Part 1, Victoria Falls, from Zambia and Zimbabwe…Two totally unique experiences…ATM issues…

Alas, we arrived at the magical splendor of Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

These sharp rocks are along the land bordering the falls in the shallower areas to keep the elephants from crossing from Zimbabwe to Zambia.

It’s Saturday around 5:30 pm. A few hours ago, we returned from our almost all-day visit to Victoria Falls from both the Zambia and Zimbabwe sides, each very different from the other.

As we drove along the two-lane highway toward Victoria Falls National Park, we could spot the spray at a distance. Wow!

We’d undoubtedly recommend visitors to this awe-inspiring site, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, to experience the views from both countries. One would be missing out only to see the falls from one of the two countries.

At the beginning of our long hike, the views continued to grow in their magnitude the further along we progressed.

It was a tremendous amount of walking up steep, hilly, and rocky areas, particularly from the Zambian side.  Later, when we entered Zimbabwe, a much easier hike, we were grateful we’d decided to see the falls from both countries. 

The power of the roaring water is breathtaking.

Our tour guide on the Zambia side is Alec from Chris Tours, who’d also collected us from the airport yesterday afternoon. Based on visa requirements, he could not accompany us to Zimbabwe but will be handling our transportation for our remaining tours.

In the shallow area of Victoria Falls, we were gifted with a rainbow, but this was the first of many we saw throughout the day.

After completing the falls tour in Zambia, Alec drove us the short distance (basically across the Zambezi River) to Zimbabwe. Although we’d already paid and received visas for entrance into Zimbabwe, we still had to go to the immigration office at the border to get our passports stamped for entry and then again, later when we departed.

As we continued on the path with many steps and rocky surfaces, we look forward to the upcoming enormous expanse of the falls and yet enjoyed these sightings along the way.

This process was somewhat disorganized, but after all, we always say, as others do, “This in Africa.” Things aren’t necessarily as organized or as seamless as they may on other continents, in other countries. We go with the flow, no whining or complaining and working our way through the process the best way we can.

This morning, we had an incident that reminded us that “This is Africa” when we went to an ATM to get cash to pay for our tours. We’d spent a 25% deposit when we’d initially booked the tours with the intent of paying the balance when we arrived in Zambia via getting Zambian kwacha from an ATM once we arrived. The tour company doesn’t accept credit cards, per se (see below for explanation)

Dr. David Livingstone’s presence is felt everywhere in the massive national park. There will be more on him in stories to come.

This should have been an easy process. When Alec drove us to a local ATM early this morning, Tom got out and approached the machine at a bank. It “ate” his card claiming the process “had timed out.” Tom already knew how many kwacha he needed to get to account for the balance we owed at around ZAR 7003 (US $572). 

There are numerous signs throughout the park explaining a myriad of historical, geological, and geographical facts.

There was no reason, on our end, for this to occur. Alec drove us back to the hotel to get my ATM card which was locked in the safe. Tom quickly ran inside and grabbed the card. We headed to another ATM. 

Once we entered the card, Alas, we discovered we couldn’t get more than 800 kwacha from the machine per day, which is only ZAR 989.47 (US $80.82). We’d have to find another seven ATMs to use to get enough cash to pay Chris. Now, we had a measly 800 kwacha. 

At this point, we weren’t too wet.  Future photos will show us soaked to the gills.

We later discovered that ATMs in Zambia don’t dispense large sums of cash due to security reasons.  We’d encountered this exact scenario while we were in Buenos Aires, where we could hardly get any money at one time.  This has nothing to do with our bank or our card. It’s predicted by the ATM and the bank’s decisions.

Chris trusts we’ll pay, but we won’t be able to pay him until Tuesday since we’ll be out on tours all day on Monday when we can do what we’d done in paying a deposit…signed a credit card authorization form which he can take to his bank and get the cash. 

The sounds of the falls are near deafening but music to our ears as we reveled in the beauty of this magnificent place.

It is inconvenient for him (and for us), but when a company doesn’t accept direct credit card processing for payment, this is what may transpire. Most tourists coming to Africa and other countries obtain cash from their “home” banks and bring it with them. 

Well, folks, we can’t walk into our US bank and walk away with cash we’d need to visit a particular country.  That’s one of the many realities of traveling the world. It’s not always fun and exciting.

Clay model, display of Victoria Falls.

However, once on our way, we had an exceptional experience at Victoria Falls in Zambia, and tomorrow, we’ll share the outstanding experience with Webster, our guide in Zimbabwe. He can be reached at this link or via this email address.

We look forward to sharing many more photos from our two tours of Victoria Falls. Soon, we’re heading out to dinner at one of TripAdvisor’s top-rated restaurants in Zambia, and over this week, we’ll share food photos and dining experiences as well. Please check back tomorrow.

Have a spectacular weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, May 12, 2017:

It’s imperative to stay within the white Royal Caribbean logo on the blue platform to avoid the risk of injury from hitting the sides, so say the Flow Rider Experts, as shown in this post one year ago. For more details, please click here.

Zambia…We have arrived!…The tours begin tomorrow…Laid back evening tonight…

Around 2:00 pm on Friday, we arrived at the Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone, Zambia. It was much larger than the Nelspruit Mpumalanga Kruger International Airport.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We couldn’t resist posting this photo we took last night of Wart Face and his new girlfriend. She’s a mom with two babies who still hang around with her, but it’s mating season, and Wart Face has been courting her for weeks. We laughed out loud to see them taking a rest together last night at dusk. Note the two oxpeckers on her, the first time we’ve seen oxpeckers on warthogs. Over this next week, while we’re in Zambia, we’ll be adding photos we’ve taken outside of South Africa for this feature, “Sighting of the Day in the Bush,” since it is undoubtedly bush-like here as well.

It took a total seven hours from the time we left the house in Marloth Park this morning to arrive at our hotel in Livingstone, Zambia, at 3:00 pm this afternoon. The drive to Nelspruit was less than an hour and a half, and the flight was less than two hours. 

As we drove away from the airport in Zambia, the surroundings could have been any city in any part of the world.

The remainder is all the typical monkeying around on travel days, check-in; luggage (no fees required); immigration, all of which included long periods of waiting in line. There were only 84 passengers on the entire flight, but it could have been four times the amount based on its time to process all the travelers.

