a potential retina detachment or another more serious issue.

As we drove on Olifant Rd, the only paved road in Marloth Park, this pretty sky caught our eye.

I supposed I, too, was anxious to be assured it wasn’t anything more than a harmless floater which is an anomaly of the vitreous (clear floating liquid) of no particular use in the eye. When the eye doctor assured me, after careful examination, there was nothing to worry about. I was thrilled but not surprised. Nonetheless, peace of mind was definitely worth the 20-minute drive to Komatipoort. I guess I’ll have to learn to live with this black squiggly thing floating in my mind for the rest of my life. Ah, the perils of aging! How annoying.

Much to our surprise, the eye doctor appointment, for which he did a reasonably thorough exam also, only cost ZAR 300, which was only US $20.06. Wow!

I was more concerned about the up close and personal requirement of an eye exam. But, his packed office exhibited social distancing and good sanitation, although I had to ask one of the receptionists to cover her nose with her mask. I’m at a point where I don’t care what anyone thinks. I always ask people to protect their nose and mouth adequately when in “my space.” On occasion, I may get a dirty look, but I am unresponsive to those looks.

Back in Marloth Park, only 90 minutes later, we commenced our almost daily search for the large ostrich family wandering in the park, which we hope to see soon. Returning to our home after another unsuccessful hunt, we went about our usual activities, catering to our animal friend’s visits, enjoying an “adult” beverage at happy hour, and cooking ribeye steaks on the braai.

We’ve named this young male kudu Notches, based on the notch in his left ear.

Last night, without a doubt, was the hottest night on the veranda we’ve experienced so far. It was stifling. Sure, we could have hunkered down in the bedroom with the air-con to keep us cool, but we were determined to continue to offer pellets and the remainder of the bananas to our visiting friends. Not surprisingly, when we finally had dinner while continuing to sit outdoors and headed to our room to cool off, a massive rainstorm ensued, with thunder continuing for several hours.

Only once during the storm did the power go off and, it was for less than a minute. We were thrilled. Today, although still humid with more rain on the horizon, it’s quite a bit cooler.

Although our new posts will look different over the next several days while the issues are being resolved, many of you will still be able to see them in the automatic emails you’ll receive if you signed up to do so in the past. If you’d like to sign up now (no charge), you can do so on our main homepage, and you will get the newest posts in your inbox during this period and after that. Thank you so much for being so patient.

Be well.

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

An impressive fireworks display was orchestrated at the Khaas Bagh for the Maharajas Express passengers. We were honored and breathless. For more photos, please click here.

Banana bliss for our wildlife friends…

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We stopped at local homeowner Paula’s home, where she offers free bananas for the wildlife. She receives these almost weekly from a local to support the animals in Marloth Park. Thanks to Paula’s employee who helped us load the bananas into an empty pellet bag and in our car. Thank you, farmer and Paula!.

After yesterday’s fiasco when our site wasn’t loading (which will be resolved by day’s end) and the loss of the post from February 3, I decided to attempt to piece it back together from memory which, after a stormy night’s sleep worrying about why we were down, my memory isn’t as sharp as usual. I’ll do my best.

When Louise informed me by text that Paula had received a shipment of bananas, we dared venture out on muddy, dirt roads, with potholes, ravines, making an uneven treacherous route. There was no other way to arrive at Paula’s lovely home on the road bordering the Crocodile River.

With Tom’s expert driving skills, he somehow manages to make the drive over the rough roads tolerable, albeit amid a massive amount of bouncing around, which we both tolerate well. But, should a person suffer from several painful joint or muscle issues, such a ride would be prohibitive.

Bushbucks only like the banana peel. They are experts at removing the banana to be left with the peel to eat. It’s hysterical to watch how they manage to peel the banana with their mouths. Nature is amazing!

When we were here from February to May 2019, after I’d had open-heart surgery, never once did we attempt to ride on those bumpy roads. Thank goodness that now, I don’t suffer any ill effects. As for the driving, thank goodness, once again, I never drive while we are in South Africa or other countries where most cars have a standard transmission with the driver’s on the right side of the vehicle, using their left hand to shift.

It is hard enough for me to adapt to driving on the opposite side of the road I was used to in the US, let alone manage to change gears with my inept left hand. No, thank you. I’ll continue to be the passenger, never guilty of being considered a “back seat driver.” Tom doesn’t require any coaching while driving.

