Lion Day in Chobe National Park…More activities on the horizon…

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Adult females and cubs are resting in the shade.

In a perfect world, when we spot lions or any other species, they’d all face us for the best photo ops. Unfortunately, the wildlife, such as these lions shown today, were facing away from us, limiting the quality of the photos.

From a distance, Tom got this forward-facing shot of a female lion keeping an eye out for the pride while they rest.

However, as seldom as we see lions, we were thrilled to get these photos and won’t complain. Also, another factor in getting great shots is who is driving the safari vehicle. When on a game drive with a guide and other tour participants, we have no control over how long we’d wait for better shots or the angles from which we can take the pictures. The other people are often in the way, and the driver/guide wants to move along.

Another of Tom’s photos was taken with his phone,

When it’s just the two of us driving in Kruger National Park, generally, we can wait to gain a better vantage point. But, even then, other vehicles edge in attempting to see what we’re seeing. Then, simple courtesy becomes a priority, and we often have to move along before getting the shots we would have liked.

Could this be a young male whose mane has yet to be fully grown?

Sometimes, circumstances are perfect, and we get shots we love, like the one we posted yesterday as our main photo, found in this link here in case you missed it, similar to another image we’re posting here today as shown below:

This adorable cub caught my eye when I struggled to get good photos of the pride of lions.

The three-hour game drive turned into almost four hours since it took time to drive to the entrance to Chobe National Park, register the safari vehicle with the entrance guards and finally reach the river where most of the wildlife is often found. We made this drive many times in the past, and the familiarity was comforting to us in a way that’s hard to explain. We remembered almost every turn on the bumpy ride.

I couldn’t take my eyes off this precious cub, snuggled up next to his mom.

The drive was so bumpy that my Fitbit registered it as if I had taken steps when my arms bounced around to almost 10,000 steps. Speaking of steps on my Fitbit, we just took a break from being in our room and walked around the Chobe Safari Lodge property to see new construction, campgrounds, and a remote bar at the edge of the Chobe River.

He opened his eyes for a few minutes, allowing me to get a few favorite shots.

We had no idea as to the size of this property and were a little surprised by what we saw. We took some photos we’ll share in days to come. It was good to get out walking when we’ve been sitting quite a bit the past few days. We will do this again each day in the future. Tom has agreed to walk with me outdoors when we return to Marloth Park. I need to walk regularly but find it tedious in the house. I don’t want to walk alone due to the lions in the park, and we’ll take a big stick with us when we do.

It was cool when we encountered the pride, but they tend to cuddle when sleeping, even in hot weather.

As for the rest of the day, there’s nothing special on the agenda until tomorrow afternoon’s boat tour on the Chobe River. That should be fun. We did the sunset river cruise during prior visits to Botswana. Once we return to Zambia in a few days, we’ve arranged a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River, as mentioned earlier. There’s live entertainment on that cruise, and we enjoy African music.

I could have watched them for hours, but we had to be on our way.

Tonight, we’d dine in the main dining room for their buffet instead of the restaurant up the hill to shake it up a bit. We’re having a pleasant time with plenty of incredible wildlife sightings. I still suffer from headaches and face pain but have decided to make the best of our time here in Botswana and Zambia. Following Monday, I’ll see Doc Theo and see what he suggests.

The sun was in my eyes, and I missed getting a full face shot but kept this one.

That’s it for today, folks. We have countless photos to share and look forward to posting them here for you to see, including when three warthogs entered the bar last night…piggy sundowners, perhaps?

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 23, 2021:

Broken Horn is persistent about pellets, scaring off any intruders with his horns. For more photos, please click here.

Off on a game drive this morning…Hoping “safari luck” prevails….Teaser for tomorrow’s post…

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A pride of lions was the highlight of our day in Chobe National Park. This cub made us feel like they were looking right at us. Heavenly. Lots more lion photos to share in tomorrow’s post.

Yesterday was a restful day for us. Still having sinus headaches and face pain, there was nothing I needed more than to rest. I couldn’t recall the last time we spent an entire day lounging. But it felt good. We had a lovely dinner again, up the hill to the restaurant (food photos yet to follow), making it back to our room by 9:00 pm, when I fell asleep in the first five minutes of streaming an episode of the last season of The Black List.

Their antics are adorable, providing several photo ops.