But, somehow, even with the delays, we were okay.  In actuality, everything went well. There were no surprises which we like. We’ve found that the longer we travel, the less annoyed we are by typical inconveniences one can expect at the airport or other means of transportation.

Buses and charter vehicles provided transportation for many tourists, many of whom we could determine were from North America.

One of the longest delays of the day was at immigration in Zambia. An extensive tour group was given priority over the rest of us at both airports, resulting in hour-long delays. There was nothing we could do but wait.

As we drove through outlying areas, we were reminded of driving through Kenya, where we’ll be again in nine months.

Once we made it through immigration in Zambia, we paid a ZAR 1223 (US $100) entry fee for the two of us (by credit card), which included both Zambia and Zimbabwe. Finally, we were on our way to baggage claim to easily find our bags and be on our way. 

A walker sheltered from the hot sun carrying an umbrella.

Alec, our driver for the week, was waiting for us at the airport entrance holding a sign with our name. We got into the somewhat rickety van to make our way to our hotel, a short distance away. We drove through the town of Livingstone, where many travelers come from all over the world to visit the renowned Victoria Falls.

Once we reached the city of Livingstone, we were surprised by many modern buildings and conveniences.

From this site: “Livingstone was, until 2012, the capital of the Southern Province of Zambia. Lying 10 km (6.2 mi) to the north of the Zambezi River, it is a tourism centre for Victoria Falls and a border town with road and rail connections to Zimbabwe on the other side of Victoria Falls. A historic British colonial city, its present population was estimated at 136,897 inhabitants at the 2010 census. It is named after David Livingstone, the British explorer and missionary who was the first European to explore the area.”

The city is clean and well organized.

“Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia until October 1964, and bordering Zimbabwe was Rhodesia. “The territory of what is now Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia from 1911. It was renamed Zambia at independence in 1964. The new name of Zambia was derived from the Zambezi river (Zambezi may mean “River of God”).”

Shops, businesses, and restaurants line the streets.
There’s a vast amount of fascinating history we’ll explore in part over this week while we visit some of the sights in these three bordering countries; Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana.

Now that we’re settled into our comfortable hotel room at the Protea Hotel by Marriot Livingstone with good AC, Wi-Fi, and a comfortable bed, we’re content and happy to be here. 

We have a few days on our own, during which we’ll check out downtown Livingstone on foot.

For ease, tonight we’ll dine at the hotel’s restaurant, and we’ll check out recommendations from TripAdvisor for the remaining evening’s meal. Breakfast is included each morning, beginning at 6:30 am, which will work well for our busy schedule of various tours we’ve already arranged.

Tomorrow, at 7:45 am, we’re off to see Victoria Falls. We decided we’d do the full tour of both sides of the falls, from Zambia and Zimbabwe. It will be a full day. Once we return to our hotel in the late afternoon, we’ll prepare the post with many photos of Victoria Falls.

Back at you soon, dear readers! Enjoy the evening and the weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, May 11, 2017:

The beach on a tropical island as we began to wind down the cruise. In three days, we were back in North America, preparing for the Alaskan cruise. For more details, please click here.

Busy morning in the bush…An infrequent visitor…Tomorrow, we fly to Zambia..

Tom, looking over the edge of the veranda at night to see who’s come to call.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Last night’s sunset through the trees.

Our packing is almost completed. It’s been relatively easy. Marta ironed a few shirts for us after we washed all the clothes we wanted to bring, including all of our insect repellent “BugsAway” shirts and pants and appropriate items to wear to dinner.

A single mongoose is attempting to crack a fresh egg. They’re smart enough to know to bang the eggs on the ground or on tree roots to crack them open. 

With so little clothing, it wasn’t tricky selecting what we’d need for the seven days and nights we’ll spend in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana, a relatively short trip for us.

We wanted to use a few dozen eggs we had left for the mongoose before leaving for our trip.  For the first time, we just placed them in the unopened bowl to watch the playful frenzy.

All we have left to pack are a few toiletry items we’ll need to use in the morning and our plethora of digital equipment; laptops, cameras, chargers, a tripod, phones, etc. 

At first, they weren’t quite sure what to do since we always scramble the eggs in this bowl.  But, it didn’t take them long to figure out they could grab one and run to crack it independently.

This time, it will be easy; only one checked bag and one carry-on each, a less than two hour non-stop flight from Nelspruit each way, and a short pre-arranged ride from the Livingstone Airport to our hotel.

Our only concern is will we be able to get back into South Africa after this short time away…immigration-wise, that is?  We won’t know until May 18th when we return to Nelspruit.  It makes no sense to worry. We have a great backup plan in mind should the requirement arise. We’ll share details later.

When the eggs were gone, the mongoose continued to investigate the bowl.  This one, with “egg on her face,” figured out the eggs were gone.

Honestly, I don’t feel like going on a trip, but then again, neither does Tom. It’s hard to leave when we’re so content here. It’s not as if we “need a vacation/holiday. Good grief! Speaking of “non-stop,” our lives are a non-stop vacation/holiday.

We were thrilled to see a wildebeest in the yard this morning, an uncommon occurrence.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I’m sure once we’re situated in our hotel and begin the tours the following day, we’ll be perfectly content and thoroughly enjoy the experiences ahead of us. It always seems to go that way.

He opted for some pellets.

This morning kept us rather busy, with five species of visitors crowding out one another in the yard. We had “My Girl,” my favorite kudu, who is easily identifiable by a notch in her right ear, most likely due to an injury or congenital disability, stop by several times today. 

“The head of the wildebeest is large and box-like. The body looks disproportionate, as the front end is heavily built, the hindquarters are slender, and the legs spindly. Both males and females have curving horns close together at the base but curve outward, inward, and slightly backward. , The wildebeest is gray with darker vertical stripes that look almost black from a distance.”
Then, we had “Tom’s Girl,” an adorable bushbuck, as shown in today’s photos which loves him and waits for him at the edge of the veranda, barely able to see over, while he gets treats for her. It’s the cutest thing! We can always see her perky ears peeking up over the white ceramic tiles, waiting for him.
Tom’s favorite bushbuck is the baby who visits each day with her mom and a friend (or an aunt).