When we finally made it to Paula’s house, her friendly employee met us in the driveway to assist us with the bananas sitting atop a few tarps in the garage. Tom offered to place the bananas into our big empty pellet bag, but the kindly man insisted on helping. Of course, we tendered a much-appreciated tip when he loaded them into the boot of our little rental car.

I was mistaken in former posts when I mentioned that mongooses are carnivores. Upon further research, I discovered they are omnivores, eating both small rodents, insects, and on occasion, snakes, as well as fruit, berries, and seeds. They love the bananas, working deftly to reach the tender fruit.

We headed back to our “home” (as we call it here), anxious, even in the rain, to deposit some bananas onto the ground in our garden, which backs up to a parkland area bordering Lionspruits, a “conservancy within a conservancy,” where lions Dezi and Fluffy reside.

Being located close to Lionspruit, which we’d entered several times during prior stays in Marloth Park, enables us to hear the lions roar day and night. What a glorious sound, music to our ears when we listen to them, we can’t help but smile at one another. The simple joys of living in the bush never end.

Another bushbuck is enjoying a banana as he works hard to remove the peel.

Last night we were invited to the home of Lesley and Andrew, along with friends Louise and Manie (a different Louise). We sat outdoors on their veranda, perfectly social-distanced by no less than two meters, enjoying the beautiful conversations and appetizers they served so graciously.

A number of their usual visitors magically appeared upon our arrival at Lesley and Andrew’s lovely bush home, and again, we embraced the magic of this special place, its abundant wildlife, and of course, its unique people. How fortunate we are!

This newborn impala caught our eye on the way to Paula’s home. She couldn’t have been more than a few days old or a newborn. So sweet.

A few minutes ago, Tom took off for his first haircut in over a year, barring the “bowl over the head haircut” he gave himself some months ago while living in that hotel room in India. Photos will follow tomorrow. It will be fun to see his “new do” when he returns before too long.

All is well. We’re content. Power is working. WiFi is working. By the end of today, our website will be up and running correctly. The sun is shining. The animals are visiting once again and enjoying the bananas. Happy day!

May you also be well and content!

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

Tom, listening to our tour guide while in Udaipur, India, with the five-star Taj Lake Palace in the background. For more photos, please click here.

Due to a glitch from our hosting company…

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Frank, fluffing up his feathers to impress The Misses. Maybe it’s time to expand the Frank Family once again.

Yes, it is so frustrating for us when our site is down. I hardly slept a wink last night when I figured out what was wrong and how to fix it.

It had nothing to do with our web developers, and they, too, were at a loss as to how this could be repaired. It looked as if we’d lost everything. Now, our site has been restored, much to our great relief.

Unfortunately, although we are “back up” with the help of Hostinger.com, our hosting company, the actual post from yesterday, February 3, 2021, is gone, gone, gone with no way to restore it.  Thus, this post will constitute the post for February 3, 2021, and we will prepare a new post with new photos for today, February 4, 2021.

If not, we will start a new post to make up for the one we lost. We have no idea why we’ve had so many issues these past months and apologize for the inconsistency. Some things are just out of our control. If we’d been able to stay with Blogger, we would have, but they made some changes that made it impossible for us to continue with the size of our site.

That was why we moved to WordPress and have had to bear the expense of monthly fees, annual fees, and new design fees. It was a costly and time-consuming process during the difficult time of lockdown in India, and for all of you, seeking consistency and reliance during times of Covid-19.

Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to offer greater reliance and consistency. But, please know, businesses worldwide are experiencing challenging times with their support and staffing. We’ve all felt the brunt of such inconsistencies of the consequences of these unusual times in the long run.

With the most heartfelt appreciation, we thank all of our readers all over the world for staying with us through “thick and thin.” Now, we hope to settle into a peaceful and dependable state as we strive to share our journey with you.

Be well.

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

Both of us were excited to be on our way to the palace and Lake Pichola in Udaipur, India. For more photos, please click here.

Life in the bush continues…It’s never dull…

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Young kudu male scratching an itch.

As usual, we’re situated on the veranda. It’s surprisingly cool today, so cool a hoodie might be appropriate. It rained all night and is occasionally sprinkling now with very cloudy skies. We don’t mind a bit. Generally, this weather keeps the visitors away when they hunker down in the parklands undercover, often in large groups of their “own kind.”