This morning I still have the headache but have taken a dose of Ibuprofen that will hopefully get me through the game drive that will last about four hours. When we return to the resort, we can have the rest of the day to relax, finish this post and work on the many photos we’ll have taken on the safari.

Elephant shots from across the Chobe River from the hotel’s veranda.

We ate a light breakfast this morning with little coffee, knowing the long time in the safari vehicle was ahead. Occasionally, such a vehicle will stop at a planned location with bathroom facilities. But often, behind a bush is the bathroom. That works too, but as a female, it’s not as easy to use a bush “toilet” while wearing long pants. Try figuring that one out, ladies. I only drank one small cup of coffee this morning, and Tom had none.

Their antics are adorable, providing several photo ops.

Dinner last night was delicious. I had the same main dish as the previous night, chicken and prawn skewers, and Tom had a filet on the bone. We’d never seen filet mignon on the bone. But Tom doesn’t do well getting to all the meat when a bone is involved, whereas I’m more like a mongoose…I eat every single morsel. He often hands his bones over to me as he did last night, and I also ate his vegetables. He’s a meat and potatoes (or rice) kind of guy.

We always love seeing elephants.

Knowing we had to get up early for breakfast and the safari, neither of us slept well. Again, we didn’t set the alarm, but by 5:30, I was awake, and Tom was shortly after that. We ate breakfast in plenty of time, giving us a little time back in our room for me to get a start on today’s post. I am wrapping it up but will be back later to post more photos and complete today’s entry. See you soon!

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It’s 1:30 pm, 1330 hrs., and we are back from the safari. There was seating for nine passengers with graduated theatre-type seats, three per row. Since we were the last to get into the vehicle when the others were picked up from a different resort, we got the top tier which worked out well for us. We both had “window” seats, although the vehicle has a top and the sides are open.

As sunset ends, all the boats out on sunset cruises begin returning to their respective resorts.

From this good vantage point and the fact that there were only eight of us, the seat between the two of us was empty. We had plenty of room and could take plenty of great photos; Tom occasionally used the camera if the wildlife was problematic for me to shoot, and his phone regularly when I used the camera.

In Marloth Park, we avoid interacting with monkeys, but at this resort, we don’t have to worry about them getting inside the house and destroying things. So now, they are kind of cute.

Did we see anything spectacular? Did “safari luck” prevail once again? The answer is a resounding “YES,” as you’ll see from the above teaser photo of one special sighting, with plenty more to come tomorrow and in the following days. We don’t go on another game drive until Wednesday afternoon. No doubt, we’ll see lots more then.

It was fun to see so many tourists enjoying traveling once again. The activities were crowded.

Game drives can be tedious when there are few exciting sightings. But almost four hours flew by so quickly; we could hardly believe it. Our safari mates were mainly from France. One of the tourists was a kindly safari guide from Italy who does tours in Namibia chatted with me from time to time and was very friendly. He’s not only a safari guide but also a geologist and had lots of good stories to tell. Also, he lives in Tuscany, Italy, when not working for short periods, leaving us with a few morsels to share from our time in Tuscany in 2013.

Many vervet monkeys hang around the resort’s veranda throughout the day and evening.

So now we’re back with a few hours until it’s time for sundowners. It’s sunny here almost every day, so sunsets are exceptional. We’ll have plenty of those photos to share over the days to come. Please check back tomorrow for more. We love sharing all this new stuff with you!

Of course, we’d see a warthog on the grass in front of our veranda at Chobe Safari Lodge. Everywhere we go….

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 22, 2021:

With no water and unable to refill the birdbath with clean water, Benny (Benny, Henny, Lenny, and Penny) decided to drink from the pool. We’d never seen a warthog do this. For more photos, please click here.

Botswana…The African Quadripoint…Chobe Safari Lodge…An exquisite environment..

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“The African Quadripoint. Are there any 4 way borders? Around the world, there are more than 150 different tripoints—borders where three nations meet—but only one international “quadripoint.” This is a spot in the middle of the Zambezi River, in southern Africa, where Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana all touch.”

This is the fourth time we’ve traveled to Zambia and then Botswana. Two Chris Tours drivers, Gordon and O’Brien, were waiting for us at the Harry Mwanga Nkumbula Airport in Livingstone. They loaded up our two bags and two carry-on bags and we were on our way for the one-hour drive to the Botswana border, where a tour representative and her driver would take us to Chobe Safari Lodge, another 30-minute drive.