With numbers of bushbucks, kudus, Vervet monkeys (whom we don’t feed), an infrequent visit from a wildebeest, and dozens of guinea fowl monopolizing all the dirt surfaces, it was a great start to the day. It was only in the past few minutes that things settled down, and now it’s quiet again.

The little one is finally interested in the vegetables, apples, and pellets.  This mom is “Tom’s Girl.”

Tonight will be a quiet night. We’ll finish the food we have planned and stay outside enjoying the sights and sounds of the bush until it’s time to head to bed, perhaps a little earlier than usual, to get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s big adventure.

Tomorrow, we won’t be posting in the morning. Instead, we’ll prepare a post once we’re situated in our hotel, which should be uploaded by 5:00 pm, our time, five or six hours later than our usual upload time.

Last night, we counted 12 bushbabies coming down from the trees to partake of the cup of strawberry yogurt.

Next time you “see” us here, it will be from Zambia, another country we’ll be adding to our world travel map as shown on the right side of our homepage, underneath the photo of us in Petra. Also, during this trip, we’ll be adding Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Stay well and happy until soon…we meet again!

Photo from one year ago today, May 10, 2017:

New friends with whom we spent a lot of time aboard the cruise: Ray, Terry, Ulla, and Julie. We’ve all continued to stay in touch via Facebook. For more photos, please click here:

Wrapping up details for Zambia…Dinner at Jabula with friends…

After we stopped at Obaro farm store, we spotted this woman selling cooked food on the side of the road, an African-style food truck, minus the truck.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We had no less than a dozen kudus stop by for apples, carrots, and pellets. Check out the adorable baby kudu near the tree, most likely only a few weeks old.

It’s Sunday morning, and once again, we’re on the veranda enjoying the view.  It was only 8:30 am when I started the text content of today’s post after deciding on which photos to upload, which is always a challenge. 

So far this morning, we’ve had five different species of visitors as the holiday crowds dissipate and the animals are more prolific in our yard.  It’s odd how this happens. For days, we had few visitors while the park was jammed with holidaymakers. Now, as they’ve departed, the action in the yard has escalated to where it was before the “school holiday,” Easter holiday, and “spring break,”

Through the bushes, we could see the kudu heading our way.

This morning’s planned “brunch in Lionspruit” was postponed. Several of the confirmed guests canceled last minute, so Louise sent me a text informing us they’ll schedule for another day this morning. 

We are fine with the change of plans, which allowed me to get today’s post completed early instead of later in the day since we’re invited to dinner at Sandra and Paul’s home at 5:00 pm. 

One by one, they entered the yard until finally, there were more than a dozen.
This morning as I riffled through thousands of photos, it became all the more apparent to me regarding the time required to keep our zillions of photos in order. Often, one may perceive all we have to do to upload a post is write it, edit it and add a few photos. But it’s much more complicated than that.

I keep used photos in a separate folder on my desktop to ensure we don’t post the same photo twice. I have several other photo folders to keep the old, used, and newly separated. Managing photos is a huge daily task that requires the first hour of each day, once I’m showered, dressed, and situated at the big table on the veranda.

The baby kudu was nursing and not interested in solid food quite yet.

Typically, I download all the day’s photos at the end of each day to ensure the data card on the camera (s) is cleared for the next batch. It would be too confusing to leave hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs accumulating on the card, which some travelers tend to do.

Also, I don’t want to risk accidentally deleting photos or being unsure of the circumstances as to when they were taken. Most often, the photos we share are from the previous two or three days, sometimes longer. 

We heard something on the tree closest to the house to discover this lizard.

Weather conditions, backgrounds, and scenery can change from time to time, so we attempt to keep the posted photos as current as possible. Then, there’s the reality that some days, what we have on hand may be redundant or less interesting to our readers, meaning we need to get out to take more interesting photos. 

It’s all a part of the delicate balance of trying to keep our posts interesting and current. But, from time to time, especially here in Africa, there are many of the same animals and similar photos.

This lizard wasn’t quite a meter long from head to tail. 

That’s the reason why, almost every day, we head out in the little rental car in search of new and exciting scenes to share with all of you. Please bear with us if there is redundancy. 

We’re excited that we’re heading to Zambia next month, which will surely provide us with plenty of photos to share over many weeks, even after returning from the one-week getaway.

It appears they were trying to determine if it was worth tackling the bird feeder for a treat.  We put an egg on the ground, but she showed no interest when the lizard hurried past it.

In the past day, we’ve been working back and forth via email with the highly-rated Chris Tours located in Zambia but crosses over to other bordering countries for a greater range of options.

Here’s the schedule we’ve booked with Chris for the week we’ll be in Zambia, during which we’ll also enter Botswana for the Chobe tour:

May 11th, 2018 – Meet, Greet, and Private Transfer from Livingstone Airport to Protea Hotel
May 12th, 2018 – Guided Tour of the Victoria Falls on both Zambia and Zimbabwe sides
May 13th, 2018 – Free Day
May 14th, 2018 – Chobe Day Trip in Botswana
May 15th, 2018 – Free Day
May 16th, 2018 – Boat Cruise on the Zambezi River by the Lion King
May 17th, 2018 – Free Day
May 18th, 2018 – Private transfer from Protea Hotel to Livingstone Airport

By arriving on May 11th and departing on May 18th, we won’t be doing any tours on either of those dates. The highly-rated Chris Tours is our choice for all tours based on five-star ratings at numerous sites online.  We’re comfortable we’ll be in good hands.

This lizard climbed down the tree to the ground then running into the bush.

It was essential to book all of these now, especially after discovering the limited options for available hotels during our required time slot to hopefully accommodate our visa renewal time slot. Please see yesterday’s post for details regarding the immigration concerns.

In all, we’ll be added three more countries to our travel map as shown on our homepage: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. All of these will be good experiences for us, and if, for some awful reason, South Africa doesn’t let us return for any more 90-day time slots, we’ll have seen a little of these other countries to determine if we’d like to return.

Yesterday, a small group of mongoose stopped by for a plate of eggs.

This time, instead of dreading immigration concerns, we are excited for the opportunity to see these particular areas in these other countries. As for photos, we’ll be bombarding our site with an endless array of what we’ll see during the tours and throughout the small town of Livingstone, Zambia, on the free days, as shown in the above itinerary.