So far this morning, the only visitors we’ve had were Frank and Friends and a single male bushbuck. Apparently, during the night, the thick-tailed bushbaby came by when one of the chairs at the big table was covered in bushbaby poop, as well as on the floor of the veranda. In bad weather, we don’t leave out any treats for her.

We were driving down Rissik St. In Komatipoort, a 20-minute drive from Marloth Park.

It doesn’t appear we’ll be able to take many photos today, although we still have many left from sunny and less-rainy days that we’ll continue to share until warm sunny days return. Based on the weather reports, it could be many days until this stormy period ends.

Last night, when Cyril Ramaphosa spoke during his weekly presidential talk regarding Covid-19, he lessened some restrictions taking South Africa from a Level 3 lockdown to Level 2. As a result of this change, the liquor ban has now been lifted, and liquor stores will be open in the next few days while restaurants will be able to serve alcohol to diners. We’ll be heading out to purchase our preferred beverages.

Farmers were offering their produce at an open market.

There are day and time restrictions that will remain in place regarding alcohol, such as liquor stores can only be open from Monday to Thursday, and restaurants will have to stop serving alcohol after 8:00 pm. That doesn’t necessarily make sense, but who’s to say what makes sense during times of Covid-19?

In addition, Cyril announced that millions of vaccine doses would arrive over the next several months. It appears we may be able to get the jab at some point within the next six to nine months. In the interim, we’ll continue to exercise caution when so few people are wearing masks, wearing masks properly as shown in the photo below, or making any effort to social distance.

There are numerous lower-cost markets in Komatipoort that many locals frequent. Note the typical mask-wearer with the mask below their nose.

With February here, it’s time for us to start thinking about where we’ll go when we leave South Africa for our visa stamps, allowing us another 90 days. At this point, we have to leave by April 9, 2021, a few days short of 90 days. We won’t be staying a full 90 days because the car rental places in Nelspruit at the airport are closed on the weekends.

Subsequently, we’ll have to arrange our comings and goings accordingly, never arriving at the NespruitMpumalanga/Kruger airport on the weekend. With our target departure date of April 9, we seriously need to start booking our departure plans. In reviewing options, only certain countries that will accept us arriving from South Africa, with its variant Covid-19 strains,

A young kudu male was wondering what was on the menu today.

Numerous countries have restrictions that won’t work for us. Thus, we’ve decided traveling to Tanzania non-stop from Johannesburg might be our best bet. All required is that we have a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of our arrival. This is doable.

Handsome young face.

As for where in Tanzania we’ll go, what we’ll do, and where we’ll stay, we are looking into our options now. Tanzania has numerous options that appeal to us. Once we pin something down, we’ll certainly share it here.

Female kudu checking on what we’re doing that might impact her.

When Zef came to clean the house, we headed out to pick up bananas for the wildlife. At no cost, a local woman at a lovely home on the river has piles of bananas delivered from the banana farms and freely shares them with locals interested in feeding the wildlife. Tomorrow, we’ll report with photos of who stopped by to partake in our bananas.

A forkl of kudus, including a few young males and several females, one of whom may be his mother.

Happy day!

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

One of the two dining cars on the Maharajas Express Train, which we boarded one year ago today. For more, please click here.

First trip to a grocery store and pharmacy in over a year!…Precautions prevail…

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How can you not love this face?

It’s the first time in over a year that either of us, in our adult lives, hadn’t been in a grocery store or pharmacy. Fortunately, since we’d shopped in Komatipoort in 2018/2019, we remembered the layout of both stories, reducing the time necessary to be in the crowded shops.

The pharmacy felt safer than I’d expected with an employee at the door, taking shopper’s temperatures and ensuring the hand sanitizer was used before entering. Taking temperatures is no specific means of a shopper not being infected, who may not be symptomatic. Signs were posted everywhere stating, “Do Not Enter if You Suspect You Have Covid-19.”

Here again, the pharmacy might be the first place an infected person may buy various products to combat the symptoms or fill a prescription. A woman coughed within a meter of me. People weren’t properly wearing their masks or making any effort to social distance, including employees stocking the shelves and helping customers.

Nice profile.

