Snow storm in Minnesota!…Dinner with kids…New photos!…One day and counting…

Last night at dinner with granddaughter Maisie at Pinstripes in Edina.

Last night we had a fabulous evening with son Greg and grandchildren Maisie, Miles, and Madighan at Pinstripes Restaurant in Edina. Unfortunately, Camille was unable to join us. We had little fun gifts for the kids, and I’d brought a bag of clothes for Maisie. She’s still quite a bit smaller than I am, but she’s embraced some of my things.

The snow had yet to fall at 6:00 PM, although it was predicted to start earlier. The drive was slow at rush hour, but we arrived at the restaurant in no time at all.

It was a particular time with the kids. Without the distractions at their home, we had their undivided attention allowing for plenty of playful and thoughtful conversation and laughter. We’re grateful we had this particular time with them and Greg.

Last night, with granddaughter Madighan.

Afterward, we headed back to Karen and Rich’s home. Rich made room in the garage for Tom to park Camille’s minivan inside, a perfect decision after last night’s heavy snowfall.

The snow finally began to fall around 9:00 pm when we were all safely inside and off the slippery roads. When we went to bed, the windows without shades reflected the ambient light from the falling snow eliciting many memories from our old lives.

Last night with grandson Miles.

As tricky as driving in the snow, something magical about a fluffy snowfall, especially during the holiday season. No regrets…just reminiscent about past times.

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Chere and I drove to the Twin Cities Premium Outlet Mall in Eagan to shop for Tom at the Tommy Hilfiger store. Two lovely salespeople, Edina (her name is the same as the city as mentioned above) and Jill, both helped in ways we never imagined possible. We couldn’t have had more fun.

Tom’s new clothes from Tommy Hilfiger. Over $700 in merchandise was purchased for $286 at the Twin Cities Outlet Mall in Eagan.

At the last minute, when checking out, Jill helped with a 20% online discount coupon making the total sales amount all the more palatable. The store should be proud of these two dedicated staff members, focused on customer satisfaction and service. It couldn’t have been a more enjoyable process.

This morning we put together a big bag of clothing and dropped it off at the Goodwill store. As it turned out, every item I purchased fit Tom perfectly, and he was pleased with his new things. Whew! We’re moving forward with many new items in our luggage.

About 8 inches of snow fell in Eden Prairie overnight.

We’re almost completely packed for tomorrow’s departure for Las Vegas, this time flying out of Terminal 2 on Sun Country Airlines, our only nonstop option on Thanksgiving Day. Son Greg will drop us off around 2:30 pm for our 4:00 pm flight.

In the morning, Tom will load up the minivan with our bags, and in the early afternoon, we’ll drive to Greg’s to say goodbye, drop off the coats we borrowed, deliver the pumpkin pie I baked today and be on our way.
Nothing is as pretty as the freshly fallen snow.

As soon as I upload this post, I’ll be heading to the kitchen to bake the pumpkin pie I promised to make for their Thanksgiving dinner. We wish we could have stayed to have Thanksgiving with them, but it wasn’t possible with my severe allergy to cats. Thus, tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day, we fly away.

Tomorrow, we’ll share the details of today’s cardiology appointment and our final goodbye from Minnesota.

This morning’s snow.

May those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving revel in the preparations and the ultimately, the fantastic meal. We’ll be sharing Thanksgiving dinner with son Richard in Henderson, Nevada, tomorrow evening.

Photo from one year ago today, November 27, 2018:

A tower of giraffes crossing the paved road in Kruger. How magical? Be well. For more photos, please click here.

Ratcheting up the research…Holidaymakers moving in…Piglets in the pond!…

Mom and the piglet are enjoying the cement pond on a hot day.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

This is “Little” on his usual mission of getting our attention to come outside and give him some pellets. If we don’t respond, he enters the house. Very funny!

Our one year in Marloth Park is rapidly coming to a close. We’ve decided to spend one night, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, in Nelspruit to avoid early morning traffic on the 15th, the day we must exit South Africa. It’s hard to believe in 71 days, and we’ll be leaving Marloth Park to drive to Nelspruit for the flight to Nairobi, Kenya, departing early the following morning.

If you missed our story as to why we must leave on the 15th as opposed to the planned February 20th initially, please click here for yesterday’s post. It’s all clearly explained there.

As it turns out, we won’t have to travel on my birthday after all and will spend it doing something exceptional while in Kenya. Details will follow once we get everything booked.

Mom warthog gets into the cement pond to cool off.  Now, the piglets follow her.

Speaking of bookings, we need to get to work now that we have a definitive answer on our immigration status. We’d left many loose ends in the itinerary, and the time has come to get these items booked.

With the ongoing power outages, spending time online is tricky. By the time we manage photos and prepare and upload the day’s post, the power goes out again, usually for 2½ hours. During these periods, we have no internet access.

According to the Eskom load shedding schedule, the power should be out about 7½ hours every 24 hours. Fortunately, and not surprisingly, the schedule isn’t precise, and often a time slot for an outage is ignored, and we have full power and WiFi. Go figure.  

Piglets were climbing out of the cement pond.

We’re managing to work around it, as are other residents throughout this country, not just here in Marloth Park. With the continuing heat and humidity, it’s even more uncomfortable when we can’t use a fan, especially when our surroundings are still and windless, resulting in a long 2½ hours.

But this is Africa, and we’re making the best of it, planning social events, cooking our meals, dining out with friends (tonight with Uschi and Evan, tomorrow with Rita and Gerhard), and attempting to ignore the inconveniences.

The holidaymakers are beginning to filter into the park now as we see more and more vehicles on the roads each day. Soon, every holiday rental and most bush homes will be filled, the noise will ensue, underage kids will be driving vehicles in this relatively un-policed area, and maniacs will be driving fast on Olifant Street (the paved road), killing the precious wildlife.