Last night we had dinner with Kathy, Don (Don’s cousins, Sandy and David), with Janet and Steve joining us shortly afterward. The conversation on Jabula’s veranda around the table for eight was robust with conversation and laughter. The food, as always, was excellent and the pricing reasonable.  Dinner and drinks for Tom and I totaled ZAR 478 (US $39.39). 

For a change of pace, I’ve switched from wine to gin and tonic when we found sugar-free tonic at the little store in Marloth. I limit myself to one shot per day, loading up on ice, lime, or lemon. We found these metal cups that keep the drinks cold at Obara, and I brought them with me to Jabula last night, along with the sugar-free tonic. Thus, I only ordered the tiny shot of gin as shown in the little cup dividing it among two drinks.

Many of our friends come and go to Marloth Park and homes they own elsewhere. While some are away, we spend time with the others, going back and forth between houses for dinners and dining out. It all works for us, and we’re so grateful to be a part of these great groups of people.

So, that’s it for today, folks. We’ll continue to be on the lookout, literally and figuratively, for more photos to share with all of you every day.

Have a pleasant day! 

Photo from one year ago today, April 8, 2017:

This was the view from the next-door neighbor’s house, which was up for auction.  For more photos of an expensive home in Fairlight, Australia, please click here.

More photos…The museum at Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas… Another power outage…

Juan Ramon showed us a railroad calendar. As Tom went though the pages, month by month, he was excited to find this page with the Great Northern Railway (photo from 1964). In the background is the Mississippi River, the Hennepin Ave Bridge and behind it, the Great Northern Railroad Bridge.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

In this photo, taken yesterday before the big storm, the mountains almost appear as a tidal wave.  Freaky.

Yesterday afternoon, about 30 minutes prior to our plan to walk down the steep road to a neighbor’s home who’d generously offered to take us with her to the restaurant where the rock and roll fiesta was being held from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, a downpour occurred of such magnitude that we decided not to go. 

The rain didn’t let up for hours.

Juan and his family in this old photo.

Not wanting to inconvenience her by asking her to come get us in the downpour, coupled with our lack of interest in getting soaked and the consideration that many others may have decided to stay home anyway, made staying in an easy decision.

Juan Ramon photo as he became in charge of managing the historic depot.

Moments after we notified the kindly neighbor that we wouldn’t be coming, the power went out during a close flash of lightning. This was around 3:00 pm. Unfortunately,  shortly before the power outage, I’d been using my laptop to watch a Netflix movie without using the power supply. 

The depot in the early 1900’s.

Subsequently, my battery was partially drained, leaving me with only a few hours of use remaining should the power not come back on. Again, I reminded myself of the recent hurricanes in the US and the thousands that continue to be without power, including thousands whose homes were uninhabitable due to the devastation from the storms. A short-term outage here in Costa Rica is nothing, comparatively.

The walls in this area were covered in old railroad photos.

My phone’s battery was half drained as well. Tom’s laptop was fully charged so if we were stuck in the dark all evening, we could use his laptop to watch a movie as opposed to sitting in the dark. There are only a few candles in the villa. All of our books are on our phones on Kindle apps.

Train arriving at the station in late 1800’s or early 1900’s.

I knew my laptop wouldn’t make it through one entire movie so I used our portable hard drive, plugged it into my laptop and downloaded several shows and movies. This way I could transfer them to Tom’s laptop where we could watch them there if need be.

In 1926, a tragic derailment resulted in the death of 14 passengers and crew.

At this point, Tom decided to take a nap, a rare occurrence for him. He laid down on the comfy bed and in minutes, was sound asleep. I wandered about the house, looking for something to read.

Many photos of the 1926 derailments lined the walls of the museum.

Although some vacation/holiday homes have somewhat of a “library” along with puzzles and games,  this particular property had only one paperback book, a military-type thriller in the desk drawer. I picked it up and began reading.

Axel and wheels of an old cart as shown in above old photo. Not all items in the museum were related to the railroad.

I hadn’t read a paper book in years. Even in our old lives, years ago I began reading books online, long before it was popular to do so. I loved the technology and simplicity of always having my “book” with me wherever I might be. Now, due to weight and space restrictions, neither of us ever carries a paper book.

The museum was a hodgepodge of antique items, including these tools and handmade masks.

The book kept me busy for the half hour Tom dozed. He awoke with a start asking if the power had returned. With not much to do and with it still pouring rain, we walked around the house, staring out in the sheer wonder of how it can rain so much day after day. Thank goodness for the usually sunny mornings.

By 4:30, we decided we may as well make dinner since it’s usually dark by 6:00 pm, hopefully only opening the refrigerator a few times until the power came back on. We busied ourselves in the kitchen.  Luckily, I’d already done most of the prep for the meal earlier in the day. 

When planning to go out to the music fest we figured it would be best to have a meal ready to cook in the event the food at the restaurant wasn’t suitable for my way of eating. 

Railroad switch locks.

We had Asian burger patties ready to cook (luckily the range runs on propane gas); a salad made and ready for dressing; vegetables to throw into a pot of water on the stove.  Dinner would be easy to prepare without electricity.

As for keeping the refrigerated food cold, Tom had been saving ice in the bottom bin of the freezer in a large plastic bag. He had enough ice to keep the refrigerated products cold overnight, if necessary.  If the power didn’t come back on the next day, we could begin eating everything in the freezer. We had a plan. 

Old seats from a passenger train.

By 5:15 we were seated at the dining room table with our plates of food in front of us, while we watched an episode of Master Chef. If the power didn’t come back on overnight, we had it covered.

Just about the time we’d finished our meal and the show ended, the lights flashed when the power came back on. We looked at each other, smiled and jumped up starting to clear the table. As always, Tom washed the dishes while I busied myself with other cleanup tasks.

Tom wrote in the guestbook as he often does as we travel the world.

By the time darkness fell, we made our way to the screening room, selecting a few shows on Netflix to watch until bedtime. Sure, we were disappointed not to go out with our neighbor but we do have other social plans on the horizon.

As for today’s photos, enjoy these museum treasures that Juan Ramon excitedly shared with us as we toured through the dusty old museum on the grounds of the railway depot. He was delightful and we appreciated every moment he spent with us.