But, I was as well protected as I could be, barring wearing PPE. I had on my N99 mask, a face shield, and rubber gloves. I then ditched the gloves into an appropriate trash container the moment I left the store, putting on a new pair after using hand sanitizer in the car and donning a fresh pair of gloves for the grocery store. I don’t know what more I could have done.

The grocery store felt less safe when I had to ask the outdoor attendant to spray my trolley handle. When Tom came into the store, I suggested I continue to handle the trolley, not him, since I was more well-protected. He loaded up the food at the register and paid the bill, which came to ZAR 4713, USD $312.77.

We’d purchased enough food to last two weeks, except for some mince (ground beef) which we’ll buy at the meat market at the Bush Centre in Marloth Park in the next few weeks, which appears to be of a higher quality than offered at the Spar Market.

This youngster’s parents were in the background keeping an eye out for their boy.

By carefully gauging how much we purchased, I somehow managed to fit all the meat into the small freezer consisting of several drawers. Also, we had to leave a few drawers empty for ice for our ice cube trays, which Tom empties nightly for an entire supply of cubes for the next day.

Keeping in mind how hot it is here, we certainly go through the ice while drinking our Crystal Light iced tea all day. For example, at 1:00 pm, it’s 93F, 34C, and the humidity is 77%. Toasty. Sticky. Rain on the horizon.

It was interesting to observe how careless the people in Komatipoort are wearing masks, as they are all over the world. (Hmm, need I even reiterate this worldwide phenomenon?) Many people mingled in large groups outside shops, on the streets, and in the Spar parking lot, no mask, no social distancing. We steered clear of everyone.

Young citrus trees.

Before grocery shopping, we stopped at the Obaro hardware store in Komati, but when they didn’t have what we wanted, we hightailed out of there in a mad dash. No one was adequately wearing a mask. Most were wearing cotton scarves or homemade cotton masks that kept falling off of their faces.

Eventually, people tend to stop trying to put the masks back on, ending up working in the shops with either no mask at all or it was hanging off their chins. It’s no wonder the number of cases of Covid in South Africa and all over the world has continued to rise. One need only check out the world stats to see cases are still on the rise. (In reviewing this report, it’s essential to click on “yesterday” since today’s stats aren’t yet included).

Within a few hours, we were back at the house, feeling relieved that the grocery shopping was over for two weeks. In the heat, we hurriedly put the perishables away and organized the remainder. Now, we’re situated on the veranda every hour or so. I’ll return indoors to work on the treadmill to complete each of my four daily sessions.

This bridge was underwater, less than one hour later.

I turn on the air-con in the second bedroom about five minutes before I get on the treadmill, do my thing while listening to podcasts on my phone, and turn everything off when I leave the room a short time later. I am not walking as long a distance as I had on level ground in the corridors in India. The treadmill is raised to be a medium grade, which requires more work for shorter distances. That’s fine with me.

When we returned to the house, we found Frank standing at the glass sliding door peering inside. He was looking for seeds. We couldn’t accommodate him quickly enough. He chirped happily as he pecked at the seeds. No other wildlife yet today. With storms foreboding, the wildlife stays undercover.

May you have a safe and pleasant day, wherever you may be.

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

Typical scene on a busy street in Mumbai. For more photos, please click here.

Raining in buckets…Power outage…Thank goodness for the inverter…

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Peeking up over the step, looking at us, “Got any meat for us?” Sure, we did! Thank goodness, Louise and Danie made certain we had an inverter in this house, Love Bird’s Nest. How thoughtful they are! An inverter uses power to recharge batteries inside the unit, which can be kept indoors, to be used later when the power goes out for small voltage requirements, such as powering a router and recharging digital equipment.

It could be used for some lights but can’t power the air-con, the refrigerator, and power-hogging appliances such as tea kettles, toasters, and microwaves. We keep the usage only for our phones, laptops, and the router to ensure we have WiFi, which, right now, we do. It’s been a massive benefit during all of the power outages.

Cute little mongoose resting his chin on a rock.

At some point, if the power doesn’t come back on, the batteries in the inverter will lose their power. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully, sometime today, the cause of the outage will be repaired.

With the rains resulting from Cyclone Eloise, the ground is still soaked, and flooding is happening all around us. Even the Crocodile Bridge Gate and others, as access to Kruger National Park, are flooded, preventing visitors from many areas entering the park. I can only imagine the frustration of tourists who planned a one or two-week holiday in this area who can now not visit Kruger National Park unless they drive long distances to other open gates.