Two drivers, Gordon on the left and O’Brien on the right, who works for Chris Tours.

The immigration process was entirely different than on the past three occasions when we crossed the border between Zambia and Bostwana, where four countries meet as described here as the African Quadripoint:

“THERE ARE A NUMBER OF instances where the borders of two or three nations touch, but the rare confluence of a total four nations coming together on one spot only exists in Africa where the corners of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia meet.

Unlike the touristy spots where states come together in America, which are usually decked out with monuments and bronze medallions, the African quadripoint sits in the middle of a river that cuts between the countries. It has been theorized that the point is not a true quadripoint but instead a pair of tri-points separated by thin strips of real estate. Regardless of the quibbling, the obvious jurisdictional headache of having four countries so close to one another has resulted in some conflict.”

What an interesting tidbit!

When we arrived at the border, it was very different than in the past, where cars and trucks were everywhere, as well as people, and there was chaos in getting onto a small boat with our luggage to cross the Zambezi River to Botswana. The bumpy ride in the rickety boat reminded us of many such boat rides during our world travels in various countries. Now, the new bridge is completed, as shown in our photo and described as follows:

Crossing the new Kazungula Bridge in Botswana.

“Kazungula Bridge is a road and rail bridge over the Zambezi river between the countries of Zambia and Botswana at Kazungula. The Kazungula Bridge under construction over the Zambezi, at the quasi-quadripoint between Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The bridge was opened for traffic on 10 May 2021.”

In the past, we crossed the river, where we were picked up by another driver and taken to the even more chaotic immigration office, where it took about 30 minutes while we stood in line in the heat. This time there is a slick new air-conditioned immigration building. Yesterday, we moved in and out of there in five or six minutes. There were no lines.

We had to walk onto a chemical pad to clean the bottom of the shoes before we were approved for entry. That wasn’t so odd since we’d done this in the past here in Botswana and Antarctica. But in this case, we were told to open our luggage and take out all of our shoes to do the same thing. We’d never been asked to do this before anywhere in the world.

Our lovely room is on the ground level with a river view. See the next photo for views from our private veranda.

Soon, we were on our way again, directly to Kasane to the Chobe Safari Lodge, and once again, we weren’t disappointed with our room and the surroundings. It was as pretty as ever.

There are two chairs on our private veranda and these views of the Chobe River.

In no time at all, we were checking into the hotel at 3:00 pm, 1500 hrs. Our day started when we left Marloth Park at 8:30 am and arrived at the hotel. By our standards, it took six and a half hours, an easy travel day.

By 5:15 pm; 1750 hrs., we were seated on the veranda for sundowners. I had trouble finding a wine I liked, so I ordered a full bottle of white wine that should last for three nights. There are roughly five glasses in 750 ml wine bottles. Since none of the wine here is low-alcohol, I will drink only two small glasses each night from the bottle they saved for me at the restaurant up the hill, at the A’la Carte,  which we loved last time we were, and we loved again last night.

Last night’s sunset. We were so busy talking, we were late in taking the sunset photos!

There’s a buffet here for breakfast and dinner, but we’ll likely eat at the A’la Carte since at least I can order more easily. I never know what I’m getting at buffets and the ingredients included therein. That’s a bit risky for me. Here are a few photos from last night’s dinner.

We’ll be back with much more. Tomorrow morning, we will go on a game drive, and the new post with photos will be uploaded a few hours later than usual.

We don’t usually take photos of monkeys since they are so pushy and destructive, but this one was kind of cute.

Have a fantastic Sunday!

Photo from one year ago today, August 21, 2021:

A young giraffe and a few zebras blocked the road on our way to Jabula on a Friday night. For more photos, please click here.

Packing has begun…Two days and counting…Busy in our old lives…

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Lilac took a drink from mom Tulip after eating lots of dry pellets.

This morning, I focused on getting lots of vegetables washed and cut to make Peanut Chicken Stir Fry for tonight’s dinner. I am making a huge batch and freezing the leftovers, so when we return from Zambia/Botswana, we’ll have dinner for the first few evenings and won’t have to shop right away.