Soon, Tom will watch the Minnesota Vikings game on the app on his laptop with the HDMI cord plugged into the huge flat screen TV while I prepare tonight’s meal. It’s a typical Sunday in the life of retirees.

Gee…I just might get back into that paper book!

Photo from one year ago today, September 17, 2016:

What a lovely family in their colorful holiday clothing as they walk to a local shrine with their offerings. Gede, our house man in Bali, stopped by for a visit with his wife and two daughters.  hey have since added a son to their family after we left almost a year ago.  For more details please click here.

Part 2… A journey to yesteryear in Costa Rica… A railroad depot and freight house… Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas… Culture and history…

No, thanks. We had no interest in walking on this bridge at Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

Inca Doves can mate for life and typically spend considerable time preening one another during the mating season. Tom took this great photo from the veranda.

After we toured the locomotive and the museum (photos coming soon) with Juan Ramon, he enthusiastically encouraged us to make the walk down the railroad tracks to the abandoned bridge at the end of the tracks.

A railroad high stand switch was used to switch the train from one track to another.

It has been raining every day for these past weeks since we arrived, and the ground was muddy and slippery in spots. Luckily, we were both wearing our water shoes which we could easily wash with the garden hose when we returned to the villa.

Several houses line the railroad tracks.

With the issue of ruining our shoes out of the way, I contemplated whether this long walk over rough terrain would work for me. At the same time, I continue to recuperate after all these months, having yet to restore my previous level of fitness and stamina. 

There was no road accessible by car to reach the houses along the railroad track.

Hesitating to go at all and realizing how long Tom and Juan Ramon would be gone, I decided “what the heck,” and I began the trek along with them. At a few points, as shown in a photo in yesterday’s post, they stopped to wait for me. 

Although difficult to see in these photos, the river runs under the bridge.

Tom stuck close to me at other points, holding my hand as we navigated the more difficult spots. The trek was much further than anticipated, although some TripAdvisor reviewers mentioned it in their comments. I knew that the more walks we do like this, the stronger I’ll become.

Walking on the bridge didn’t appeal to us.

Finally, after stopping from time to time to take photos, we made it to the bridge. Oddly, Juan Ramon and I communicated a little while I explained that our world travels in my choppy Spanish. He asked me to name some of the countries we’ve visited and seemed most intrigued with those in Africa, as is often the case.

We didn’t see any reason to walk on the old rickety bridge, so we went as far as we could without doing so.

He told me about his family and his years of working on the railroad.  He was particularly fascinated with Tom’s 42½  years spent working for Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He kept this in mind as we toured the property and museum, knowing Tom was a highly experienced railroad man.

At a few points, we could see the Rio Grande River.

Moving on to more current events of today, we finally reached out to make social contacts in Atenas. A few weeks ago, I joined an Atenas ex-pat group on Facebook, spending a few minutes each day lurking without commenting.

Although the ground was pretty level as we walked toward the bridge, walking was precarious at times. It has been raining daily, and some spots on the dirt path were slippery and muddy. At many points, we had to walk in the center of the track. 

Yesterday afternoon, I stuck my neck out and wrote the following post on Facebook:
“Hello, we’re world travelers staying in Atenas for almost four months in Roca Verde. We’d love to meet some of you. Any suggestions on where and when we could hang out and have an opportunity to make some friends would be appreciated. On October 31st, it will be five years since we sold everything we own and started this journey. We don’t own a home, have an apartment or condo anywhere, or have storage anywhere. We’d love to hear about your travel experiences and more about Atenas. Please message me or click my email on our blog at www.worldwidewaftage.com”

A least half of the way, we walked on the gravel on the tracks when the dirt path ended. The railroad ties were a combination of wood, concrete, and steel.

We’d heard ex-pats in Costa Rica were as friendly as the locals. After receiving 12 comments following my post, we already have plans for tonight to go with a neighbor living in our gated community of Roca Verda to an event in town, a rock and roll festival, and a barbecue at a local restaurant. Next week on Wednesday, we’ll attend a luncheon, mainly a women’s group, but the men come along and sit at a separate table.

At 3:30 today, we’ll walk down the steep road to Barb’s home and ride with her to the event. We’ll explain we’ll arrange a taxi to take us home so she doesn’t have to give a thought as to when we’d like to go or stay. Easy peasy. 

This house on stilts along the tracks appeared to be occupied.

Then, we received a few email messages for more plans for next week when we’ll have a car again. How fun is this! Tom and I both shook our heads, wondering why we hadn’t done this sooner.  After all, we’ve already been here for over six weeks.

We have no doubt we’ll have a good time as we often do with other retirees, many of us who’ve stepped outside the box to live a different life from what they knew living in their native country. It’s always interesting to hear “why” others have chosen this path.

We’ll be back tomorrow with the story of what we discovered when spending the late afternoon and evening with ex-pats from several countries. Of course, we’ll be taking photos to share here.

Have a fabulous Saturday! 

Photo from one year ago today, September 16, 2016:

Locals fishing along the shore in Sumbersari Bali as seen from our villa’s veranda, one year ago today.  For more photos, please click here.

Part 1… A journey to yesteryear in Costa Rica… A railroad depot and freight house… Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas… Culture and history…

The blue locomotive at the train depot, Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas, with a dual cab.

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This morning’s view of the veranda at 5:30 am.

Tom and I frequently accommodate each other’s interests when we decide on where we’ll go sightseeing. Sometimes, it’s botanical gardens which I particularly love, and at other times, it’s a military museum.

Tom was walking toward the depot and museum.

Undoubtedly we are stereotypical for our genders with many of our interests besides our mutual passion for wildlife; for me, the flowers and quaint shops; for him, military tanks and railroad history and memorabilia.

Signage at the depot.

Over these past years of world travel, we’ve found we can easily cross over to each other’s interests with little hesitation. I no longer roll my eyes when he stops to read every word on historical signs posted at various locations. He’ll freely pause to show me an unusual flower.

Juan Ramon’s home is located across the tracks. 

We share endless interests in wildlife and nature, which have proven to be in abundance in many countries. Based on our transportation limitations and mountainous location in Costa Rica, birds have proven to be of our most significant interest as we spend hours each day watching and listening for varied species. 

Dog at the train depot, Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas.

