Pleasant Easter in the bush…What’s on the menu?…Utility and cost of living for us in the bush…

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Notice the puffed-up cheek on this giraffe. Aa they eat vegetation, they store it in their cheeks for short periods.

We had a very pleasant Easter in the bush. Many visitors came to call, which is unusual during holiday weekends. Last night, at one point, we had nine warthogs in the garden, getting along quite well, although Tiny was chasing Mom of “Mom & Babies” for romantic purposes, while the two babies tagged along wondering “What the heck” was going on.

Each evening when they start arriving around 4:00 pm (1600 hours), we grab ourselves a beverage and sit back and enjoy the evening’s entertainment. Last night was one of the best. Laughter ensued from our places at the big table on the veranda as we watched these peculiar wild pigs interact with us and one another.

This wildebeest was the first animal we saw on this morning’s drive through Marloth Park.

By the time they left, our dinner was ready, which Tom had prepared on the braai. It wasn’t a fancy or varied Easter dinner, as mentioned in yesterday’s post. Tonight’s meal will be a little more interesting; homemade mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts, well -seasoned and wrapped in back bacon to be baked in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. On the side, rice for Tom and eggs for me.

When the mosquitoes became fierce outdoors, we headed indoors to our bedroom, turned on the air-con, and streamed a few favorite shows on HBO Max on my laptop. We use the kitchen’s wood cutting board as a base for my laptop to avoid getting too hot while sitting on the bed. We’ve learned to adapt to watching on the small screen, which we keep reasonably close between us.

Several electrical poles in Marloth Park are leaning like this, undoubtedly contributing to power outages during storms.

From time to time, we sign up for additional streaming services after we’ve canceled another. At most times, we have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime and occasionally add another service for a particular show we’d like to stream.

In our old lives in the US, the cost of cable services was no less than  US $234, ZAR 3435, a month, almost nine years ago. Of that total, US $79, ZAR 1160, was for unlimited WiFi, leaving US $155, ZAR 2275 a month for TV cable service with a few added select services.

We drove down Volstruis to find several giraffes munching on trees.

Now, with whatever streaming services we use during any given month, we usually spend about US $45, ZAR 661, and we’re free to cancel any one of those at any time. (Unlimited WiFi service is included in our rent here in Marloth Park). Soon, we’ll be dropping Netflix for a while since, during those ten months in lockdown in the India hotel, we watched everything we wanted to see on that service.

However challenging at times, electricity is included in our rent and running and bottled water and gas for the braai. Our only living expenses in the bush consist of rent, groceries, other supplies, dining out, pellets, fuel and car rental, tips for cleaning staff and servers.

It’s always delightful to spot giraffes.

Living in the bush in South Africa, we spend less than 50% of the expenses we’d bear if residing in the US in a similar house, eating the same types of food, dining out once a week, and driving a similar economical car. For us, that is priceless! Then again, what kind of a price tag can we put on the exquisite, daily experiences of being “one” with nature?

Today, we’ll stay put again with many tourists still in the park for a few more days. Once they leave, we’ll head to Kruger National Park, and today, we commenced our frequent drives in the park searching for more and more photo ops which proved successful. It’s a peaceful, low-stress, highly entertaining, and enriching life here in the bush.

We were fortunate to get these shots this morning.

We remain grateful and humbled by nature and the humans surrounding us.

Off I go to work on the treadmill. Renting the treadmill has been another expense of US $40 a month, ZAR 587, but has proved to be well worth it, keeping me moving when I usually work out almost every hour during the day.

Munching on treetops.

Be well.

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

Not quite sunset, sunny views over the Kenomane Bay in Kauai across the street from our condo in Princeville. Photos today from this post on this date, six years ago. For the year-ago post, please click here.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate…Long ago memories…

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Our boy Tiny, lounging in the garden after eating lots of pellets. As big as he is, he can consume lots of pellets. Note the cute pose. That’s our boy!

Easter was one of our favorite holidays in our old lives. We made Easter baskets for each family member and their pets in beautiful woven baskets with ribbons, name tags, and chock full of goodies suitable for each one. We’d line them up, usually about 17 or more baskets, on our huge dining room table, and most years, the kids and later grandchildren came to enjoy their personalized bounty.,

If the weather was terrible, which it often was most years, all of the activities occurred indoors, which never put a damper on it for any of us. We played games along with an Easter egg hunt, with decorated eggs and plastic eggs filled with money. After the festivities ended, we had the same brunch each year consisting of brunch egg flan, bacon, sausage, hash browns, fresh fruit, homemade muffins, or cinnamon rolls along with juices and coffee. It was quite a feast enjoyed by all.

Here is the link to our last Easter in Minnesota in 2012, before we began our year’s long journey to travel the world.

A forkl of kudus stopped by for a morning snack.

Even after eating a keto diet in 2011, I made a few appropriate items perfect for me. Then again, it was only a year and a half later than we began our world journey, and Easter celebrations as we knew it no longer were a part of our life. Our adult children, by this point, had started to integrate their traditions into each of their respective families.

Of course, we miss everyone and certainly miss the celebration we spent days, if not weeks preparing for this special religious holiday. Amid all the pomp and circumstance, we never forgot the meaning of the celebration of Easter.

Today, nine years later, in this new life, what remains with us is the great memories and the observance of the spiritual significance. We don’t prepare a special meal, especially since it’s just the two of us and our way of eating. Tonight, we’ll both have bun-less burgers with bacon, cheese, and white rice on the side for Tom. My side dish, most likely, will be hard-boiled or scrambled eggs on the side, a perfect option for us.

The kudus love pellets along with the attention we give them.

As usual, we’ll dine on the veranda, watching nature as our source of entertainment, reveling in the wonders that surround us in the bush. No regrets. No sadness, just a pure and simple joy to be alive, together, and safe in this majestic wildlife paradise.