With the heat evaporating the water in the pond, between cleanings, Tom refills it for easy access for wildlife being able to reach for a drink.  So far, the only animals we’ve seen enter the pond are the warthogs.

No pun intended…it’s the nature of the beast. Not everyone who comes to stay in Marloth Park possesses the love and respect for this magical place, its rules, and its wildlife. This is so sad and disheartening.

Among the rest of us dedicated to this paradise, we’ll continue to respect the laws and treat the wildlife with dignity and respect. We’ve heard tales of humans feeding wildlife marshmallows, potato chips, and other human junk food. If it’s not good for us, why would we assume it’s good for them?

During this Christmas season, as in the past six years, we don’t have a tree, wrap gifts, bake cookies, or plan holiday parties, although we’ll attend a few. I’ll bake some treats to share at Christmas and make a few special items for Tom’s upcoming birthday on December 23rd.

Back onto the dirt, everyone is cooler and refreshed.

I’d considered a party or get-together for his birthday, but he reminded me how busy a time it is for everyone else with their usual holiday festivities. To burden others with a party the day before Christmas Eve was unfair. I relented, and we decided to make it a party for two.

This leaves us plenty of time in December to get to work booking the following for our upcoming travels:

  • Hotel in Kenya for seven nights, arriving February 15, 2019, and departing for the booked photography tour on February 22, 2019  (tour ended on March 7, 2019
  • Flight from Nairobi to Santiago, Chile on March 8, 2019
  • Transportation from Santiago, Chile to San Antonio, Chile (the location of the cruise port) 
  • Hotel in Santiago, Chile from March 8, 2019, to March 24, 2019, when our 15-night cruise departs from San Antonio, Chile, and sails to San Diego, California
  • Flight from San Diego, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota* on April 8, 2019
  • Rental car in Minnesota from April 8, 2019, to April 25, 2019
  • Flight from Minnesota to Fort Lauderdale to board the next cruise to Copenhagen on April 25, 2019, cruise departed on April 26, 2019
  • Flight from Copenhagen to Dublin, Ireland on May 12, 2019
  • Rental car in Dublin, Ireland on May 12, 2019, and drive to Connemara, Ireland, where we’ll stay in a holiday home until August 9, 2019 (booked and deposit paid)
    Two giraffes were walking along a dirt path in the park.

*The hotel in Minnesota is already booked and partially paid, with the balance due upon arrival.

This covers our booking needs for the next eight months. Once we’ve put all of this together, we’ll update and fine-tune our spreadsheet with all the new expenses.
 
I hope you have a spectacular Wednesday!


Photo from one year ago today, December 5, 2017:

In Pisco, Peru, this pelican was trained to entertain tourists as the man passed around a cup. For more photos, please click here.

There’s always a recipe for a solution…Cost and convenience are often the vital ingredients…

This fluffy little one captured our hearts.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Baby zebra are sticking close to mom during nighttime activities.

I don’t know where to begin. It’s a convoluted story of inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and rampant incompetency in one manner or another. My intent is not to bash South Africa’s governmental procedures. 

Instead, I reach out to you, our valued and loyal worldwide readers, to share our story and to alert those of you who may consider a long-term stay in this country.

Don’t get me wrong…we’re grateful for the exquisite almost 10 months we’ve spent in the country in this isolated little world of paradise in the bush, Marloth Park.  

It’s not like this everywhere in the country, animals roaming free as one might expect countrywide. There are conservancies, game reserves, national parks, and designated wildlife areas for that.  

The dry bush will brighten once the rainy season takes off.

The uniqueness of Marloth Park was the motivator for us to visit and subsequently return this past February. Our future itinerary has us returning in about two years from now, but only for the allowed 90 days, no more. We never want to deal with immigration issues again.

I won’t reiterate the beginning of the story and the massive pile of documents we prepared to accommodate a request for a visa extension to February 20, 2019, the day we’d been advised to book a flight out of here to Nairobi, Kenya, for our next adventure. If you’ll click this link here, that portion of the story is told in its entirety.

But, it was the culmination of the complicated process that hovered in our minds as we wondered as to the outcome since September when we first applied, as it turned out, way too early, upon advice from others and ended up starting all over again on October 24th when we returned to Nelspruit the second time to apply.

While there in September, a rep made a handwritten notation on our document copy that we were to return on October 24th (still have this document), giving ample time for the file to be reviewed and meeting our planned departure date of February 20, 2019.

Waterbucks grazing by the river’s edge.

Part of the application process required two departing South Africa-airline tickets for ZAR 15461 (US $1132) for that date which we purchased at the time of making the first application in September.

Stay with me. We’re getting there. When we returned on October 24th, going through all the forms with the reps at the VFS Immigration office, we were told everything was in order. We were told to start checking online after three weeks to see when the response would be ready.

For those of you who read the prior posts, we indicated we’d have to appear once again once the notification indicated we were ready to see the answer in a sealed envelope, which we’d open in front of the immigration rep.  

If we didn’t like the answer, the only available process was to reapply once again. This was not an option for us. Our visas had already expired on November 21st.  We weren’t in a particularly good position for “negotiating,” which, in any case, is not a part of the process regardless of circumstances.

A lone giraffe was munching on treetops.

We took off for Nelspruit yesterday morning, typically a 75 to 90 minutes drive where many trucks and vehicles jockey for space on the highway. We were told to arrive anywhere between 10:00 am and 1500 hours (3:00 pm).  

Once we were “scanned” by the security guard, we entered the waiting area, lined up several rows of chairs. All the seats were filled, and we had to wait, standing, in the back of the chairs section. As each person was called, everyone in the chairs moved over to the next available chair, kind of like a musical chairs thing.

Much to our surprise, the line moved more quickly than during our two other visits.  Within 40 minutes, we were standing at the counter awaiting our news.  Tom was handed his sealed envelope first. Gingerly, he opened the envelope and immediately we were bost aghast. He was granted an extension but only until February 15th.