We still have a few items in the chest freezer so that we may be good for the first week back. We return on Sunday, August 27th. It’s ironic that in our old life, before we began traveling, returning home was disappointing when we went on holiday for a week or more. There were piles of mail, bills to be paid, shopping to do, unpacking with piles of laundry and house cleaning.

Here’s Norman, all fluffed up when Big Daddy was nearby.

When we return from a trip,  we look forward to returning as much as we looked forward to going away. Our animals will be waiting for us, our human friends, and our delightful bush house will be clean and ready for us. While we’re away, Vusi and Zef will do a “spring clean” of the home, clearing out all of the dust in tucked away places that accumulate from animals in the garden as well as the general nature of the bush. We’ll return to a spotless dust-free environment

All we’ll have to do now when we return is unpack and laundry, with a new washing machine installed while we were away and ready to be used. How wonderful it will be not to run back and forth to the outdoor laundry area several times, resetting the washer, to get through one load. Louise did all of our laundry which is neatly folded and ready to pack.

It’s a rarity for a duiker to come close to humans. This is Delilah, on the right, the mate of Derek. He seldom jumps the fence, but she does almost daily.

Ah, the little things matter so much. I realize that we often write about the little nuances of our daily lives, and I hope it doesn’t bore our readers/friends worldwide. I’d also enjoy reading about the activities and challenges of another’s everyday life. It’s natural for you to compare your lives to ours, including the ups and downs, the illnesses, the unexpected events, and the excitement of world travel.

It’s especially interesting to hear how others living in Marloth Park spend their days and nights. We often wonder if other retirees spend their days outdoors on the veranda as we do and how they spend their free time. We’d love for any of you, our readers, to send us input on how you spend your days and nights, wherever you live.

All I recall from living in the US after retirement was that I was so busy each day with tasks, appointments, household chores, shopping, and financial responsibilities.  Sure we have some of that now, but once a month, I pay the credit card online (10 minutes), which we use for all of our expenses, and since we don’t have a checkbook, we never write a check. Is that so peculiar in today’s world of technology? Probably not.

Big Daddy Broken Horn, kudu with half of his left horn, which must have been lost in a battle with another male.

Often we went to Home Depot and the local hardware store for items we needed for household repairs and maintenance. We shopped for plants and flowers for our garden a few times a year. I spent hours in Target each month with a long list of items we somehow needed. Every so often, I went to the local mall or discount store to shop for clothes, shoes, and cosmetics.

Often, we had many activities centering around the family, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and we managed to make time for every possible event. The last few years, before we left, Tom often worked 12 hours days and was often exhausted. But that didn’t impede our desire to entertain, often making elaborate gourmet-type meals or in summer barbecues in the yard by the lake.

With only dinner to make for tonight with leftovers for when we return and packing, using a comprehensive list on an app on my phone to ensure we don’t forget a thing takes little time, especially when we have so few clothes and shoes.

I have to go now and cut up the chicken, and later on, I will stir fry the Asian spiced dish. There’s no more cooking for the next ten days since tomorrow night, 11 of us are going to Jabula for dinner. The following day, Saturday, we head to Nelspruit for our quick and easy flight.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 18, 2021:

The previous night’s trail cam photo of the porcupine visiting our garden. For more photos, please click here.

Starting to think packing…Four days and counting…Mishap in Komatipoort!…The water is back on…

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Bossy and another mom and three young kudus. Usually, kudus give birth to one calf. But, on occasion, one mom will babysit for another.

The wet laundry sat in the washer overnight when we didn’t have water for almost 24 hours. Finally, this morning, it was back on, and I could shower and tend to the laundry in the washer. I’m rushing a bit this morning since Rita is picking me up in less than an hour to go to Stoep Cafe for our weekly breakfast and girl talk.

I considered canceling today since I have not improved from the antibiotic I’ve been on for three days. But with all of us leaving South Africa this weekend, I wanted to spend this special time with Rita. Perhaps, it’s due to the long time I’ve had this after testing positive for Covid-19 in April.

Plus, I have hardly slept more than four or five hours a night since taking them, a common side effect of my medications. There are enough antibiotics left to get through the next four days. We are flying to Zambia in four days, and I look forward to feeling better by then. It’s frustrating.

We call this wildebeest Torn Ear, unlike a bushbuck with the same name at our old house. Zoom in to see his bad right ear.