Sure, it would be great to be sharing this and other holidays with family and friends. But, we chose this life so long ago and continue to revel in its wonders, knowing there is still much world for us to explore in times to come, hopefully, when and if the pandemic settles down across the globe. Do we see this on the horizon?

Right now, it’s impossible to predict. Even the so-called experts don’t know when it could end, how long the vaccine will continue to provide protection, and when the world of travel will resume to its former “normal” patterns. We don’t know.

Three bushbucks in the garden are waiting for the warthogs to leave so they can partake of the pellets.

We aren’t sad at all being alone in the bush today on Easter. The weather is cool with a high of 82F, 27C with overcast skies, moderate humidity, and no breeze whatsoever. This morning, we’ve had a few visitors, primarily warthogs and bushbucks, who visit more often than any other wildlife. We can’t go out for a drive to search for photo ops with the roads packed with tourists doing the same.

During the holiday seasons,  Kruger National Park is fully booked with appointments that are necessary to enter. In the few weeks, we’ll get our Wild Card to enter Kruger at our leisure during off-peak times with no appointment required. During these first three months, we’ve never visited Kruger. With all the rain and muddy, impassable roads and many days where our entrance point of Crocodile Bridge was flooded, we never attempted to go. These next three months will be different.

Narrow and The Imposter in the side yard hoping for more pellets.

For some odd reason, we feel more settled in and at ease now with immigration issues not hanging over our heads at the moment and the comfort of knowing we can freely stay until June 30, 2021, without a problem. We’ve decided to wait until the last minute to see if President Cyril Ramphosa extends visas yet again in June. We can always get a flight out of here and back with only a few days of planning.

May all of you who celebrate Easter, Passover, and other holidays throughout the world this month have a pleasing and meaningful experience while you continue to stay safe and healthy.

 Photo from one year ago today, April 4, 2020.

While in Kauai, Hawaii on this date, five years ago, we speculated, based on appearance, that there’s some sort of permanent pouch beneath this shedding skin of this Green Anole.  We had difficulty finding details on the shedding process of these lizards. For more on this post from six years ago on this date, please click here. For the year-ago post, please click here.

A decision has been made and executed…See here for details…

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There were several issues in our minds over the past several days that were haunting us after deciding to go to the US after our Kenya trip was canceled due to new lockdown measures for the country, preventing us from making the much-desired trip to the Maasai Mara to stay at Little Governors Camp.

Within 24 hours of being informed that we wouldn’t be able to go to Kenya, we quickly canceled everything and booked traveling to the USA with hopes of getting the Covid-19 vaccine while there. Plus, our visas would expire on April 12th, and we needed to leave South Africa by that date hastily. With many countries in Africa and throughout the world experiencing a variety of lockdown issues and problems due to the pandemic, going to the US seemed to be the most logical solution at the time.

Perhaps, we acted too quickly without thinking it out carefully. Who would have thought returning to Minnesota for 15 days, Nevada for a week, including a possible visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit Tom’s Sister Beth, wouldn’t work out? After booking everything necessary for the US, including flights, cars, and hotels, we called the health care facility where Sister Beth resides to discover a vaccine was required for all visitors to see the patients, received at least two weeks earlier.

Immediately, we researched heavily for how we could get a vaccine in Minnesota on April 12th, a day after our arrival. We spent two full days online and couldn’t find a single appointment for that date or any other dates for that matter. Since we were only staying in Minnesota for 15 days and would need to quarantine for at least ten days and be tested after the 37 hour travel day, we started questioning our decision to travel to the US.

If we didn’t quarantine, we’d risk infecting our family members, many of whom are over 80 years old. Since we have no US physical address and no US insurance (only international, which doesn’t include the US), what may be accessible to permanent residents, would cost us considerable sums. But that wasn’t the main factor. We were worried about not having time to quarantine and the possibility of infecting our family members.

Two male zebras were standing at the veranda table looking for pellets. Of course, we didn’t waste any time accommodating them.

Also, we must admit, the thought of spending hours hanging out at the Johannesburg airport also concerned us when we’ve seen many passengers at the airport without wearing a mask or properly wearing a mask. When we arrived in South Africa on January 12, we couldn’t help but notice the carelessness of passengers, although the staff appeared diligent in mask-wearing and social distancing.

We feared infecting our family members, our primary reason for canceling our trip to the US. But, also, we didn’t want to be exposed ourselves, either when we’d be spending over eight hours hanging around the Johannesburg airport awaiting our flight or other layovers necessary in Frankfort, Germany, and Chicago, Illinois.

When we saw how unlikely it would be to get the vaccine in Minnesota and to be able to wait the necessary two weeks for efficacy and to protect our loved ones in the interim, we decided another destination, more conveniently located, might be required.

This one decided to lay down in the shade.

While researching online, we received a text from a local Marloth Park friend, Andrew, who told us he’d seen an article stating that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had extended all visas for those who’d entered South Africa before March 15, 2021. We confirmed the information on the country’s immigration site, and it indeed was true and included us.

Perhaps, our hasty plan to visit the US was not meant to be after all. If we didn’t have to leave, we’d have time to plan for the future and when, in fact, it would be safer to return to the US to see family, putting no one at risk by our presence. Also, although sketchy at this point, vaccines, including the South Africa variant, may become available here in the next several months. If we could get the vaccine here, traveling to the US would be a non-issue.

So, immediately, we got to work canceling everything we’d already booked for the US. Fortunately, the airlines gave us credit to use for future flights, which worked well for us, and as it turned out, we didn’t lose money for our hasty bookings. This was only days after canceling everything for Kenya.

They came up onto the veranda, and we were able to check out his whiskers!