We have paid our rent here to February 20th, paid for a rental car to February 20th, and paid for the two airline tickets for February 20th. We tried to explain that it was their manager who’d told us to return on October 24th, allowing us ample time for the requested February 20th departure date.

Waterbucks live close to the river, grazing on its green lusher vegetation than in other areas of the bush, where everything is dried up during this year’s low-rain period.

We even showed her the handwritten notes she’d made on the document telling us to return on October 24th. She dismissed this written statement saying what she wrote was irrelevant. The government’s decision is all that matters, regardless of the number of days.

Then the weirdest thing happened.  I opened my envelope and was given until February 21, 2019. Our files were linked as a married couple. Why the six-day difference? All kinds of thoughts ran through our heads. No matter what we said, the only option they suggested was to start all over.  

There was no way we were going to pay the fees ZAR 3500 (US $256) again and start over the lengthy and detailed paperwork process, all the while taking the risk that nothing would change.

We walked out the door, neither of us talking, and made our way to the parking ramp, thoughts racing through our heads. On the return drive, we reviewed our options, but Tom, bordering on “overly grumpy,” was more engrossed in his driving in traffic than a lengthy discussion over our options.

On Sunday night, while situated on the veranda, speaking on Skype with my dear friend Karen in Minnesota, a dazzle of zebras appeared.

Instead of pressing him, I wrote the text for yesterday’s post on an offline app on my phone, determined to get it uploaded before the power went out due to “load shedding” again at 1500 hours (3:00 om).  

As soon as we returned, I immediately got to work on the post, albeit with less than my usual enthusiastic demeanor. Miss Overly Bubby wasn’t in. I rushed to get it done, but the power went out earlier than expected, and I couldn’t upload it until after 1730 hours (5:30 pm). Sorry for the delay.
 

At 5:30, we set up the veranda for the evening, made ourselves a “sundowner,” and sat down to discuss our options. They included the following:

  • Reapply and start the entire process all over again with no guarantees. We tossed this idea out the window.
  • Tom could leave and go to Kenya on the 15th while I stayed alone in Marloth Park, using one of the two non-refundable flights from Nelspruit to Nairobi on February 20th (my birthday). This raised many questions: hotel for Tom, transportation for me to the airport, being alone for the five nights until February 20th when I could depart, traveling apart, handing luggage…and on and on.  We tossed this idea out the window.
  • The rep told us Tom could go to Mozambique by car and see if he could end up with the extra five days. This was a very risky idea. When would he go? He could easily have ended up with no more than what he has or even less, depending on what transpired at the border.  We tossed this idea out the window.
  • We could try to get some form of credit from the airline to change our travel day to February 15th, change our end-of-rental date to February 15th, change our car rental period to February 15 and clear out of South Africa. We decided this was our only option, with both departing on February 15th, regardless of the cost or inconvenience.
There was a total of nine zebras, including the baby.

Immediately, we got to work on Expedia.com on our website to see what we could first accomplish with the tickets. In all these six years of world travel, we’ve never canceled or changed a single flight. Somehow the preplanning has always worked for us.

We knew that flights were non-refundable but never encountered an opportunity or desire to change a flight.  The website offered such an opportunity, and for a total of ZAR 2156 (US $159), we changed our tickets to February 15th.  We were relieved.

 
We want to book hotel accommodations in Kenya which we’ll do this month. Not having done so was one more minor step to handle. From here, we’ll see about our rent and early return of the rental car, both of which should save us a little more to apply to the added cost of the extra five days in Kenya.
 
Whew! What a relief! Drama averted. Immigration issues are averted, and a massive lesson learned: When we return to South Africa in years to come, we’ll only stay 90 days. Period.
Preoccupied with my phone call, I couldn’t get a photo of all nine at once.

We skated through the first three 90-day periods by leaving the country twice to travel to Zambia to get another 90-day visa each time. We just weren’t able to pull it off the third time. These two one-week trips cost us upwards of ZAR 111628 (US $8232).  Surely if we’d tried traveling out the country once again, we’d have incurred similar costs with no guaranty on the ability to return.

And so it goes. We’re good again. Cheerful, but hot in the temps above 40C (104F). And, we’re back in sync with our otherwise pleasing lifestyle and of course, with one another.

Today, we’ll lay low in the heat and humidity, but who knows what tomorrow may bring.


Happy, healthy day to all.

Photo from one year ago today, December 4, 2017:

Children were playing at the beach with views of colorful fishing vessels in Pisco, Peru. These boats remind us of the colorful fishing boats in Negara, Bali. (See that link here). For more details from the one year ago post, please click here.

Immigration day from hell…Solutions rolling around in our minds…More tomorrow…

She was reaching for the treetops.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Three very young impalas in the bush.

It would have been easy to sit down and pen today’s post if the South Africa immigration issue had been resolved as we’d hoped. The realities of world travel dictate that sometimes, things don’t go as we’d hoped. Attitude adjustments are in constant flux.

Unfortunately, this morning’s trip to the immigration office in Nelspruit didn’t go well after we’d received the online notice to appear, and we are in a quandary as to how to proceed from here. Our options are few. Our frustrations are many.
Giraffes are fortunate during the dry season.  There’s no competition for the leaves in the treetops.

Due to a myriad of ill advice, government incompetence, bureaucracy, and inconsistency, today’s visit to the immigration office was both frustrating and disappointing.

When we returned to the house a short time ago facing another power shutdown in the next half hour, I felt rushed and out-of-sorts to write an upbeat article about life in the bush.

Instead, I apologize for a less-than-cheerful rendition of where we’re at the moment and where we’ll be in months to come based on today’s outcome.

Cheeks filled with vegetation.

Inconvenience coupled with unexpected expenses is a bitch. My usual overly bubbly self continues to nudge me into settling down and seeing the bright side.  Isn’t there always some semblance of a bright side in these kinds of situations?