Mongooses are affectionate and nurturing to one another.

Also, we’ve found that wildlife tends to go for cover during rainstorms as powerful as this when they become frightened by the sounds. Thus, those tourists currently staying in Marloth Park won’t be seeing much wildlife in their gardens when, for example, so far this morning, we’ve only seen Franks, hornbills, and helmeted guinea-fowl. We tossed seeds for all of them when they looked at us with those longing eyes. Of course, we comply, even on sunny days.

Flooding will escalate over the next several days as the rains continue through Monday, Tuesday, and longer. In viewing the weather reports, it appears it will rain almost every day over the next two weeks, all the way through February 14.

I gave them a little container with the remainder of my chicken livers. As carnivores, they sure loved that.

We’re certainly happy that we’re staying here for quite a long while. Otherwise, this amount of rain would be frustrating. However, it’s vital for the growth of the vegetation critical to the wildlife in the bush, which is their primary source of food, except for carnivores such as mongoose, lizards, snakes, and others.

This morning Louise and Danie stopped by with a cooler, called a “chill box,” here in South Africa. Our social life is beginning to take shape with upcoming visits to friends in the bush. We’ll bring our beverages, in this case, Crystal Light Iced Tea, since alcohol is still banned in South Africa.

A tiny baby mongoose with mom or dad on the pool steps.

Hopefully, the ban will be lifted by mid-February, and I can purchase my favorite South Africa wine, Four Cousins, Skinny  Red. It’s a delicious low-alcohol wine, 9% instead of 13%, which had been my go-to wine when we were here in 2018-2019. At times, my mouth waters when I think of this delightful wine.

It’s ironic. We couldn’t drink alcohol in India during those 10-months in isolation due to many months-long bans and then outrageous prices with taxes at 38%. It just wasn’t worth it to us at the time, especially when neither of us had ever enjoyed drinks in a hotel room or even a cruise cabin. It’s all about socialization for us.

Of course, if it’s just the two of us on the veranda at “happy hour,” we find each other’s companionship a delightful form of socialization and may imbibe when the time is right. We look forward to that down the road.

A moment ago, the power came back on! We’re thrilled!. We’ll be back with more tomorrow! As soon as I upload today’s post, we’re heading out for a drive to check out the area’s flooding and take some photos.

Stay well.

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

The view from our hotel room in Mumbai,  overlooking the Arabian Sea, shortly after we arrived in India from the US on a 33-hour journey. For more details, please click here.

A repost from five years ago that still reflects our views…

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Our new friend, “One-Wart,” is missing a full-sized wart on the right side of his face. Most likely, he was “born this way.,” possibly due to inbreeding. We have no doubt he’ll be a regular.

While I’ve continued to edit past posts due to errors I’ve made over the years, along with other errors as a result of WiFi issues at the time, I stumbled across a post from November 13, 2015, that over five years later, still resonates who we are and what we believe. I hesitated to repost the text, of course, using some new photos from Marloth Park.

Why the hesitation? To avoid redundancy. After all, during the past ten months in lockdown in India, there certainly was plenty of redundancy with dull stories and repeated photos from years past when no new photos were being taken. Thus, if you recall this post, feel free to pass by the text and enjoy the new photos taken in the past 24 hours.

Impalas rarely come to the garden since they are timid around humans. This fellow stops by almost daily.

If, years ago, someone would have told me I had to write a new story 365 days a year for over eight years, relevant to the current times, I’d have laughed and said it was impossible. I’d never be motivated to perform such a task. And yet, here we are, plugging away with the same enthusiasm in preparing our first post published on March 15, 2012. See that post here. It didn’t include a single photo, but over the years, that first post has been one of our favorites, so well describing who we are and what we hoped to achieve in our worldwide travels.

But, this post, which I stumbled upon yesterday afternoon while working on the prior post’s edits, also caught my eye, and I decided to share it again with you today. Our long-time readers may recall this post, or they may not. Our newer readers may never have come across it as they occasionally reviewed the archives, if at all.

This is Dad & Son, who stop by daily to see what’s on the menu.