We feel relieved and confident we did the right thing, suitable for our family, right for us. Next, the challenge was, would this house still be available for us now. Immediately, we contacted Louise, and she assured us there was no problem. We could stay as long as we’d like.

I’d already packed my clothes, and today, I will put everything back into the drawers. Last night, we contacted all of our family members that we weren’t coming after all. They understood, and we all look forward to a time when a visit is appropriate for all of us.

Thank you to all of our readers, friends, and family members who so thoughtfully sent us information on finding bookings for the vaccine in Minnesota, most of which we’d already discovered after days of researching online. But, even if we could have been vaccinated the day we arrived, we still had the two-week waiting period to ensure efficacy when we stayed only 15 days anyway. It just wouldn’t work one way or another. The handwriting was on the wall.

After they came around the back to the garden, they were joined by a warthog, Lonely Guy, and an impala.

Are we overly cautious? Perhaps. But a minor inconvenience is worth a lot of life!!! We’re disappointed we won’t see our family next week, but we’re confident we did the right thing. Many throughout the world haven’t seen their distant family members since this all began. We are no exception.

Besides, this morning while peeking out the kitchen window while making my coffee, two zebras were in the carport driveway, one laying down, another standing by the car as shown in today’s photos. When they saw me, they walked around to the back of the house to the garden and on the veranda looking for pellets. Who can dispute the loveliness of such an event? Living in the bush has its many rewards! We are in awe. We are grateful.

Be well.

P.S. The correction of the spelling of the word “Archives” on our site has not yet been corrected, Covid-19 hit the staff of our web development company, and they are unavailable at this time.

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

This photo is from six years ago while we were in Kauai, Hawaii. This scene made us squeal with delight!  How magical! Click here for the link. For the year-ago post, please click here.

Thank you for the positivity!!!…

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Medium Daddy, not quite full grown but on his way to being a Big Daddy in years to come. Notice his musculature. Wow!

It was a year ago yesterday that I uploaded a post with a heading that read:

“Please “unfriend me” if…Social media during lockdown….”

The purpose of that post may be found at this link, was accomplished. Throughout the lockdown period and continuing today, the positivity we’ve experienced from our worldwide readers and social media friends has been nothing but upbeat.

Even now, as we’ve reported our upcoming return to the US to visit family, get the vaccine and get our passports stamped, allowing us to reenter South Africa when we’d adamantly stated, we wouldn’t be returning to the US during the pandemic, has been supportive and encouraging.

Frank was standing on the veranda railing.

Well, who knew what this pandemic would bring? Who knew it would be impossible to get the vaccine in South Africa anytime soon? Who knew a planned trip to Kenya would be canceled due to more lockdown measures implemented by its government? Who knew it would make so much sense for us to change our minds?

Our change of mind could easily have been fodder for criticism and negative feedback. But, not a single reader of our site or social media wrote a negative word or comment instead of encouraging us all the way. For this, we are very grateful.

Whether or not our “Please unfriends me if…” had an impact will never be known. Primarily, that particular post was intended for our social media contacts, not so much our readers, who have always been outrageously kind and supportive, with a few rare exceptions.

Lots of kudus stopped by this morning.

But, at times, although not necessarily directed to us specifically, Facebook was rife with negativity. We’ve seen a dramatic change for the better in the past year. Did the pandemic do this?

One could say we could easily leave Facebook if we don’t like the majority of the content. But, for us, it’s a convenient and useful way to stay in touch with friends and family when often we are isolated, such as while in lockdown in India. And even here, now, we don’t have the usual numbers of social interactions we experienced in our previous stays in Marloth Park. People are careful to avoid social contact in most cases.

When we were in Marloth Park in 2018/2019, we saw friends several times a week. Now, with Covid-19 on everyone’s mind, it’s been less frequent, leaving us feeling a little isolated at times. Thank goodness for that! Of course, the wildlife visitors continually entertain us and, no doubt, we thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and that of the friends we’ve been able to see.

He, like, everyone else, loves the pellets which we offered freely.

Many have written to us over the past few days with heartfelt empathy over the cancelation of our trip to Kenya. We appreciate the generous messages we’ve written back, but we are pretty fine with the change, especially when we receive all of our money back. We’re still waiting for a few bigger sums to be refunded, almost US $4000, ZAR 59424, from both Little Governor’s Camp and Kenya Airways. Hopefully, we’ll see these refunds coming through soon.

Getting our passports stamped for another 90 days in South Africa and the opportunity to receive the vaccine have been many motivators in returning to the US. The bonus is the opportunity to see our family members after an 18-month hiatus, typical of many family members who haven’t traveled to see one another due to the pandemic.

Quite handsome.

Thus, this change in our itinerary will ultimately prove the most sensible and beneficial change in our many years of world travel. We thank all of our thoughtful readers for their kind comments, email, and WhatsApp messages and look forward to continuing to share our story for years to come, health providing.

    He stayed around for quite a while, posing for the camera.

Stay healthy and embrace life as many of us mourn the loss of loved ones during this dreadful pandemic and attempt to accept a new way of life in times yet to come.

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

An owl we spotted at Kanha National Park in India. For more, please click here.

How do we perceive the current situation?…Returning to the US…Nine days and counting…

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Last night, we had another visit from the thick-tailed bushbaby.

It’s somewhat of a weird feeling, knowing we’re leaving for the US in a mere nine days. In the past, we knew well in advance that we were returning to our home country for a visit, often many months or even a year before our pending arrival. Those periods allowed us to plan our re-entry and mentally prepare ourselves for the temporary return to our former way of life.

Everyday life in a big city has been absent in our lives for over a year when we left for India in January 2020 and ended up in a lockdown. Spending those ten months in the hotel in India left us free of the day-to-day annoyances when we were so isolated. Returning to the US now will be an entirely different scenario in light of Covid-19. We don’t quite know what to expect.