Good grief, I’m not implying there’s any modicum of a bright side in lousy health, injury, and personal loss, although some special people manage to find a means to rebound regardless of strife.

But, when it comes to business-type situations and functions of daily life, generally speaking, there are lessons to be learned that may prepare us for the “next time.” We need to hold on to those lessons!
Giraffe along the road.

I need to settle down for the remainder of the day as we discuss our options to come up with a suitable plan that we can live with. By no means is this situation untenable, nor a significant crisis. It’s more annoying than anything. We’ll get over it.

But, for today, I must reserve going into the details until such time in the next 24-hours that we’ve had an opportunity to review our options and come to a logical and practical solution.

We’ll be back with a much more enlightened demeanor by tomorrow’s post. For tonight, we’ll still enjoy another warm night on the veranda, loving our wildlife friends with their playful and entertaining antics.

Have a pleasant evening!

Photo from one year ago today, December 3, 2017:

It was an evening “chic” night, and we entered the elevator with other passengers. One of the passengers grabbed my camera off my shoulder and shot these “feet photos.”  We all howled when this occurred, and here’s the funny photo! For more photos, please click here.

Immigration “wild goose chase”…Frustrating experience…Fun zebra video…

Zebras often stop by to visit but usually with three, four of five. This dazzle 
of 12 zebras was quite exciting.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Two Ms. Bushbucks and the baby, waiting for the pellet delivery.

Nothing could have been more frustrating than yesterday’s trip to Nelspruit for our two appointments at the VFS Immigration office in an effort to extend our visas to February 20, 2019.

All of the required paperwork was in order and collated exactly as dictated by their website. We had our required black pen with us and our two separate batches of papers, one for each of us, were in a plastic bag as stipulated.

Zebra visitors with babies.

We ran into a number of obstacles in getting to the appointments in a timely fashion, although we’d left 2½ in advance of the 11:00 and 11:15 am appointments for the less than a 90-minute drive. Good thing, we left extra early.

The long drive on the N4 Highway was cluttered with semis and other trucks requiring a tremendous amount of passing on the mostly two-lane highway. In South Africa, from what we’ve seen thus far, there is usually a shoulder on the road.  

This zebra tried coming up the steps but the tiles were too slippery for her hooves. Speaking of coming up the steps, this morning there was a mongoose under the table on the veranda looking for eggs.

Most drivers, let’s say 90%, will move onto the shoulder to make way for those desiring to pass, something we haven’t experienced to this degree in other countries. Nice people. Friendly drivers. Also, often we’ll encounter passing lanes every so often providing drivers to pass long rows of vehicles during busy times. This helps.

Since we have no wi-fi on my phone (only calling) we used a printed map of the location from google maps. Well, wouldn’t you know, the directions were all wrong. The road where we needed to exit the highway wasn’t marked and we ended up well past Nelspruit, running into road construction that slowed us down by no less than 20-minutes.

Dad, baby, and mom drinking from the cement pond.  

Once we realized we’d gone too far, we turned around and headed to the area where we saw tall buildings. Surely, the immigration office would be in the center of town near the tall buildings. Plus, we called Louise and she walked us through it while looking at maps on her computer until we recognized where we should be.

You may ask, why don’t we have data on our phones? Simple answer. It disappears every 30 days and we were paying and paying for nothing. We didn’t use it enough to justify the expense when we have great wi-fi in the house.  Yesterday, we wished we had it. But, how often are we driving far from Marloth Park?  When in Kruger National Park, the signal is poor and it wouldn’t do us much good.

Baby zebra seeking shelter from the hot sun on a 40C (104F) very hot day.

Rather than designating a specific street name and number on the immigration website, it stated the location was at the corner of Brown St. and Paul Kruger St.  That should have been easy. We parked in a ramp and searched for it on foot.  That was nearly impossible.

The immigration office is located in a convoluted mix of banks, offices, and shops with many ending up down long narrow passageways. An address would have been of no help whatsoever.

The zebras and other wildlife like cold moist, celery tops, and lettuce on hot days.

Finally, with the help of a security guard in one of the bank buildings (there were a few), he pointed us to elevators to go to the fifth floor. The only elevator of four that was working was the freight elevator. We took it.

We arrived at the front door five minutes before our first appointment at 11:00 am. We were wanded by a guard, who checked our papers and used a card to swipe the door look to let us enter. We were told to sit in specific chairs based on our appointment times and told to keep moving to the “next” chair as people were called.

The zebras often fight when having to share pellets but these two were in perfect harmony.

No food, no beverages, no cell phones were allowed. For two full hours, we sat there staring into space, often wondering why people went ahead of us and others, while we all waited.

I won’t go into details about the processing system. In essence, the three-tiered process made sense. The waiting did not. After the two hours, we finally made it to system #1 and sat down to wait again in another grouping of chairs. Thirty minutes later we made it to system #2.  

Big Daddy stopped by for pellets and a drink from the pond.

It was at system #2 that were told, they could not, would not accept our application for processing since we’d arrived weeks too early for an extension all the way to February 20th. We’d have to return and start over. Nothing we’d done that day would count.  

They sent us on our way after writing down a walk-in date and time of 8:00 am on October 24th. There was nothing else we could do. We left frustrated and disappointed with little to say to one another. We’d been given the wrong information. But, then again, as we always say, this is Africa. Perfection is not on the menu.

He likes eating off the edge of the veranda when he doesn’t have to bend down to the ground with that big heavy rack.

Fortunately, the return drive was uneventful. We stopped on at Melalane to shop for a few grocery items and also to shop at the local Click Pharmacy so I could pick up a few cosmetic items which took about 40 minutes. But, we dodged a bullet!  