In essence, this old post is no big deal, but it reflects who we were then and who we are now, which only you, as readers, may decide if we have changed our views over the years. To see the photos from that date, please click here. Please sit back, relax and read this revealing personal exposé we took seriously at the time and do so again now.  Here we go:

“A grain of sand on the beach of life…Who are we?…

ON 

Nothing in life is static. No state of being is guaranteed. All we know for certain is tomorrow, a new day will dawn, and tonight a sun will set. Even that eventuality is in question by scientific predictions in the millennium to come or sooner.

When we hear of new planets emerging within our range of perspective at the edges of our universe, our Earth becomes minor and insignificant in the vast expanse of “forever,” a place none of us in this lifetime will ever know.

How do we grasp a news report such as this:

“A rocky Earth-sized planet that circles a small, nearby star could be the most important world ever found beyond the solar system, astronomers say. The planet lies in the constellation of Vela in the southern sky and is close enough for telescopes to observe any atmosphere. It has a procedure that could help spot life on other planets in the future. Named GJ 1132b, the alien world is about 16% larger than Earth, and at 39 light-years distant, is three times closer than any other Earth-sized rocky planet yet found around another star. At that distance, it is hoped that telescopes will be able to make out the chemistry of its atmosphere, the speed of its winds, and the colors of its sunsets.”

Six warthogs, a kudu, and Frank came by, gathering around the braai.

As we simpletons scour the world, the Earth, enraptured by its endless wonders along the way, we are in awe of Earth’s natural evolution, leaving some of the most exquisite scenery in its wake. Imagine the millions of years that no humans were on this Earth even to know it was there.

With predictions that human life as we know it, from a scientific perspective, has populated the Earth for a mere 200,000 years is a “drop in the bucket” in time, a single grain of sand on a beach.

As the Earth has further populated, each one of us has become a grain of sand on another beach of impossible calculations. How many are there now? How many have there been, and how many are there yet to come?

A male bushbuck and a male impala. This species often graze together without incident.

And, within our limited field of vision, we deem ourselves significant and meaningful. Collectively, we matter. Individually, we must seek the power of the masses to hope for change and progression.

It’s easy to hide away in our self-imposed universe, in our geographic sphere, reaching out only to that which is readily available within our grasp. Is it human nature that we tend to cocoon in a limited space and time?

Oh, as I ponder these thoughts, as I write a meaningless timeline of a day in the village as in yesterday’s post, I’m reminded of how tiny our world becomes coupled with our ambitious desire to see as much as the world as we can as the clock ticks loudly and annoyingly. How much time do we have to complete this journey?  And what, within this realm, are we really doing?

After finishing the raw scramble eggs Tom placed in this pan, these two were determined to lap up every last drop.

I don’t know the answer to either of these questions, which in itself is a further reminder of how little power we each have in this world. The mystery.  Is it wrought from a sense of spirituality or simply hard facts? It remains to be seen in this lifetime.

As we continue to explore the significance of every creature on Earth and its interrelated purpose, it’s easy to assume we humans are at the head of the food chain, and yet, life emerged long before we were here.

The cycle of life and the food chain is magical. Every creature’s design is magic, and none of this could happen from an explosion of planets, remnants evolving into worlds, remnants growing into the Earth.

Ms. Tortoise made a brief appearance, moving quickly through the bush.

A power, a spirituality beyond our comprehension, created this magical life on this planet. As we travel, we witness the vast array in which each population has formed their perception of “who” and “what” this may be. They call it religion, faith, and spirituality in a manner they can most easily grasp and incorporate into their beings.

We don’t choose to see ourselves as self-serving individuals lost in a sea of “vacation,” “holiday,” and travel options. We see ourselves, all of us, you and us, as on a long journey of personal discovery in pursuit of the answers to our own relevant questions, whether we travel the world or sit back in an armchair, hoping to find answers, if not in this lifetime but perhaps in the next.”

She cracked open the egg by pounding it on the cement, sucking out the contents. Animals using tools, fascinating!

This morning upon arising, no less than ten helmeted guinea-fowl were on the veranda hoping for seeds. Once they left, francolins, Frank, and The Misses were looking in the glass of the veranda’s sliding door, wondering when we’d be coming out to toss some bird seeds. It took us no time at all.

Life is good. We have WiFi, power, and the high today will only be 92F, 33C, as we wait in anticipation of who may come to call in the next 12 hours, as we embrace our surroundings in the bush.