She was a little tentative about jumping down to the floor of the veranda. The lure of the treat was irresistible.

I suppose that’s been the case for people worldwide during the last year of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown in many countries. Many have isolated themselves from the day-to-day commotion associated with “normal” life instead of the lives we’ve all experienced during the pandemic. Will we ever live those lives again? It’s hard to say.

While we were in India, we flatly refused to return to the US. No matter what, we were going to stick it out. There were too many virus cases and a noticeable lack of precautions by many who believed they were exempt from its wrath. Now, here we are returning, contrary to our former beliefs.

We put a little bit of sour cream down for her, and she loved it.

What drives us to change our minds at this point? One simple reason is the vaccine. We need to get it done if we intend to continue to travel instead of isolating ourselves in a lifestyle we aren’t interested in experiencing. Sure, we’re looking forward to seeing our family members. That’s a given.

In any case, we’d planned to be back in the US in May 2022, a little over a year from now, when we would have been entering the US via cruise ship to Seattle, Washington. Now, that’s up in the air. Who knows if any of our booked four cruises while transpire beginning on November 30, 2021, and ending on May 7, 2022? None of these may sail.

Ms. Bossy, pregnant, which doesn’t show in this photo, is so “in-our-faces. She’s outrageously persistent. But, we thoroughly enjoy her daily visits.

However, if any of these cruises do sail as planned, there is no doubt in our minds that we’ll need to be vaccinated to board any or all of them. That’s the way traveling into the future is rolling out, whether we like it or not. We realize the vaccine is not a 100% guarantee we’ll be safe or need boosters down the road. Science has yet to determine how long the vaccines will last.

Often family and friends write to us with news about Covid-19 in a thoughtful way, assuming we don’t have access to the latest news and science. But, we do, as readily and as frequently as any of you in any country throughout the world, including in the USA. In any case, whatever transpires, we’ll continue to stay well informed to ensure we know exactly what we need to do to carry on.

We always say to the pigs, “Don’t eat the seeds.” Some listen. Others do not.

We’ve learned, as many of you have, how to filter out “fake news” and controversies that have continually surrounded this seeming politicized pandemic. To us, good science, often tricky to decipher, is all we have to go on. Of course, we consider sources of information above all when making any decisions for our lives. We avoid politically charged sources of information, preferring to lean toward solid science from sources we’ve come to trust.

We don’t consider Facebook and other social media as reliable sources of medical information. So much of that can be manipulated as scare tactics to appeal to specific groups. If we read an article that piques our interest in Facebook, we immediately search for reliable studies and information generally available to the public.

When reading our posts, we each can choose how we receive and decipher what we read online, including all of you. We make every effort to provide clear and concise information here in each day’s post, But, we too, aren’t exempt from making an error or misstating something we’ve discovered. It’s up to each one of us to do our research to bring us to the point of feeling well-informed and educated. It’s a work in progress, potentially imperfect.

Ms. Bossy and Mary, Peter, Paul, and Mary, are getting along as they share the pellets.

This morning we headed to Komatipoort for our last shopping trip and purchased our last bag of pellets. We bought very few groceries after taking a careful inventory of what we had on hand. We’ll be dining one last time at Jabula Lodge & Restaurant on Friday night, leaving us with only seven meals ahead of us that we’ll prepare. -We have one more significant chunk of delicious tenderloin in the freezer that will get us through two more nights. Tonight, we have it covered with bacon-wrapped fillet mignon. We don’t mind a bit.

If we get low on something, we can always run to the local meat market to pick something up. In the interim, we’re focused on eating everything we have on hand with no perishable food remaining when we leave on April 8th.

All is good. We have peace of mind and don’t feel stressed at all. Of course, once we’ve accomplished the long journey and received our vaccines, we’ll have even more peace of mind.

Be well. Continue to be safe.

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

The excellent staff was serving us at the Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai International Airport. They couldn’t have been more attentive and concerned about our needs and those of the other stranded foreign nationals staying at the hotel during this difficult time. Thank you, dear staff members, for taking such good care of us, including taking everyone’s temperature this morning. For more, please click here.

The countdown has begun…10 days and we’re off on our big change of plans…

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An oxpecker on the back of a young male kudu, eating the bugs and debris off his body.

Yesterday was a highly accomplished day for a Sunday. Then again, any day of the week is a day that may require us to “pull up our bootstraps” to figure out a solution to an imminent situation, such as we encountered regarding the new lockdown in Kenya, which started on Friday, preventing us from going on our planned and paid trip to Little Governor’s Camp in the Maasai Mara.

If you missed yesterday’s post with the details, here is the link.

In all, we discovered we’ll lose a total of US $400, ZAR 6007 from the Kenya online Kenyan visa, and cancellation fees of US $100, ZAR 1502 per traveler for canceling the flight with Kenya Airways. It was quite a daunting task, undoing all the bookings for Kenya and creating new bookings for the USA. But now we feel at ease that we’ve got a handle on it.  Now, we wait for refunds and credits to be applied to our credit cards.

Mr. Young Kuda stared at himself in the glass window to the second bedroom.

Many of the credits will take 30 days to process. At this point, we have the cash layout for the expensive Kenya trip and the upcoming trip to the US. We look forward to all of the credits coming through soon.

This morning we visited Louise to explain our situation. Since it makes no sense to pay for two-holiday rentals simultaneously, we have no choice but to clear out of this house, leaving it available for Louise to rent it to other potential tourists while we’re away, especially when our return date is uncertain at this point.

Overall, we anticipate returning in approximately six weeks from our arrival on April 10, 2021, which would take us to the end of May at the latest. We can only speculate at this point. As soon as we know more, we’ll let Louise know what date we’ll be returning.