Once we were on the highway, I asked Tom if we needed fuel. He looked at the gauge and the “empty” light was flashing. When we found the first petrol station, the little car took 30 liters. Good thing we caught it or we’d have had an entirely new “situation!” Whew!

The items I needed in Melalane (or similar thereof) are in the missing box, shipped from the US on May 28th, and had yet to arrive due to a postal strike since resolved but leaving a mess in its wake. Management claims the box is on a shipping container yet to be unloaded. More on that later.

Mom and Baby stopped by as they often do.

We pulled up in the driveway around 1600 hours (4:00 pm), almost eight hours later. We were hot (it was 39C, 102F), dehydrated, and utterly exhausted. We stopped to see Louise and Danie for a bit to explain what had transpired and headed home to eat dinner outdoors, feed a few animals and eventually go to bed early.  

I think I slept for eight hours, although not continuously. Tom was up at 5:30 am feeding wildlife as usual. We’re better today after having accepted the fact we’ll be returning on October 24th and then after that, one more time to find out if we’re approved.  

If not approved, we won’t know until we arrive the third time, when they open a sealed envelope in front of us with our results. Tom said, “It’s like the Academy Awards.”

Mom and Baby happily munching pellets by the steps, where they prefer to dine!

Today, we headed to Komatipoort and Lebombo to shop for food and pellets. All went smoothly. It’s even hotter today at 40C (104F). Currently, I’m finishing today’s post indoors with a fan blowing. It gets sunny on the veranda this time of day and it’s hard to see the laptop screen.  

By 1700 hours (5:00 pm) we’ll set up the veranda for the evening, as usual, pour ourselves a cold beverage, and enjoy yet another night in the bush. How many such nights are remaining, we don’t know at this point. But, we’ll continue to cherish each and every moment.

Have a lovely evening wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, September 6, 2017:

The scenery was pretty while driving in the mountains of Costa Rica. For more photos, please click here.

The immigration story continues…Nighttime visitors…

Last night, Tom took this photo when he checked the thermometer to find a frog doing the same. It was 25C, 77F at 2200 hours, 10 pm.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

Hippo and cattle egret on the river’s edge.

I almost don’t know where to begin regarding the South Africa immigration story. With a definitive response, when our passports were stamped when we re-entered at the airport in Nelspruit after a trip to Zambia, that we won’t be allowed to stay beyond November 21, 2018.

As mentioned in a few prior posts, our only solution was to find a holiday home where we could stay for three months while we await our big upcoming tour in Kenya beginning on February 22, 2019. This was no easy task.  
In the dark, Tom also spotted a re-visit of giraffes in our garden.  I was already asleep so he took the photos.

Between us, we each spent no less than 40 hours in research trying to locate a holiday home for this extended period, for these specific dates, in any country we were interested in staying for three months. On short notice, 95% of most properties were already booked.

Even if we stayed part of the time in a hotel and the remainder in a holiday home, we couldn’t match up the dates and locations that would work for us.  Also, we had to consider airfare, rental cars (or other means of transportation), distance, and expenses during this period.

Two giraffes munching on treetops near the little car.

Frustration kicked in after a few days of research but diligently we continued to consider many alternatives that would have been less desirable such as staying in apartments or hotels during the entire period. Living in a hotel for three months was certainly not an appealing prospect.

Considering there are a number of countries in Africa we’d prefer not to visit, our options were limited.  Louise and Danie were well aware of our frustration and in their usual thoughtful manner, connected us with a highly experienced and competent immigration specialist who walked us through, over the phone, how to complete the myriad documents in order to get an extension until February 20th.

A giraffe visiting in the dark.

I’m not exaggerating slightly when I say, it took the entirety of two days to get the paperwork completed, collated, and stacked all of which Louise handled with her printer at her home office. On both ends, we were at it for two days. I don’t know how we can ever thank her and the kindly immigration specialist who supported us through this process.

I must add here, that no special consideration is given to us. We are simply following the “letter of the law” in compliance with gathering the endless number of documents required to possibly receive an extension.  

She’s awfully close to the little car.  One swift “necking” and it could be totaled.

This included bank statements, financial documents, passport and visa documents, and many peripheral forms to be completed, dated, and signed at the time of the meeting. Also, we paid a fee of ZAR 3550 (US $240.42) but weren’t allowed to use any of our credit cards. The fee had to be paid using a South Africa credit or debit card.  

Once again, Louise came to the rescue. We used her card and gave her the cash we’d received from an ATM. This added exponentially to the amount of paperwork in order to be able to confirm Louise authorized this transaction

Moms and babies at the Crocodile River.

During this process, using the complicated South Africa Immigration website, we were assigned an appointment date and time for a face-to-face meeting upcoming this Wednesday morning in Nelspruit to which we must bring all of the printed documents. Complicated, to say the least. 

Part of the process required we include airline tickets showing we’re flying out of South Africa on February 20th (coincidentally, the date of my birthday). The only tickets available were over ZAR 16243 (US $1000) and are non-refundable. In other words, if we don’t get approved to stay until February 20th, we lose the money we paid for the tickets. Oh, goodness.

A noisy hadeda bird flies overhead almost every night at dusk.

We decided we had to take the risk. We understand the necessity of this complicated process for visa extensions when so many countries struggle with those overstaying their visas or entering illegally.  

So here we are, two days from taking the 90-minute drive back to Nelspruit, from which we returned only a few weeks ago after our flight, to enter our documents in person to see if we’ll eventually be approved. It can take two to four weeks for a response. Hopefully, we’ll know by the end of September or early October.

Bushbaby tongue sticking out and the others head in the yogurt cup!

After Wednesday’s in-person meeting, we’ll include an update and will continue to update the news here as it becomes available.

Enjoy today’s photos, some of which Tom took last night in the dark while I was sleeping.  

For those in the US, today is Labor Day. Have a safe and meaningful day whatever you may do!