Be well.

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

Five years ago in 2016, we spent three months in New Plymouth, New Zealand, living on an alpaca farm. In the early evening, a group of the babies got together to play, running through the paddock, making us laugh over their playful antics. For the year-ago post, please click here.

Visitors are baaack!…Great to see our wildlife friends once again…Settling in…

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The pool water has chlorine in it, not ideal for wildlife to drink. We have a clean cement pond in the garden, from which the wildlife often drink.

It started to be a busy morning in the bush. Now that the worst of the storms has passed, we’ve begun to see more and more wildlife, especially in the late afternoon, after 5:00 pm, when it begins to cool down. Now, close to noon, we’ve already had several delightful visitors, which we’ll share in tomorrow’s photos.

Fortunately, right now, it isn’t as hot as it could be, and we’re comfortably situated on the veranda waiting to see who will grace us with their presence during the warmth of the day. However, it’s always a particular time in the early morning and toward the end of the day when more wildlife stops by.

Tiny, our huge warthog friend, and Bossy, a very pushy and persistent kudu, visited together last night.

We’re getting into an enjoyable routine, some mornings sleeping in a little later as needed and other mornings, bolting out of bed to get outdoors as quickly as possible after spotting many species in the garden in the early morning. We never hesitate to acknowledge them.

Finally, we’ve both begun to sleep better, often making it through the night without awakening. My habit has been waking around 2:00 or 3:00 am, staying awake for an hour or more. But, the past few nights, I have been avoiding this annoying occurrence and slept through to 5:30 am. Peering out the bedroom window to see if we had visitors when none were spotted, I was able to go back to sleep for a few more hours, feeling especially rested today. Tom did the same.

Tom placed a few eggs on the grass for the mongooses.

Gosh, it feels good, cooking and eating our chosen meals whenever we’re hungry, exercising on the rented treadmill, and of course, spending the majority of our days and evenings outdoors on the veranda. At this point, we have no desire to go out anywhere, although, on occasion, we jump in the car and drive through the park to the Crocodile River.

Recently, with all the rain, it’s been too muddy to get out of the car to walk closer to the fence between Marloth Park and Kruger National Park. And with the concerns over frightening the stranded waterbucks close to the wall, we’ve chosen to stay away.

Mongoose and Ms. Kudu.

Once things dry out and the waterbuck return to the other side of the river, their usual habitat, we make more trips to the river, getting out of the car to take photos of such stunning wildlife like lions, elephants, cape buffalo, and more. We have all the time in the world, provided we’re able to get our visas stamped by April when our 90-day visa has expired.

For now, we’re not worrying about this. With the pandemic raging on, there are limitations on where we may travel in April. Many countries we’d considered are now refusing entry from South Africa or even US passports due to the Covid-19 and potential variants.

This pair of male warthogs, whom we call Siegfried and Roy, stop by in the early evening.

We’ve chosen not to put a damper on our exquisite time in the bush by worrying about our visas. In the worst case, we can apply for a visa extension or, even worse, fly to the US for a few days and later on return for a new 90-day visa stamp, which isn’t easy, time and travel-wise, but may prove to be our only option.

In the interim, we continue to watch the news about when the vaccine will be available in South Africa, making traveling all the less problematic than it had been during those 59 hours from India. We are so grateful we came out of that long trip unscathed. But, as mentioned, we cannot let our guard down here in Marloth Park.

Eight kudus showed up together, all female, with a few maturing youngsters.

Four deaths from Covid-19 were reported here in the park in the past few weeks. We can easily see how likely this is with many locals and visitors failing to be diligent about proper mask-wearing and social distancing, mainly, the workers and tourists in the local shops.

These two little birds, Blue Waxbills, moved so quickly, it was difficult getting a photo.

Instead, on Monday, we’ve decided we will head to Komatipoort for a much-needed trip to the pharmacy and Spar Market for groceries. As mentioned, Louise has offered to do all of our shopping for us. But, as much as we appreciate her generous offer, we feel it’s time we shop for those items we’d like to select on our own. We can’t stay in hiding forever. After all, we’d done plenty of that in India.

Hopefully, by the time all of our friends arrive in Marloth Park over the next several months, they will all have been vaccinated while we continue to wait for vaccinations to be available to us in South Africa. The friends we have who are already here are like us, proceeding with extreme caution in socializing.