As shown in our many bird photos, Costa Rica doesn’t disappoint its colorful and varied wildlife and vegetation. Both of us are thoroughly enjoying each day, including the bird sounds and songs, including the nearly constant crowing of roosters.

Locomotive drive wheels on display at the depot.

As for sightseeing, we continue to get out several times every other week when we have the five-day car rental, which is upcoming again on Monday. In the interim, we’ll continue to share photos and stories from our recent sightseeing expeditions and outings when we last had the car.

Control stands inside the locomotive cab.

We’d read about Puente Ferrocarril Rio Grande Atenas at the TripAdvisor site with many rave reviews. Those less interested in railroad history wrote some wishy-washy reviews. In contrast, others reveled in the fascinating history and museum, leaving us smiling hours after exploring several areas of this exciting spot.

Engine compartment.

We parked the car and walked the short distance to the depot.  There were only a few visitors on-site who may have been from some news agency when we noted they had sophisticated camera equipment set up and were taking photos. Shortly after we arrived, they left. 

The opposite side of the engine compartment.

Moments later, Juan Ramon came out of a single-story house located on the property to greet us, warmly shaking our hands.  He spoke no English, but somehow we were able was able to understand he’d been managing the property for the past 10 years since the trains stopped running and he moved his family into the tiny house.

Inside the cab of the locomotive.

A warm and friendly man, Juan Ramon couldn’t have been more thrilled to share the treasures of the location, including allowing us to tour the blue locomotive (Tom gave me a shove to get me up the metal ladder while I hung on tightly on the grab-irons), the roadbed/right-of-way to the railroad bridge and considerable time in the museum.

In railroad jargon, an overly zealous train enthusiast is often referred to as a “former,” implying they “foam at the mouth” when around anything railroad, whether its modern-day train and railroad equipment or memorabilia. 

The opposite side of the locomotive cab.

Tom’s no foamer.  He’s more interested in the local history and culture of the railroad in the country we’re visiting at any given time than in railroad equipment itself. Based on the extent of photo ops at train stations and depots, I’ve learned to find it all rather interesting as well.

Tomorrow, we’ll share photos from the long hike to the railroad bridge, a hike we’d hesitated to embark upon when some reviewers mentioned how far it was from the depot and the rigor of the walk along the tracks, now overgrown with vegetation (as shown in the photo below) when unused over the past 10 years. 

Tom and Juan Ramon were waiting for me to catch up on the long hike.

But, our wonderful and thoughtful host, Juan Ramon, who lives at the depot and oversees its operation and visitors, insisted on walking the long distance to the bridge with us. Although there’s no fee to visit the facility, we left Juan Ramon a generous tip for the time he spent with us, especially when the facility wasn’t opened to the public that day. 

Please check back for more with many photos from the adjoining museum, there again, presented to us by our generous host, Juan Ramon.

Photo from one year ago today, September 15, 2016:

This duck seemed perfectly content in our pool in Bali until realizing it could be tricky getting out, so she swam to the steps as shown and walked out. Animals are amazing!  For more photos, please click here.

We’re off sightseeing today… Earlier post than usual…

What a lovely flower!

“Sightings from the Veranda in Costa Rica”

This pretty little hummingbird hit the glass wall and perished. It’s so sad to see this happen. There are stickers on the windows specifically designed to avoid these types of incidences, but they still occur every so often.

At 10:30 yesterday morning, a taxi we’d found online picked us up to drive us into town for a relatively reasonable US $2.61 (CRC 1500), dropping us off at the Supermercado Coopeatenas. This was the lowest fare we’d paid for this fairly frequent ride, and we’ll use the same company again.

The varying taxi fares from the villa to the market is baffling, and we’ve yet to settle in with one company/provider perhaps until now. However, there’s something to be said for consistency that is often lacking in many countries regarding taxi fares and other services.

Mother Nature is astounding in her infinite wisdom and creativity!
Dropping us off at the cafe in front of the market, we only had a short wait until Edgar would arrive with the second of two five-day car rentals arranged for us by Aad. At a rate of $167.50 (CRC 96,417) for the five-day rental, still pricey by the day, we decided we’ll most likely do the five-day rental every other week or so, depending on what we have planned. 

I sat outside with Tom for a few minutes and then headed into the market to do the grocery shopping while he waited for Edgar. I prefer to shop without Tom at my side.  He has a routine for perusing the aisles, which is very different from mine. Plus, I can be determined when I’m attempting to find a specific item, leaving anyone with me frustrated and bored while I’m “on a mission.”
The outdoor cafe at Supermercado Coopeatenas where we waited for the Thrifty Car Rental guy. Also, earlier in the day, this can be an excellent place to meet people.
Thoughtful as he is, he keeps an eye out for me to load the items onto the counter for checkout. I can certainly do this myself, but he insists on being helpful, also carrying all the groceries inside the house while taking a few smaller bags.  

Early yesterday morning, I called one of the two dental offices in town and, with my choppy Spanish, managed to get a 2:00 pm appointment. I was pleased knowing I’d somehow managed to convey my need to have the crown repaired, only requiring a short appointment.

After bringing the groceries to the villa and putting it all away, we stayed busy until it was time to leave for the dentist appointment in the little gray rental car. We’d hoped to do some sightseeing after the dental appointment, but the rain started again at 3:00 pm as we were leaving the dentist’s office, and we decided to forgo driving in the rain.
A hen and her chicks in our gated community.
As for the dentist, she was terrific. Here’s her information if you’re looking for a great dentist; Clínica Dental Dr. Karina Valerio, phone # 506 2446 3515.  She’s located close to the center of town. As I sat in the dental chair in the meticulously clean treatment room (and waiting area), I watched everything she did to repair my crown.

Her attention to sanitation, her use of freshly packaged and sanitized tools kept me mesmerized while in the chair for 45 minutes. We tried to communicate via an app on my phone, but when she spoke into the phone, the translation put both of us into a bout of laughter we could hardly stop. Even Tom heard us carrying on while he waited in the reception area. 

After my appointment ended, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. My tooth felt fine after she worked hard for a perfect fit. The bill for the 45 minutes of care (minus laughing time) was a mere  US $17.37 (CRC 10,000). We couldn’t have been more pleased.
Could this be a dad and his young boy, yet to grow his full crown of glory, his comb, and his wattle?