Photo from one year ago today, September 3, 2017:
This Giant Tortoise is located at the Zoo Ave location, although not indigenous to Costa Rica. We suspect the facility imported some of its wildlife to attract more visitors to its rehab facility. For more details, please click here.

We’re back in Marloth Park…Immigration shocker!…Recap of Victoria Falls…All new photos…

There were endless openings at Victoria Falls that excellent allowed viewing.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We shot this photo on the Chobe River. We’d have preferred a better view of the inside of the hippo’s mouth.  Hippos open their mouths wide to show how mean and powerful they are. No doubt, we were spotted and told to take off.

It was a dark and dreary night as we drove to Jabula for dinner after arriving back in Marloth Park around 6:00 pm. On the way, we encountered three giraffes, two zebras, two bush bucks and one dead puff adder snake on the paved road. We were “home.”

The rushing water came up to the edge of the viewing area.

After weeks of me worrying about our immigration issue of having used all of the 90-days allowed in our visa and the possibility of not being let back into the country other than to pack and leave, no words can describe our delight when we arrived in Nelspruit/Mpumalanga airport and received a new 90-day stamp in our passports…no questions asked.

One might think that leaving the country for a week to a country not bordering South Africa would be a sure bet we could return. But, after considerable research, we discovered leaving to visit a non-bordering country doesn’t ensure a new 90-day visa.

Rainbows from the spray.
Beautiful!

We could easily have been refused the visa and told we had to return to our “home country” in order to return to South Africa for another 90-days. Arriving in Nelspruit helped. Had we traveled through Johannesburg, there’s a strong possibility we’d have been refused. The law states they can give us seven days to “clear out.”

In checking the cost of returning to the US, it would have been over ZAR 127,714, (US $10,000) to return to Minnesota, including round trip airfare between South Africa and the USA, a cheap hotel and a rental car for a paltry nine days. During that period, we’d still have been paying for the house in Marloth Park. 

Adding in the cost of meals and expensive miscellaneous items in Minnesota and we’d have been looking at quite a chunk of money. At this point, we have plans including cruises to take us back to the US in 2019 which ultimately is a lot less expensive.

The power of the falls left us in awe.

Our other option was considerably less expensive, which was to fly to New York, stay two nights in a hotel, turn around, and fly right back to South Africa.  We could have accomplished this for around  ZAR 38,314, (US $3,000) which we may have to consider in three or six months in the event we’re asked to leave.

The sound of the rushing water was deafening. 

In the meantime, we have the next 89-days to revel in our busy and happy lives in Marloth Park with the unique wildlife and our equally impressive human friends, many of whom are coming back and forth from homes in other parts of the world.

When we arrived at the airport after the pleasant flight from Zambia, my heart was in my throat o head directly to the only immigration officer on duty. Tom was as cool as a cucumber, not even slightly concerned.  Usually, it’s the other way around.

The magnificence of Victoria Falls.

But, I was the one that spent almost three hours in the middle of the night, reading everything I could find on South Africa’s immigration laws. Based on our situation, the outcome didn’t look good. It appeared we’d have to leave, return to the US, and return to South Africa, which was not a good option.

Teletubbies. 

Well, we have been approved to re-enter, and we practically skipped to the rental car desk to get yet another long-term rental car that will see us through until August 15th, when the visa period ends once again.

We’re aren’t sure where we’ll go next time, but most certainly, it will be a non-bordering country on the continent of Africa. We have a few ideas and will share them once we decide and book the next trip.

There were many rainbows at the falls.

Hertz gave us a free upgrade, and we got a slightly larger car, a VW something, that has power door locks and windows. What a treat that is! The tires look good, the AC works well, and it even has a clock. (Some of the cheap cars we rent have none of the above). 

The return drive to Marloth Park was long when we encountered a bad accident in Malelane that tied up traffic for no less than 30-minutes. Also, there were many trucks on the single lane N4 (highway) and Tom’s who’s an inpatient driver, insisted on passing every truck in our path. It was great to get back into Marloth Park at the security gate and head to our bush home.

The charming shop is Big Hippo Love, located at the Livingstone, Zambia airport.

While we were gone, Louise had arranged for deep cleaning of the house. When we walked in the door to find the TV working, lights left on for us and the house has been totally “spring cleaned” and beautifully “detailed” we couldn’t have been more appreciative.

One thing we’d like to mention is a beautiful experience we had with two lovely shopkeepers at a newly built tea shop at the Livingstone Zambia airport where we were able to sit comfortably while I sipped on exquisite organic herbal tea. (Tom surprised me and purchased two packages of the tea I loved, enough to last for a few months).

The girls were so kind and thoughtful.

We chatted with the two adorable shopkeepers and had a fabulous time. If you ever get to Zambia, stop by and say hello to us. We’ve included a few photos of our visit to the shop.

Soon, at around 11:00 am, Tom will drop me off at Jabula for a remarkable women’s “tea” event to watch the Royal Wedding on TV. There will be about 12 of us girls in attendance, and it should be fun. I can’t recall the last time I did a “girls only” get together. 

Not only do they carry delicious healthful teas but also a wide array of interesting African inspired merchandise.

Since we’ve been gone a week, it may take a few days for our usual group of visitors to realize we’ve returned. Although so far this morning we’ve had two kudus, two bushbucks stop by and an ostrich walking down the dirt road. Tonight, just the two of us will do a braai while we set up our nighttime routine in hopes of seeing more visitors. We’ll wait patiently.

Tomorrow, we’ll continue sharing more photos we’ve yet to present here from our outstanding trip to Zambia. 

Have a happy weekend!

Photo from one year ago today, May 19, 2017:

The Ketchikan sign over the boulevard as we wandered about the historic city. For more Alaskan photos, please click here

Off we go…Managua Nicaragua, here we come!

The hotel’s exterior photo is the Real InterContinental Managua at Metrocentro Mall, where we’ll stay for two nights, arriving today and departing on Monday.