More kudus with oxpeckers on their backs.

Last night we informed our kids and grandchildren that we’ll be coming, and they, along with us, are enthused for our return. It will be wonderful to see all of them once again after the long haul in India. It will be around 18 months since we were in the US to see everyone, so the timing is perfect.

Next week, we’ll start packing. We’ll only bring a minimal amount of clothing and supplies with us, especially since we’ll need room in our luggage for the items we’ll be picking up at our mailing service in Las Vegas. We didn’t pay the huge fees to send that package to us, plus the associated hassle with insurance and customs fees. We’re certainly grateful.

We’ve decided to go to Nevada at the end of our US stay so we won’t have to haul around the extra 20 pounds, 9 kg, paying for overweight luggage while flying in the US. We’ll fly back to South Africa from Las Vegas, when at that point, it will be an international flight, allowing more weight in our bags.

Medium Daddy waits while Tom refills the pellet container.

The packing will be challenging, separating what we’ll need for the US with varying weather conditions in each location and what we’ll leave behind in South Africa. But, as always, we’ll figure it out. Most likely, while in the US we’ll purchase some new clothing for both of us. We each need several items which we can only find there.

For now, we’ll continue to enjoy our bush home and the dozen or so warthogs, kudus, bushbucks, and wildebeest who’ve become very familiar to us and us to them. Mostly, I’m concerned about Frank and The Misses, who’ve enjoyed eating the seeds we’ve offered several times a day.

Surely, none of them will starve without our constant supply of pellets and seeds. The vegetation is lush and green, and most likely, they’ll visit other houses for treats such as those we offer. Once we return, within a few weeks, they’ll all be back. Frank and The Misses find berries, seeds, and bugs readily available in the park. Hopefully, they’ll remain in this territory while we’re gone.

We’ve done an inventory of how much food we have left. If we head to Komati tomorrow for a few odds and ends, we won’t need to purchase more groceries before we depart. Louise will give us a plastic tote to store our non-perishable food items, and of course, they will store that along with the baggage we’re leaving behind when we depart Marloth Park in 10 days to head to Nelspruit for an overnight stay for the next day’s long journey ahead.

Be well.

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

The casual dining room where we had breakfast and dinner the first few weeks was in the hotel in Mumbai, India. A few weeks later, they closed the restaurant and started serving us room service only. It was a long ten months. For more, please click here.

Oh, oh, alarming news!…Everything could change!…

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Bossy in the garden, posing for a photo.

Last night while out to dinner at Jabula Lodge & Restaurant, having our usual great time, commiserating with owners Dawn and Leon and other guests, and also savoring a predictably fabulous dinner, I heard a notification ding on my phone. Although I have only a few app notifications set up to alert me, I took a peek to find this article:

“Kenya imposes new lockdown – What are the restrictions?

By Africanews and AFP     Last updated: 17 hours ago

Kenya has imposed a new lockdown to combat a surge in coronavirus infections.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday announced a ban on all inland travel in the capital Nairobi and four other counties.

Kenya’s Covid-19 positivity rate has jumped from 2% to 22% between January and March, and Nairobi accounts for nearly 60% of the cases- Kenyatta said that hospital admissions had increased 52% in the past two weeks and that at least seven people are dying every day from coronavirus.

This is Tiny searching in the garden for more pellets. He tends to scare off all of the other animals.

What do the new measures mean?

No road, rail, or air transport will be permitted in Nairobi, Kajiado, Kiambu, Machakos, and Nakuru.

In-person meetings will also be banned.

As for curfew, hours now start at 20:00 until 04:00 am (instead of 22:00 until 04:00 am`) in the five counties. Special passes that allowed people to travel during curfew hours have also been revoked.

Alcohol sales in the areas have also been banned, and restaurants can only provide takeaway services.

The president also ordered “an immediate suspension of all face-to-face teaching, including universities,” except for students currently taking exams.

Kenya reopened its schools and colleges in early January, which had been closed for ten months.

All sporting events are also suspended.

International travel is permitted but subject to a negative coronavirus test.

The new measures begin on Friday at midnight.

These two warthogs are Narrow and The Imposter. A brave impala invaded the scene.

Coronavirus in Kenya

This week Kenya recorded between 1,000 and 1,500 cases per day.

“According to our health experts, our third wave started to gain strength in early March,” said Kenyatta.

The peak of this wave is expected in the next 30 days, with more than 2,500 to 3,000 cases per day,” he added.

Recognizing the impact these decisions will have on the economy, Kenyatta added that these “measures are temporary and necessary to contain the spread of the disease and therefore to stop further loss of life.”

“I am convinced that the cost of inaction would be much worse,” he said“

At least it sounds that international travel is still allowed, but the question becomes;  Will Little Governor’s Camp still serve guests when restaurants and bars must be closed? A big part of the charm of the camp is the frequent arrival of elephants to the restaurant during mealtime.

This is Bossy and an unknown kudu. She usually waits for us in the driveway or the garden when we go out at night.

Will we, as guests, want a takeaway meal when part of the safari experience is delightful meal times, socialization, and good food, all of which are factored into the high daily cost. Would we even want to go if that’s the case? Probably not.

I called two phone numbers for Little Governor’s Camp on Saturday this morning, but no management staff answered our questions. Also, in both cases, the staff members answering the phones stated that more news would be reported on Monday, and they’ll know more about the restrictions and how they will impact the camp and the camp’s guests.

So what is Plan B if we cannot go on this planned adventure? I’m assuming we’ll be able to get a refund for the camp and flights. It will be trickier to get refunds for the flights, but in light of Covid, we may not have a problem. We can easily cancel all hotel bookings without an issue since they all have free cancellation policies. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get a refund on the flights to and from Nelspruit to Johannesburg and back, which were booked separately. We shall see.