Luckily, we still have enough leftovers for tonight, so I won’t need to cook anything for Tom, just something for me. I am happy to have something easy to prepare, like salmon salad and leftover fresh vegetables.

It’s almost 3:00 pm, 1500 hr., and we just returned from Komati after Rita, and I had brunch at Stoep Cafe. We walked out to the loaner car she was driving while their vehicle was being serviced in Malalane, and there was a flat tire on the small car. Immediately, she called Gerhard to help since neither of us was up to changing a tire.

But then, she realized Gerhard was at their bush house with friend Lee without transportation. There was Midas shop which wasn’t far from Stoep Cafe. I told Tom to sit tight until after we figured it out. Gerhard called Midas when they said they’d help in 30 minutes. . In Africa, 30 minutes easily could mean 60 minutes.

Big Daddy with a kudu male in the background who could be his son.

Much to our surprise, the tire guy showed up in about 20 minutes and got to work on the tire. Instead of using the spare tire, the guy was determined to remove the bad tire, take it back to the shop and bring it back repaired and ready to go. Rita and I went back inside Stoep to sit at the table we’d just left.

When the repair took a while, Rita suggested I call Tom on Whatsapp to ask him to come to get me. Tom was more than willing to do anything he could to help. In minutes, he was on the road to Komati. When he arrived, he sat at the table with Rita and me while we all waited for the tire guy to return. We didn’t want Rita to be sitting there by herself.

When the guy returned with the tire, we waited until it was done, and Rita went to the shop to pay the bill. In no time at all, we were back at the house. Rita made it home safely, and all was well.

Lollie was photo bombing a zebra photo, as usual.

Once back at our house, Tom peeled the boiled eggs while I chopped celery and onions for my salmon salad and cut up more vegetables for tonight’s salad.  All is prepped for tonight’s dinner.

Zef and Vusi arrived while I was gone, cleaned the house, loaded the soaking wet laundry from the defunct washer, and took it with them. They’d take care of the laundry at Louise’s home until we get a new washer which Louise and Danie are working on now. Knowing them, our laundry will be washed, dried, and returned to us by tomorrow, and a new washer will be in the outdoor laundry area.

If they cannot get a new washing machine before we leave on Saturday for our trip to Zambia and Botswana, Zef and Vusi  will do a few more loads for us since we have to go through the closet to choose the items we’re taking with us. Everything, including clean clothes, gets dusty in the bush.

As soon as we arrived at the house, Norman and Nina were waiting for us to return. It’s always such a joy to see the nyalas family, particularly Norman, who makes intense eye contact with me whenever he sees me. I do the same with him.

All we have to do for the rest of the day is reheat Tom’s meat for dinner at 4:55 pm, 1655 hrs. since load shedding starts five minutes later and lasts 2½ hours. There will probably be a lot of load shedding over the next week, so it’s not bad that we are leaving for a week.

That’s it for today, friends! Have a lovely day and evening!

Photo from one year ago today, August 16, 2021:

Lots of mongooses this morning! For more photos, please click here.

Fun evening in the bush with readers/friends….No water today…Photos from last night…

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This was our bowl of well-seasoned prawns with a homemade dipping sauce. There’s a little left for me to eat tonight for dinner.

This morning there was water, and I could take a shower. But, after I loaded laundry into the washer, I noticed only a trickle was flowing, certainly not good enough to do a load of laundry. Most likely, we won’t have water until tomorrow since the reservoir and the pipes have to refill. Thank goodness we had water last night for our delightful sundowner party.

We had a great time last night with our guests. It worked out fine for seating. Six of us sat at the table, and Tom Gerhard and Lee sat at the bar. The two areas are close enough that all heard the conversations.

We served the food on the lower section of the bar and on the wood shelves on either side of the outdoor refrigerator. Marylin brought the tasty deviled eggs.

All the food came out well, just as we expected, and serving buffet-style made everything easier. While our guests were here, I spent little time in the kitchen. By the time everyone left at 8:00 pm, 2000 hrs., we were satisfied that we had had a lovely evening.

We didn’t leave the food out for long in the warm weather, so we’ll have some good leftovers for tonight’s dinner. It’s great that I don’t have to cook with the water out. It’s a pain when we can’t do dishes when there’s no water, let alone because my first load of laundry is sitting wet in the washer tub with nothing I can do. It never washed, so I can’t put it on the spin cycle. So it goes.