We’ve arrived at Costa Rica’s San Jose Santamaria International Airport (SJO). We have our boarding passes in hand with a relatively easy transition through immigration and security. With no bags to check, the check-in process is simple. 

In most countries, checking in online 24 hours in advance and printing a boarding pass is pointless. We gave up doing so long ago. Since we usually have bags to check, we receive boarding passes simultaneously as we studied the bags after only presenting our passports. No one ever asks us for printed proof of our tickets.

We’ve located our gate at the end of the long terminal. At the moment, we’re seated in a cafe a short distance from the entrance.  Tom didn’t order anything, and I’m sipping on a Chamomile tea.

The airport in Costa Rica is quite lovely, with good signage in both Spanish and English. The transition was smooth. By the way, the taxi fare from the villa was US $32 (CRC 18,217) with a tip. The taxi driver avoided the toll road, and we arrived 35 minutes later.

In our old lives, the only time we knew much about Managua, Nicaragua was the frequent mention of the city repeatedly in the news in 1986 regarding the Iran Contra affair. We won’t get into that here, but here’s a tidbit of information about the capital city:

“Managua, on the south shore of Lake Managua, is the capital city of Nicaragua. Its cathedral, a shell since a 1972 earthquake, is on the Plaza of the Revolution. Nearby is the tomb of Sandinista leader Carlos Fonseca. The 1935 National Palace of Culture houses the National Museum. Hilltop Parque Histórico Nacional Loma de Tiscapa is known for its crater lake and a huge statue of revolutionary Augusto Sandino.

Area210 mi²
Weather79°F (26°C), Wind SE at 5 mph (8 km/h), 84% Humidity
Local timeFriday 9:36 AM
Population2.206 million (2015)
Founded1819″

We’re looking forward to the hotel we selected Real InterContinental Managua at Metrocentro Mall, one of the best in the city, which may be found at this link at Hotels.com on our site. Then, of course, we’ll take photos of the hotel, restaurants, meals, and the places we visit while in Nicaragua. 

Most likely tonight, we’ll celebrate our anniversary at the hotel’s highly rated five-star restaurant, Factory Steak, and Lobster.  Although a bit pricey, it’s for a special occasion well deserving a memorable evening. 

Besides, dining in the hotel’s famous restaurant might ensure an avoidance of foods I can’t typically eat found in Central American restaurants, delicious, I’m sure, but made with grains, sugar, and starchy ingredients. 

I won’t have any trouble ordering a juicy steak (rare, please) and a lobster tail with gobs of butter, a vegetable, and a salad. We’re both looking forward to the meal. I tried making a dinner reservation from Costa Rica to no avail, but we’ll take care of it right away once we arrive.

You can be assured we’ll be returning with many new photos and descriptions of our mini-vacation in Managua, Nicaragua (with the intent of getting our passports stamped, allowing us to stay in Costa Rica for the remaining three-plus weeks and to celebrate our 5th world travel anniversary).

Have a lovely weekend. We’ll be back soon!

Photo from one year ago today, October 28, 2016:

At the Hilton Garden Inn Ngurah Airport, the hotel chef in Denpasar Bali made a special spicy sauce to go with my chicken skewers. It was delicious! For more photos, please click here.

Is this life easy?…Not so much…Figuring out visas for Costa Rica…

Mountain views from every highway in Las Vegas and Henderson.

If anyone reading our site gets the impression that is traveling the world results in a life of leisure and the sensation of “always being on vacation/holiday,” we need to do a better job of describing our reality.

There’s nothing easy about it except for those special days we’re by the sea, aboard a ship, or lounging poolside in a tropical location.  And, even those days aren’t what one might construe as always easy.

Just like you, we shop, we cook, we wash dishes, we clean up after ourselves, we make the bed, do the laundry (more days of the year than not) and take care of banking and financial matters.

When one might imagine life on a desert island with the shore lapping at their toes, drinking blue cocktails with tiny umbrellas neatly situated on the rim of the tall iced glass, a local citizen fanning them with palm leaves, one may be dreaming.

Rolling hills and mountains surround the Las Vegas Valley.

Sure, from time to time, we’ve had such experiences, and even for us, they were fun and fleeting and unrealistic over the long haul.  But, that type of lifestyle was never our intent when we began this adventure so long ago. 

We longed for culture, nature, wildlife, and rich experiences that would shape who we are and the remainder of our years. For us, that wasn’t to be found in a blue drink or locals attending to our every need. 

Oh, we’ve enjoyed the meals cooked for us, the bed is made, the laundry is washed, hung to dry, and neatly folded. But, that type of lifestyle leaves us feeling immobile, inactive, and essentially bored with our lack of activity.

Performing daily household tasks adds a certain degree of focus upon which we both seem to thrive. Here in Henderson, Nevada, after months of not shopping for groceries, cooking meals, and cleaning, we’ve begun to meld back into the reality that both of us seem to need to thrive.

Golden Barrell Cactus, shared in this part of the US.

This morning at 8:00 am, I was out the door, driving to Smith’s Market for enough groceries to last for the next few days. Deciding on what to prepare for meals seems to provide me with a sense of purpose and connection to the “everyday” aspects of life that ultimately add to our universal experiences, even while here in the USA, in the land of abundance.

One need only conceive of an idea for a meal, peruse a recipe or conjure up a special meal to quickly find every possible required ingredient readily available at the local market. Even grass-fed meat and organic produce are at a finger’s reach.

In many countries, we had no choice but to alter recipes or decide on quick and easy meat and veg meals based on the available ingredients in local markets. 

In many cases, the small markets had only one aisle of possible options with no fresh meat (frozen only), questionable vegetables, and a mishmash of dairy items. Somehow, in each case, we never went hungry, always utilizing that which was available.

Beavertail Cactus is also ubiquitous in US deserts.