But, all of this hinges on what we find out on Monday or even as late as Tuesday. If we don’t go, we won’t have time to plan and book a trip to another location, apply for an online visa, etc. Honestly, neither of us feels like going through that again right now. Our only option with our South Africa visas expiring on April 12th, we’ll have no choice but to return to the US for a short stay.

Such a handsome male bushbuck.

In doing so, we’ll stay long enough to get our Covid-19 vaccines and then head back here. Depending on which vaccines we can arrange, we may be gone a month or more. We’ll see our family during this time and take care of any business we need to address. We’ll go to Minnesota to see part of the family and then head to our state of residence, Nevada, where we’ll see the eldest son Richard.

Once again, our lives are up-in-the-air due to Covid, uncertain of what the immediate future holds. At this point, neither of us is losing any sleep over this and will wait patiently for what transpires next week. We knew at some point we’d have to return to the US to get the vaccine.

The likelihood of us getting a vaccine in South Africa is unlikely in the next few years. With upcoming cruises on the distant horizon and required vaccines for all cruises, this may be as good a time as possible to get it done. We’ll certainly keep you well-informed of the situation as it rolls out.

Note: In the past few minutes, we received an email from Little Governor’s Camp. This afternoon, they hold a manager’s meeting to decide if they will close during the 60 day lockdown period or stay open. We will report the results in tomorrow’s post.

Have a peaceful and fulfilling day, dear readers.

Photo from one year ago today, March 27, 2020:

Beautiful statue at the beach in Pondicherry. For more photos, please click here.

It’s been a long and hard year for all of us…

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The mongoose went on a frenzy taking the whole eggs out of the pan, cracking them on rocks, and eating the contents.

It’s easy to sit here in relative bliss in the bush, reveling in the endless treasures Mother Nature doles out day after day, combined with a pleasing social life, financial stability, and hopefully, improving good health. Tom takes no prescription medication and I’m down to two little tablets a day plus a baby aspirin and a small handful of supplements recommended as useful during the pandemic.

There’s little reason for us to worry or feel stressed. Sure, we’re concerned about the safety of leaving for Kenya in a mere 13 days and if we’ll be able to continue to avoid contracting Covid during the upcoming travel days and proximity to others on game drives.

Sure, we’re thinking about how we’ll be able to be vaccinated when more and more travel venues are requiring vaccinations to be able to cruise, fly, and use other means of transportation. But, this type of concern is no different from the concerns of many who are anxious to get back out there and travel once again. It’s been a hard year for all of us.

This morning’s mongoose mania in the garden. Tiny is in the background. He wasn’t thrilled to see the mongoose and headed out into the bush and waited for them to eventually leave.

When we look back at the past year, which is hard to avoid, my heart is heavy over the loss of my dear sister Susan in August 2020, with whom I shared a lifetime bond that was precious and meaningful. Through all these years of world travel, we spoke frequently, often every week, sharing stories, laughing, and dreaming for the future. I miss her.

Three other family members contracted Covid-19 and their recovery was frightening and worrisome. My other sister Julie still suffers from “long-haul” Covid symptoms. No doubt, many of you have lost loved ones and friends during the pandemic, leaving each of us saddened and heartbroken over the ravages of this relentless virus.

During that 10 months in lockdown in a hotel in Mumbai, India, it was easy to let my mind play tricks on me when even the slightest pain or discomfort made me concerned about how I’d be able to see a doctor with the poor conditions in India. It wasn’t safe to go out when doctors weren’t seeing patients, other than those with Covid in special facilities, often in a makeshift parking lot or tented areas.

The mongooses also like to drink out of the birdbath’s lower section. It’s comforting to be providing clean water for our visitors.

Most heart surgery patients are particularly sensitive about a moment of chest pain, breathlessness, or other potential heart attack or stroke symptoms. I’m no exception. It only takes a slight case of indigestion to make us worry it’s something more. Even at times, when Tom had an ache or pain, we wondered what we’d do, if seeing a doctor was necessary. Need I say, these situations were stressful.

The thought that I had an abscessed tooth weighed heavily on me during that period, wondering how serious it could get if left untreated for too long. As it turned out, as mentioned in a prior post, it wasn’t an abscess. It was a sinus infection or allergy as determined by a recent visit to a well-regarded oral surgeon in Malelane.

Then, there was the worry during the first five or six months that the hotel would close and we’d have nowhere to go. When our supplies ran low, we ordered a package of items from the US, which we couldn’t buy in India, only to spend months attempting to get the package delivered to us at the hotel, via FedEx.

The mongoose quickly gathered around the pan of whole eggs Tom placed on the ground. Also, we give them scraps of meat and fat since they are omnivores.

It was a nightmare when India had endless requirements with complicated forms and documents to complete in order to receive a package. It was a source of worry for months and especially, more so when we had to pay almost US $300, ZAR 4499, in customs fees.

Without a doubt, the circumstances could have been much worse. However, we humans may think that a situation could be more challenging, but find ourselves caught up in the situation at hand. It doesn’t help a person who’s broken their leg to say, “Well, you could have lost your leg.” It’s no different if someone said to me, “Get over the bites that itch all night long and keep you awake. You could have been bitten by a snake.” Everything is relative.

When we think of all the people who’ve lost their jobs, their businesses, their financial security, their lives, and the lives of their loved ones, we are saddened. None of us have been untouched by this in one way or another. These are difficult times.

This Mr. Bushbuck has longer horns than some males.

Today, not necessarily a special day, we reflect on the past year and celebrate the abundance and fulfillment we’re experiencing now. But, we’ll never forget this past year, nor should we. It’s a frame of reference that will always remind us to be grateful for what we have and how we’ve come out on the other side.