We had plenty of serving space for the various dishes.

We have a bucket of water from the pool in the bathroom so we can flush and a container of bottled water in the kitchen for washing our hands. Tom won’t be able to shower today, but oddly he is never stinky in these circumstances. So no big deal. I can put up with him!

He was such a help last night. While I packed up all the leftovers, he washed all the dishes. When we headed to bed, everything was back in order, except for washing the linen napkins and many dish towels I’d used. Hopefully, by tomorrow morning, I can finish the laundry in time to go to Stoep Cafe with Rita. We won’t be able to return to Stoep Cafe until they return in September.

Forward is Carrie and then Marylin. They all are frequent travelers, and the stories flowed with ease.

Once our friends Jeff and Connie arrive, Rita and I will include Connie to join us for breakfast at Stoep with more “girl talk.” It’s a particular time I always treasure, having left so many of my female friends back in Minnesota almost ten years ago. On October 31st, we will celebrate our tenth anniversary of traveling the world. It’s hard for us to believe we left so long ago. Nor did we ever expect to do this for so long.

It was enjoyable for the 11 of us last night. Louise and Danie stopped by for a drink and stayed about 45 minutes. We were sad to see them go. Our readers/friends remained; Carrie and Jim, who’ve since purchased a gorgeous home in Marloth Park, and Marylin and Gary, who live in Utah but travel a lot. Marylin is from Zimbabwe and knows the bush very well. Rita and Gerhard,  whom we met four years ago from them reading our website was here with their friend Lee.

Rita and Jim (Carrie and Jim) sat at the end of the table.

It has been such a joy to share this magical place with others. And we look forward to hosting friends Jeff and Connie in mid-September. We’ve been friends with them for 31 years since we met at a gourmet club dinner party near our home in Minnesota. We took turns hosting gourmet multiple-course dinners at our respective homes. When life’s responsibilities ended with the club, we stayed friends with Jeff and Connie, even seeing them a few times when we returned to the US to visit family.

As for today, without water, it’s a low-key day. I am a little under the weather from the big doses of two antibiotics and look forward to seeing some improvement in the next day or two. So, today is a good day to take it easy and pamper myself, which I seldom do. Later this week, we’ll start packing for our upcoming trip on Saturday.

From left to right, Lee, Gerhard, Gary and Danie.

Have a fantastic Monday!

Photo from one year ago today, August 15, 2021:

Elephants were heading to the river. For more photos, please click here.

Menu for today’s party for readers/friends…

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Persistent little bugger made us laugh!

It’s Sunday morning, and I have a good handle on the food for this evening’s sundowner party for 11 guests, including Rita, Gerhard, and Lee, Marilyn and Gary, Carrie and Jim, Louise and Danie, and the two of us. Louise and Danie had committed to another event but will stop by for drinks.

Yesterday, I cleaned and prepared all the vegetables, and this morning I worked on the other items. It will take about 30 more minutes to prep the balance of the food. I’m glad I made an easy menu that wouldn’t require me to be in the kitchen for hours. Today, there are lots of flies now that it’s getting warmer, and I had to work while swatting them away. We can’t spray in the kitchen since all the dishes, pots, and pans are in open, doorless cabinets. TIA,” This is Africa,” as I always say.

We’re always thrilled to see zebras.

It’s a perfect weather day, no breeze, partly cloudy with an expected high of 90F, 32C. By the time everyone arrives, the temperature will drop to a cool and comfortable level. Surprisingly, I am not sweating while busy since the humidity is low at 32%. The 90F is quite tolerable at this level.

As for the menu, I am happy to share it here:

Sliced, Seasoned Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Spicy Buttered Prawns with Homemade Horseradish Dipping Sauce

Cheesy Russian Sausages with Homemade Mustard Sauce

Ham and Turkey Cheese Rollups

Baked Brie Cheese Wrapped in Phyllo Dough filled with Apricot Jam

Medley of Fresh Vegetables with Three Dips

Fresh Vegetable Platter with Dipping Sauce

Cheese and Crackers

Potato Chips, Peanuts, and Various Crunchy Snacks

We only need to cook the pork, which is ready to go, and the sausages on the braai, before our guests arrive at 4:00, 1600 hrs. The prawns are cooked, seasoned, and plated in a pretty white serving dish with the dipping sauce, chilling in the outdoor refrigerator.