As our readers are well aware, we always figure out household tasks regardless of where we may be at any given time. Of course, there’s all the rest besides managing our day-to-day lives, including figuring out such items as visa requirements, currently on our minds, as we near the time to leave for Costa Rica in 16 days.

Costa Rica may provide a 90-day visa at the airport for US citizens if asked. We won’t forget to ask, I assure you. However, it’s of utmost concern to provide proof of a booked flight out of the country by the 90th day. 

Since we’re staying an additional 24 days while we await an upcoming cruise, once again, we have to figure out how we’ll get approved for the extra days. When calling the Costa Rica Embassy in Washington DC, we got the runaround. They said we need to apply at a local immigration office while in their country.

They won’t accept a booked flight as adequate at the airport if it’s scheduled for over 90 days out if the applicant doesn’t already have an extension. We can’t get an extension until we’re there. Do you see the dilemma?

Segura Cactus.

When inquiring to the property managers for the property we’re renting, they suggested we book a flight out of Costa Rica within 90 days and figure out the rest after we arrive. 

Yesterday, we did this. We booked a one-way flight to Managua, Nicaragua, for the 89th day. If we find we can stay out of the country for two or three days and come back to Costa Rica without incident, we’ll spend a few nights at a hotel in Managua and return to Costa Rica after that. 

Besides, this might be a fun side trip, especially when we may be there during our fifth anniversary of traveling the world, which is on October 31st. We’ll see how it all rolls out once we arrive. 

If we discover we can stay longer by applying at the local immigration office, we’re OK with losing the cost of the non-refundable one-way flight for both of us, which was $128.70. That’s considerably less than we’ll spend if we stay three or four nights in a hotel. We’ve already been to Nicaragua in the early days of our travel.

San Pedro Cactus…please correct me if wrong.

That’s it for today, folks.  It’s Sunday, already 100F (38C) with an expected high of only 108F (42C) with a cooling trend for the upcoming week with high temperatures expected to range from 98F (37C) to 106F (41C). Nice, eh?

Have a pleasant day!

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

Tom, situated in his rickshaw as we meandered down the busy streets of Phnom Penh. It was a hot, humid, and a very bumpy ride. For more details, please click here.

Immigration news…New photos of us and Bob…

Our kindly and thoughtful landlord, Bob with Tom.
We returned from the Manly Ferry and bus ride back to our holiday home at around noon. It’s a bright sunny day without a cloud in the sky and we’re on CLOUD 9!!!

We’re no longer illegal immigrants!  No words can say how happy we are to have this dreadful, worrisome situation behind us. The staff at the Australian Immigration Office couldn’t have been more helpful. 

In only took about 30 minutes to receive a new Bridging Visa that will last until April 22nd when we’ll board the ship that will hightail us out of Australia and bring us back to North America for our upcoming Alaskan cruise and nine weeks visiting family.

We were happy to have photos of Bob with each of us.

This morning at 7:45 am we met Bob at his door ready to go. He drove us to the Manly Ferry and only five or six minutes later we boarded the ferry to Circular Quay in Sydney, a 30-minute ride.

No doubt, both of us were worried about the outcome of our 10:00 am appointment, but we both attempted to remain upbeat and hopeful. I continued to take photos on what proved to be a sunny day, the first we’d experienced in the past two weeks since our arrival in Sydney by cruise ship.

Once we arrived at Circular Quay we took a taxi to immigration, a traffic-congested 20-minute ride in Monday morning rush hour traffic at a cost of AU $17.50, US $13.33. We arrived with an hour to spare decided to head to a local coffee shop for a cup of tea for me and coffee for Tom.

We sat outdoors at this cafe sipping coffee, tea and chatting with an American couple we met.

The instructions for our appointment clearly stated we were not to arrive any sooner than 15 minutes prior to the scheduled appointment. With comfortable seating at an outdoor cafe, we met a wonderful retired couple from the US and the lively banter began. 

Before we knew it, it was 9:45 and we needed to make the short walk for our appointment. I felt my heart rate increase in worrisome anticipation of a poor outcome. In no time at all, we were seated in a waiting area on the fourth floor where others with similar immigration status were also waiting for the outcome of their situation. 

Our ticket number was 001. Surely the wait wouldn’t be long. Moments later, we heard our number being called to find the kindly rep who’d worked with us the first time we arrived at immigration almost two weeks ago in an attempt to sort this out.

Within 15 minutes, we were told with smiles on their faces that they’d provide us with a new Bridging Visa and within 30 minutes, we were out the door with documents in hand giving us an extension, good until midnight on April 22nd.

Tom and I with Sydney behind us on another cloudy day., taken a few days ago.  Today, finally, we have sunshine!

Thank goodness, the upcoming cruise didn’t include any Australian ports of call. Had that been the case, we may have had an even more serious situation. Luckily, this particular cruise itinerary didn’t include any stops in Australia. We were good to go.

We thanked the rep and her assistant profusely. Tom even put his hands together and bowed as he’d so graciously done time and again in Bali, in gratefulness for a service well provided. We both chuckled over the fact that some habits are hard to break, especially one as special as that bow.

Now, back home after a pleasant outdoor ride on the ferry and a quick bus ride, I began today’s post excited to share our good news. Once I wrap this up, we’ll get back to work on ordering Tom a new laptop we found online with expedited international shipping.

Now, we can go back to thinking about our missing shipment from Nevada that included all of our tax documents, our two new driver’s licenses, my new phone, and a variety of other items we’d included in the package. One thing at a time, please.

Thanks to all of our wonderful readers who sent us good wishes for today’s outcome. Your concern meant so much to both of us! Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, March 26, 2016:

Taking photos of the two pink cockatoos at the alpaca farm in New Zealand through the narrow chain link fence was tricky.  This unedited photo illustrates the tightness of the fence and the beauty of this pink bird.  For more photos, please click here.