No, it’s not over yet, and the future is uncertain and frightening at times, but we carry on with hope in our hearts and optimism for the future.

Be well. Be safe.

Photo from one year ago today, March 26, 2020:

When I originally took this photo of Tom’s dinner a few weeks earlier, he said, “Don’t post that. It looks disgusting.” Later, in lockdown in Mumbai, it starting to look appetizing to both of us. For more, please click here.

Sleep…Vital…Elusive, at times…24 different beds…

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Ms. and Young Mr. Kudu wait around, knowing that the warthogs will prevent them from getting a single pellet.

Let’s face it. After uploading 3,144 posts in the past nine years, some of our past post topics may likely be repeated from time to time. It’s inevitable. Oddly, I recall old post topics and am fully aware when we’re being repetitive. But, I also realize that many of our readers are newer and may not have read those past posts.

Is today’s repeated topic of sleep relevant to our world-travel lifestyle warranting discussion on this site? I believe so for the following reasons:

They moved to another spot hoping their luck would change. Pigs won’t share with other species, although other species will often share with the pigs.

Adjusting to a different bed and location while traveling…

Many of us become accustomed to our beds, having difficulty sleeping in different beds from time to time. For us, sleeping in different beds is commonplace. In the past 14 months, most of which was during the pandemic, we’ve slept in 24 different beds, including hotels, on a train, near airports, on our private tours in India, and two here in Marloth Park, all the while considering the ten months we spent in one hotel in Mumbai.

Until Tom did a thorough count this morning, we had no idea how many different beds we had to adjust to during this period. It’s no wonder sleep is elusive for us at times, which may be the case for other travelers as well.

Who would have thought that we’d stay in 24 different hotels and subsequently different beds during the pandemic? Is there anything we could have done to lessen the requirement adaptation?  Here they are:

  1. Asking for a sufficient number of pillows and any special pillows and bedding we’ve found can aid us in sleeping better. Tom needs three pillows. I need two flat pillows, and a third used under my laptop while working on the bed. Be careful if your laptop gets hot on the bottom. Ours do not. Instead, ask the hotel staff for a tray.

    Nature isn’t always harmonious.

  2. Untucking the sheets at the foot of the bed. Neither of us can tolerate the tight bedding, which may prevent a good night’s sleep.
  3. Keeping a light on in the bathroom with the door closed or partially closed helps avoid that feeling of unfamiliarity that comes when awakening in the middle of the night in an unknown location.
  4. Temperature control. We need a cool room to sleep in. If air-con is not available, a fan is a must.
  5. Darkening the room to prevent awakening earlier than necessary.
  6. Noise control. If the room and surrounding area are noisy and you can’t sleep, ask to be moved to another room. Most facilities will comply with this request without an extra charge or hassle.
  7. Sticking to a regular bedtime schedule if possible. No, this is not always the case. At times, we’ve arrived at a hotel in the middle of the night, feeling wide awake from the travel commotion. Settling in after attempting to accomplish as many of these tasks as possible may be helpful.

    Finally, Tom managed to toss a few pellets their way.

  8. Sleep aids. There’s varying opinion on whether one should take any prescription or over-the-counter medications to aid in sleep. On occasion, we will use a local over-the-counter product, Somnil, when sleep is elusive, which in some countries is called Unisom. For those where there are Costco stores, the product is called Kirkland Sleep Aid. It’s also available on Amazon. Please check with your doctor to see if this drug is safe for you, your health, and your lifestyle. Dr. Theo, here in SA, recommended this product to us. We don’t take Somnil if we cannot sleep for eight hours since it can cause morning drowsiness if an early flight or appointment is upcoming. We have never used any prescription sleep aids, nor will we.
  9. Camomile tea and other herbal teas. Last night, before bed, I drank a cup of Chamomile tea that I steeped for three minutes. I slept almost nine hours last night. Wow! I feel great today.

    Daily, Tom refills both the top and bottom sections of the peculiar Greek birdbath, enabling all wildlife to drink fresh water.

  10. Relaxation and breathing techniques/videos/music may be helpful. Usually, when we have a lot on our minds, we have trouble sleeping. Being able to “turn off your brain” is crucial for getting a good night’s sleep. This breathing technique, 4-7-8, has been helpful for me on many occasions. For details and instructions, please see here.
  11. We are not worrying about not sleeping. Generally, losing one night’s sleep isn’t going to cause any long-term health issues. Many times, we have flown on overnight flights, never sleeping more than one or two hours. Sure, we felt tired the next day. But after one good night’s sleep, we never give it another thought. Worrying about it only exacerbates the inability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

    At first, Tom didn’t think it was a good idea to put water in the bottom section, fearing the warthogs would break the structure. But, now, he sees how happy the animals are to get a drink of freshwater. Now he is convinced and refills it.

  12. I was doing everything possible to treat medical conditions that may inhibit sleep. Lately, I have been covered in bites, like many others here in Marloth Park. I have tried dozens of remedies to avoid staying awake itching all night. The past few nights, I wore long-sleeved pajamas with tight-fitting leggings. I didn’t get any new bites, and the fabric close to my skin seems to keep the itching at bay. I can’t say this will work for others, but it has helped me. Go figure. Whatever works. Now I’ve had two good nights’ sleep in a row.
  13. Turn off digital equipment, if possible, a few hours before bed. I say this, but I don’t do it! I look at my phone, read the news, and play games when I can’t sleep. For me, I get bored and fall asleep. Doing this may be too stimulating for some and may contribute to poor sleep. Each of us is different. We continually strive to find what works best for us.
Tiny, who’s quite the loner, has a new friend, we call Narrow, due to his narrow face. Narrow used to hang out with The Imposter  (who imitates Tiny), but now Narrow has gravitated to Tiny. We’ll see how this works out when The Imposter returns tonight when these two are most likely cuddled up.