They often walk along the fence, deciding where to stop to beg for pellets.

Once the food is set up for serving, I will take a photo to share in tomorrow’s post. I am thrilled I planned this easy menu since I still have an awful sinus infection. No improvement yet from the two antibiotics, but it’s only been 24 hours since I started them. I don’t expect to start feeling better for at least three days considering I’ve had this since April when we got Covid-19 Omicron.

I stopped working on this post for a few hours, and now, I am done short of cooking a few items before everyone arrives! Done! Done! The plates and glasses are washed and set up outside for our buffet-style meal. There’s enough food that no one will need to eat dinner when they return to their respective homes at the end of the evening.

He was thinking of putting his head between the railing.

Tom has been an enormous help, cleaning, sweeping, doing dishes, washing all the glasses, and cooking, including an endless array of tasks that made this day so much easier for me. I killed most of the flies in the kitchen with a towel snap. There aren’t any flies on the veranda, but they will arrive once we put out the food. Once everyone serves themselves, I’ll cover the remaining food with kitchen towels.

We’re putting a metal bowl of ice under the prawns to stay cold on this warm day. We’ll watch them and the other meats to ensure they remain iced cold. The sundowner tradition is that all guests bring their beverages in an ice-cold chill box since we won’t have room in the refrigerators for drinks other than the wine and beer in the outdoor refrigerator.

“Hmm…this works,” he thinks.

As it turned out, this weekend was another holiday, and the park was packed with holidaymakers. As a result, we’re only seeing a few wildlife visitors today. By tomorrow, they’ll all return and fill our garden with myriad species checking out the pellet situation and responding to our enthusiastic welcoming.

Hopefully, Norman and his family will stop by tonight while everyone is here. He’s already been here a few times today. When they are here, curious tourists driving on our road often stop when they see them, taking photos and enticing them with pellets. It’s not a good idea to feed the animals from a vehicle. It gives them a sense that it’s safe to be around vehicles after so many animals have been killed on the roads. This is a ridiculous practice.

A group of zebras is called a “dazzle.”

So there it is folks…our busy day. We’re so looking forward to this afternoon when everyone arrives. What a magical thing that three of four couples are here due to them reading our site over the years and coming to Marloth Park for the adventures.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 14, 2021:

We spotted this crocodile with its mouth open at Sunset Dam, beyond the Lower Sabie area. Crocs rest with their mouths open to cool off since they don’t sweat. For more photos, please click here.

Confusion over our address in Marloth Park…Electrical issues being resolved…

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A hornbill was enjoying herself on the birdseed trolley in the garden.

Recently, when Spar Market had some confusion over ordering my new favorite wine, Spiers 5.5% (very low alcohol) Chenin Blanc, I resorted to contacting the winery to ship 24 bottles from their website. The cost of the wine, with free shipping, was only US $108.80, ZAR 1765, which equates to US $4.53, ZAR 73.42 per bottle.

This tasty low alcohol wine is perfect for me since I get the “feeling” of enjoying a glass of wine without the effects; no tipsy feeling and no hangover. Typically I drink only two glasses in the evening. A regular white wine can have an alcohol content of 13.5% to 15%. This Spiers wine at 5.5% is ideal for me. We keep it in the outdoor fridge, where it stays ice cold.

A hornbill was eating seeds off the bushbaby perch.

I placed the online order last Friday, and it was scheduled to arrive at Louise’s office, the Info Centre, on Thursday. But as it turned out, Louise and Danie were out for part of the day, so I asked the winery to have the driver deliver it to our house nearby. For some odd reason, the driver couldn’t find our home and drove around Marloth Park for an hour.

Finally, he reached me by phone, and I suggested he return to the Info Centre, and Tom would meet him there to collect the wine, which worked out in the end. House numbers here are inconsistent and don’t necessarily run in sequential numerical order. A driver unfamiliar with that fact could easily get confused. For this reason, we have everything we order shipped to the Info Centre.

Trail cam photo of Norman, who stopped by early this morning to see if we were outside at 6:28. Not quite yet. But when Tom was on the veranda by 7:00, he was still here.

Yesterday morning when Vusi was cleaning, he replaced the ceiling light in the kitchen. He turned off the power to install the new fixture. When he tried to turn the power back on, it wouldn’t go back. Within a few hours, the electrician was here, looking for a solution. We were without power for about five hours. Tom placed the bowl of ice in the refrigerator, and our food survived. By afternoon, the power was back on.