This photo was taken at dusk without flash, two female kudus stopping by for treats.

As much as we look forward to being with others, we truly appreciate and understand the risks are not to be taken lightly. In the interim, we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves every day in the bush.

Be safe. Be well.

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

Three years ago, at lunch, that day, one of the chefs on our Antarctica cruise, on Ponant Le’Boreal, was preparing a beef and vegetable stir-fry outdoors. We all partook of the delicious offering but decided to dine indoors. It was a little too cold to eat outside for our liking. For more photos of Antarctica, please click here. Please click here for the year-ago post, which included our final expenses from 82 days in the USA.

Welcoming a new friend…A human friend that is…

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Our new friend and author, Alan Holmes.

Last night, we had a human visitor, Alan Holmes, whom we’d never met in prior visits to Marloth Park. Alan is a prolific writer with popular books about his life, South Africa, Marloth Park, and the bush. His anecdotal stories and “musings” have become popular and revered by readers of his books and hundreds of Facebook followers, which is where we first found Alan.

Louise and Danie suggested he meet us based on our common interests, and they were so right. We easily social-distanced at our big table on the veranda, enjoying animated conversations, beverages, biltong, and cheese. After last evening’s get-together, we knew we’d made a new friend in Marloth Park and look forward to many more social times in the bush.

This is a Gray Lourie standing on the pool filter cover.

Of course, the highlight of the evening was the opportunity to share our stories, each rich in adventure, riddled with life challenges, and ultimately interspersed with a positive approach. This commonality made the conversation flow with ease and interest as we each shared treasured morsels of our experiences over the years.

Sadly, Alan lost his dear wife Ann-Jeanette in August 2019 after contracting malaria while here in Marloth Park. He struggled to survive, but Ann-Jeanette couldn’t overcome the ravages of the disease. With a solid emotional base and time to recover from such a heartbreaking loss, Alan has come out on the other side, full of hope for the future. He continues to write voraciously and share his gentle musings regularly on Facebook and in new books.

Kudus were hovering over a pile of sweet potatoes.

When I wrote to Alan this morning asking to write about him in today’s post, he kindly wrote the following, quoted with his permission.

“Hi, Jessica. Wow! Instant international fame!! I have self-published three books. The first is an autobiography of what I thought was an unusual life until I met you and Tom! The second is titled “Memories of Paradise,” written just before Covid when I thought I would never return to Marloth Park because of the danger of malaria.

Many kudus came to call before the storms. We’ve yet to see one since as the inclement weather continues. Ironically, just as I wrote this, eight female kudus arrived in the garden. We’re thrilled! Photos will follow tomorrow.

“The third book is “Marloth Park – a User’s Guide” which is still available at both supermarkets in Marloth Park and Daisy’s Den. There are more copies of those last two printed and on their way to the park. I will reprint the first book “abNormal” – the Holmes family story once I’ve given it a re-edit and cleanup.

My current book, ready for the printers next week, is titled “Musings and Memories” and is a collection of writings expressing my (somewhat controversial) views on life and people. It will be on sale in time for Valentine’s day (that’s the plan!). All the books are available directly from me in hard copy, or very soon as a pdf for a much lower price than the printed versions. Thank you for the exposure!”

The nest-building hornbills have also been absent during the stormy weather.

To order books or chat with Alan, he can be reached at the following:

  • WhatsApp: +27 11 72 923 8923
  • Email: holmesat@gmail.com
  • Facebook
And, we thank Alan for the opportunity for us to share his story here today. One of the wonders of being in Marloth Park, besides the exquisite joys of the wildlife and scenery, is the ease with which we’ve been able to make friends. We’ve been welcomed with open arms by permanent property owners, occasionally visiting property owners and visitors from all over the world.
We continue to feel blessed and in awe of this magical place and its many human and animal wonders.
Three warthogs managed to come out from hiding during the stormy weather in search of some pellets we freely offered.
Be well. Stay safe. Let’s all look out for one another! Please wear your mask covering both your mouth and your nose in the shops and public places.

Photo from one year ago today, January 28, 2020:

Three years ago today, this elephant seal on Steeple Jason Island in Antarctica didn’t care for our photo-taking antics. For more photos from that date, please click here. For the year-ago post, please click here.