Of course, countless books are written on this topic, and we all may benefit from learning more and more about sleep from experts. But, for us world travelers, sleeping in 24 different beds in 14 months, the above is what has worked for us. Yes, we have many nights when sleep is elusive. We both try not to worry about it and look forward to the next good night’s sleep.

There is an endless stream of adjustments we must make for frequent travelers to enjoy our chosen lifestyle to the fullest. Every day we do our best to ensure we’re feeling our best. Sometimes we succeed, and other times, we do not. But isn’t that how life is about anyway, regardless of whether you travel or not?

Have a great day and a great night’s sleep tonight and always.

Photo from one year ago today, March 25, 2020:

The scene we traveled in India on the Toy Train. For more photos, please click here.

Back on top of the world…Memory of a terrifying morning, one year ago today…

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It’s such a treat and a pleasure to enjoy a glass of red wine on the veranda at sundown.

While out-of-sorts yesterday after little sleep the previous night, somehow I managed to reset my phone to the factory settings, re-installing all of my favorite apps and restoring it in a manner to my liking. What a relief! Now, it’s working as it did when it was new. It’s a good feeling when all of our digital equipment is working correctly.

Much to my disappointment, I noticed a spelling error on our site, which mysteriously appeared after the most recent crash and restoration, which I failed to see. The word “Archive” concerning our historic posts is spelled “Archieve,” an easy error to make when an India-Hindu/English-speaking company created and restored our site several weeks ago after the most recent crash.

I reported it to the web people, and I imagine it will be corrected by the end of today. Also, we lost the dates in front of every archived post which we had previously. This was extremely helpful for us, let alone our readers, who may be going through each post from the beginning and would like to recall where they left off easily.

Last night, I managed to sleep almost eight hours. I wore my long-sleeve winter PJs with long leggings keeping all my skin covered except my hands and feet. Before I went to bed, I slathered repellent on my hands and feet and around my neck and face.

We are thrilled to see so many animals drinking from the birdbath. It’s too close to the house to get birds, other than Frank, but he and his family fulfill most of our birding aspirations right now.

In addition, late in the day, Tom sprayed the bedroom with Doom, leaving the door closed and the room unattended while the smell and chemicals dissipated sufficiently for us to go to bed eventually. I never got a single new bite overnight. Many of our readers have written with suggestions for my itching, which I thoroughly appreciate. But I’d already tried all of them.

Plus, this isn’t a skin condition generated by my own body, such as dermatitis, eczema, or another such condition. It’s none of those. It’s bites of some sort. Thank you for all of your concerns and suggestions. Also, many other residents in Marloth Park are suffering from the same issue. It could be sand fleas, sandflies, chiggers, no-see-ums, or dust mites. It’s not mosquitos. Mosquito bites stop itching after four or five days. These bites continue to itch for weeks.

Anyway, a good night’s sleep has left me on top of the world today. Today is another cooler day. Right now, it is only 77F, 25C. It’s very humid but a far cry from what we’ve experienced over the past few months. The high today will be 81F, 22C, around noon, dropping from there. Wow! What a difference cooler weather makes in how we feel both mentally and physically.

One year ago, we experienced that stressful morning when we were “kicked out” of the SunNSand Hotel in Mumbai and sent to the Orchid Hotel, where we were assured we had a reservation. Once we arrived at the Orchid, they had no idea who we were and closed the following morning.

Their excellent manager/concierge got to work on his phone and called one hotel after another, looking for a safe place for us to stay. Without his help, the only option was to stay at a Covid-19 hotel packed with sick guests to stay while they recovered from the virus. There was no way we would have stayed in such a hotel.

Another enthusiastic drinker.

We wrote the following from that post:

“They had no record, whatsoever, of any reservation in our name, not for one night, let alone one month. Nor were they able to book us a room when they are closing tomorrow. Sun-n-Sand had pulled the wool over our eyes to get us out the door so that they could complete.

There we were, hotels closing like dominoes falling, all over Mumbai, with owners of holiday homes not responding to our inquiries and nowhere to go. My heart was pounding in my chest. Tom kept reminding me to stay calm while we figured something out.

As much as the staff at The Orchid wanted to help us, there was little they could do. The fantastic hotel manager/concierge, Mr. Wesley Fernandes, immediately worked with the utmost effort to find a solution for us.

I had visions of us standing outside the US Embassy in Mumbai with all of our baggage, pounding on the door trying to get help.”

Need a toothpick?

The heading of our post that day stated, “A morning from hell… OMG…OMG.” It was a terrifying morning when every hotel in the city of Mumbai was forced to close by the government, except for one… The Courtyard by Marriott Mumbai International Airport.

The kind man, Mr. Wesley Fernandes, arranged a taxi to take us to the Marriott. But even after we arrived, we were worried they, too, would close in a few days. It was months later that we could finally relax, knowing they’d stay open during the ten months we lived there in the lockdown. We will be eternally grateful they stayed open when at one point, there were only four rooms occupied by guests (including us) in the 330 room hotel.

Anytime in the future that we have an opportunity to stay at a Marriott Hotel, we will, out of sheer loyalty to the good company. They lost vast sums of money remaining open during the pandemic and hopefully will recover their losses in times to come, along with all the other business owners and private parties worldwide who have so dearly suffered during these challenging times.

And here we are, 70 days later, content to be in the bush and determined to stay until our next cruise after we’ve somehow managed to get a Covid-19 vaccine. Hopefully, we’ll be able to accomplish all of this in this upcoming year.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Photo from one year ago today, March 24, 2020:

Gorgeous leis of flowers offered for sale for religious offerings. For more, please click here.