Shortly today, we’re off for our tour and sightseeing, which both of us are looking forward to.  We booked an appointment and tour with a facility’s owner to do a story on their highly-rated facility (ranked #1 in TripAdvisor for Atenas), and we’re expected at 10:00 am. 

This appointment resulted in a rushed post today, especially when I’d planned to prepare tonight’s low-carb lasagne (email me for the recipe) before we left, leaving it refrigerated and ready to be cooked at dinner. This left us the entire day to travel about at our leisure with no time constraints whatsoever.

Now, I’ll upload this early post. Tom will proofread it while I put the finishing touches on tonight’s dinner. It’s a great start to the day, sunny in the ’70s, and perfect to be out.  Tomorrow, we’ll share details and photos of our day!

You have a lovely day, too!

Photo from one year ago today, September 5, 2016:

Tom shot this scene in Sumbersari, Bali, early that morning one year ago. Good job, Honey! For more photos, please click here.

Last day of Alaskan cruise…Final expenses for cruise and extras…Minnesota, here we come in the morning…

Snow on mountain peaks. Ships at the Port.

Please note: We’re finalizing the headcount for the “Meet & Greet” for our readers in Minneapolis on June 9th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at:

Grizzly’s Wood-Fired Grill at this location in Plymouth, Minnesota:

220 Carlson Pkwy N, Plymouth, MN 55447
Please RSVP if you plan to attend and haven’t already done so.  Hope to see you then!

The scenery in Alaska hasn’t disappointed.

Here we are, the final full day aboard a ship since April 22nd when we left Sydney, with the exception of the two nights we spent in Vancouver at the hotel. 

We’ve cruised a total of 33 nights since leaving Sydney and look forward to getting settled in Minneapolis after our flight from Seattle with an early evening arrival. It will feel good to unpack, get organized and prepare for a whirlwind next six weeks.

The tender boats were delivering passengers to the shore. So we have packing to tackle this morning. I folded all my clothing from the closet, drawers, and cabinets, placing them in piles ready to be neatly stacked into my one large suitcase. Tom will pack later.

We’re out to sea at the moment heading to Victoria, British Columbia, our final port of call on this nine-night Alaskan cruise, arriving around noon. We’re booked with a private tour at 12:00 pm to visit Butchart Gardens in Victoria on Vancouver Island, a world-renowned garden.

Busy port in Skagway.

Tom booked us for this tour some time ago through an offering posted in CruiseCritic. We seldom attend ship sponsored tours due to the crowds and long lines. However, this smaller private group tour will suit our needs.

Besides, I’ve wanted to visit this world famous garden for years, and Tom surprised me with this booking a while back. That’s not to say that he loves visiting botanical gardens but he’s always been more than willing to see the many we’ve toured throughout our travels. In addition, his keen eye makes him the first to point out an ideal photo op.

Church near the shore in Skagway.

Usually, we post stories and photos while we’re still on location whether living in a specific country or on a cruise. In this case, with Butchart Gardens, we’ll be adding the many photos we’ll have taken today over the course of the next several weeks while we’re in Minnesota.

What stories will we tell while in Minnesota when most of our time will be spent with family and friends? We’re not inclined to post lots of family related information here in our posts. 

Boats and ocean front property in Juneau.

Let’s face it, most people quickly tire of hearing about other’s grandchildren and family members other than a few shots and quips here and there. Unfortunately, such will be the case for us. 

We’ll post of few photos of family members and friends with their permission but will not focus on turning our site into a family album. Most readers have their own family albums and don’t care to spend weeks looking at ours. 

Cruise ships in the port of Ketchikan.

Instead, we plan to share photos of places we’ll visit, magical and interesting moments we experience and the beauty of Minnesota. Of course, with so much to do and people to see in Minneapolis, its unlikely we’ll be traveling far from town. But, if we do, we’ll certainly incorporate those photos into the daily posts.

We have no doubt, we’ll have plenty of photos to share and stories to tell during these upcoming six weeks including dining in restaurants, visiting parks and lakes and sharing morsels about the hotel where we’ll be staying which is located in a lovely area.

A tiny portion of Tongass National Park/Forest which is the largest national forest in the United States with 17 million acres.

We’ve decided to share the final expenses for the cruise today rather than tomorrow which will be a very busy travel day in getting off the cruise, taking a taxi to the airport, flying to Minnesota, picking up the rental car and driving to our hotel.  

Here are the total expenses for the nine-night Alaskan cruise on Celebrity Solstice:

Expense US Dollar
Cruise Fare  $                  4,416.38
Airfare  $                                 
Taxi   $                          8.41
Cabin Credit  $                   (500.00)
Wi-Fi
 included 
Gratuities  $                     243.00
Tours  $                        77.00
Additional Gratuities  $                        80.00
Cruise Bill for Purchaes  $                     496.00
Total  $                  4,820.79
Avg Daily Cost – 9 days  $                     535.64
Hand carved the statue of the popular and commonly seen bald eagle in Alaska. For more details on Alaska bald eagles, please click here.

This morning, I attempted to get a copy of our bill in order to itemize how we spent the $500 cabin credit. Unfortunately, the line at guest services would have required an hour wait or more. 

Instead, here’s an overview from memory of roughly how we spent the non-refundable cabin credit; gifts for family, hats, gloves and a scarf for cold days in Alaska, a few cosmetic and toiletry items and one zip sweatshirt. No beverages were charged to our account. 

Ketchikan Duck Tours, a popular open air bus for tourists.

We received all the bottled water we wanted from the Captain’s Club free happy hour from 5:00 to 7:00 pm each evening. Tom only consumed alcoholic beverages during the two-hour event each evening while I drank complimentary hot tea and water. Neither of us ever drank a soda.

Stunning views in Sitka.

The tour expense listed at $77 is for today’s Butchart Gardens tour. The additional gratuities are for our cabin steward and the restaurant hostess. We didn’t include a tip for the dining room assistant for my meals when my meals were often not prepared correctly or served on time. There was no airfare associated with this cruise since we arrived by cruise ship.

Tomorrow, we’ll prepare and upload a post while waiting to get off the ship, while waiting for our 1:15 pm flight at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle. Most likely, it will be available at the usual time.

 Read here for an interesting story about the building of this tunnel in downtown Ketchikan.

We’ll be thinking of all of you and the photos you may enjoy while we tour the fabulous Butchart Gardens which appears to be taking place on a sunny day on beautiful Vancouver Island!

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, May 25, 2016:

In Bali on the prior day’s pst post, we shared a photo of two buffalos wandering by during dinner and here were four buffalos on a hike from the river seen that evening. For more details, please click here.

Yesterday’s visit to Juneau, Alaska…Skagway today…No tours for us…..

Me, sitting in a bear-shaped chair wearing the hat, gloves, and scarf I’d purchased on-board using some of our $500 cabin credit. (Thank goodness, that’s not our wheelchair).
Note: We’re finalizing the headcount for the “Meet & Greet” for our readers in Minneapolis on June 9th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at:
Grizzlys Wood Fired Grill at this location in Plymouth, Minnesota:
220 Carlson Pkwy N, Plymouth, MN 55447
Please RSVP if you plan to attend and haven’t already done so.  Hope to see you then!

After visiting these ports of call during this Alaskan cruise, we’re convinced we’d like to return to Alaska somewhere down the road (when we finally decide to travel the US and Canada) to stay for a summer.

 

This tram takes tourists up to another shopping area.

A few years ago, we tried finding a vacation home in Alaska and gave up when prices were through the roof for even the smallest cabin. Unfortunately, it appears the best way to rent a summer home would be with another couple or two, sharing in higher costs.

Popular crab restaurant,

For now, with our budgetary restrictions as a result of the upcoming expensive Antarctica cruise in eight months, we’re making the best of each port of call by getting off the ship and wandering through the towns packed with cruise passengers from several ships.

There were many the same shops we’d seen in the past ports of call in Alaska.

Most of the shops consist of various popular gems and stones typically mined in Alaska and a wide array of tourist-type artifacts and products, none of which has any appeal for us when we don’t have a home in which to put such items on display.

The road wasn’t busy, nor were the sidewalks with many cruise passengers out on various tours.

Had we visited these towns in our old lives, many items would have been suitable for our former lodge-like home on a lake in Minnesota.  Natural products, many, including stone, wood, or a nature-driven theme, would have been suitable and difficult to resist.

A large stuffed eagle.

Jewelry has no appeal to me at this point in my life. With the likelihood of our bags being lost or stolen somewhere along the line, accumulating pricey jewelry makes no sense at all. The few costume jewelry items I wear to dinner on cruises can easily be replaced in a Target store for under $15 each, at most.

Carissa couldn’t have been more enthused to hear about our alpaca experience in New Zealand last year.

The day-to-day earrings I wear, mostly nickel-free or non-irritating, are also easily replaced in a cheap jewelry store. I don’t need or want precious or semi-precious gems to add clutter to my otherwise simple zip lock bag of items that I’d hardly miss if stolen.

Yesterday, late morning, we disembarked the ship for a $5 per person bus shuttle into the town of Juneau, the capital of Alaska, with a population of around 34,000 as follows from the web:

I fell in love with these brown alpaca-trimmed boots.  But, they weren’t a practical addition to my five pairs of shoes.

“Juneau, Alaska’s remote capital, sits in the state’s panhandle, at the base of 3,819-ft. Mount Roberts. It’s a popular cruise-ship stop, reachable only by boat or seaplane. A tram carries visitors 1,800 feet up Mount Roberts to an alpine area with hiking trails, wildflowers, and views of Gastineau Channel. This is also the site of the Juneau Raptor Center, dedicated to local birds.”

This soft stuffed alpaca certainly attracted shoppers into the shop.

We weren’t disappointed we hadn’t booked a tour when it rained all afternoon, and the weather was almost cold enough to snow. The surrounding snow-capped mountains were pretty to see, but unfortunately, this town, like others along our route were geared toward shopping.

The store also contained a variety of sheepskin and wool products.

As we wandered through the town, we stumbled upon an alpaca products store and were approached by a charming young woman from Los Angeles who comes to Juneau to work in the store each summer. We chatted with her and were enchanted by her enthusiastic demeanor. 

Fluffy wool and alpaca toys.

We couldn’t resist telling Carissa, who obviously had a great adoration for alpacas, that we’d lived on the alpaca farm in New Zealand for three months, from January 19, 2016, to April 15, 2016. She squealed with delight when we shared our story of living among the exquisite animals. 

Warm sweater coats for those in cold climates.

She gushed with enthusiasm over the prospect of reading about our adventures in New Zealand and throughout the world. Of course, we handed her a card and promised to post her photo and information on the quaint shop, which is:

Simply Natural
406 S. Franklin Street, Suite C
Juneau, Alaska
907-586-1224
302-276-1317

The company has a beautiful website at https://simplynaturalalpaca.com/
If you ever head to Juneau, this enticing store has nothing short of breathtaking alpaca products. It’s well worth a visit. We didn’t make a purchase when cold weather clothing isn’t needed for our upcoming travels. 

The Celebrity Cruise Line “X” atop our awaiting ship, the Solstice.

When we sail to Antarctica, we’ll be renting full sets of warm clothing for getting off the ship to board the Zodiac boats heading out to the ice floes and glaciers for up close and personal experiences with wildlife. But, until then and well after, we’ll be living in hot climates.

In each port of call, we’ve noticed several fur shops.

After that serendipitous experience with Carissa, we continued on the main road walking for some time, taking many photos we’re sharing here today. No doubt, we got wet in the rain and heavy humidity, but we were refreshed after the brisk cold walk and happy we’d ventured out.

Candies on display for sale in a local chocolate shop.

Today, we’re docked in Skagway and will do the same, wander off the ship on our own to check out the town, take more photos and see what interesting morsels enter into our realm along the way.

Cute, decorative clocks in a local products shop.

As always, we’re having a great time, although slightly preoccupied over the upcoming visits to see family and friends in Minnesota and Nevada. We can hardly believe we’ll be in Minnesota in a mere five days.

This train clock made us smile. Had it not been for Tom’s 42.5 years on the railroad, our world travel may not have been possible.

Be well. Be happy.

Photo from one year ago today, May 21, 2016:

This photo was taken at 4:00 pm of the cloud reflection in our pool in the villa in Bali. For more photos, please click here.