The electrician is back again today, fine-tuning whatever he’d done to fix the power and working on a few other issues. The washer repairman was here to repair the washer, but it’s still not working right. TIA, This is Africa, and stuff happens. But Louise and Danie stay on top of all this, and we don’t have a complaint in the world. They couldn’t be more conscientious and thoughtful of our needs.

At one point, Noah was close to the camera.

Once the electrician is done, we’ll be off to Komatipoort to do our grocery shopping for the last time before we leave for Zambia and Botswana in eight days. Mainly, we’ll be getting food for Sunday night’s friends/readers sundowner party. Tomorrow, we’ll share the menu in the post.

The animals began to return to the garden after the holiday period ended on Tuesday.  Today, we’ve seen kudu, bushbucks, warthogs, wildebeests, nyala family, impalas, hornbills, and more. Last night, the mongoose stopped by at sunset for dinner. We gave them meat scraps, eggs, and paloney, which they devoured in seconds.

Son Noah was shortly behind Norman.

We had a lovely dinner of leftovers and hunkered down well after dark to stream a few shows and get outside our heads wrapped up in mindless drivel. We love each aspect of our everyday; breakfast on the veranda with good food and coffee,  later working on our post and financial projects, listening to podcasts while we work. At 4:00, we do sundowners, sometimes with my wine and a drink for Tom, and at other times, iced tea in our mugs. Then, we have dinner on the veranda or at the dining room table.

We never eat snacks at sundowner time unless we have guests, preferring to be hungry for our delicious dinners. Neither of us snacks during the day, preferring to avoid excess calories we don’t need.

We are taking off for Komatipoort for a quick stop at the pharmacy and then to Spar Market. It’s a perfect weather day at 84F, 29C, with a cooling breeze. Right now, one Big Daddy, bushbuck Gordon Ramsey, three impalas, and Norman are hovering in the dense bush. Lollie has been leaving in the afternoons to take a mud bath nearby. When she arrives here, she’s covered in mud. Photos will follow next time we see her.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 12, 2021:

Could this be Mom, Dad, and Baby hippos? For more photos, please click here.

Busy day on the horizon…Rushing this morning…

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Kudus don’t typically graze off the ground, although they will eat some grasses. But, pellets are a taste-tempting treat they’ll happily bend down to eat.

Rita will arrive to pick me up in a few minutes, and we’ll head to Stoep Cafe for brunch and girl talk. We enjoy this quiet time together when most often, we’re with the guys, and the conversation takes on an entirely different theme than idle girl chatter. Don’t get me wrong, Rita and I don’t discuss trivialities. We tend to talk about important life issues, dreams, and hope for the future.

I’ve always been blessed with having wonderful close female friends. We’ve been through thick and thin over decades of life challenges and joys. Living in Marloth Park, off and on over the past nine years, I’ve been able to make fantastic relationships that I treasure and, too, will last forever.

Nyala Norman, on the left, Noah in the middle, and Nina on the right, all stopped by for pellets.

On top of that, Tom and I have been fortunate to make many “couple” friendships with the partners of those female friends, providing us with a busy and rewarding social life. Sure, some of those friends aren’t here all the time, and we miss them. But we all stay in close touch until we’re all back together again, whenever possible.

We left many friends in Minnesota, many of whom we’ve also kept in touch with. When we visit the US and time allows, we try to see as many of our old friends as possible. Of course, on this last visit, we had Covid-19 and didn’t see family or friends during the 24 days we spent in Minnesota and Nevada.

Before too long, Noah will separate from his mother and begin to live on his own. He may choose to stay with his dad, Norman, but that’s yet to be seen.

Reviewing our upcoming travels, it looks like we won’t get back to the US until the second half of 2023, which isn’t that far away. Hopefully, this time we’ll be able to see our family members first and then some of our friends.

Nowadays, it’s a rarity for me to be able to sit down over coffee or tea with a friend like Rita and mull over the finite details of our lives. It couldn’t be more enjoyable and meaningful. No doubt, Tom and I talk about everything, including topics one might enjoy with friends. After all, we are the best of friends and companions, and lovers.

Noah’s coat will change in time to be a darker brown, like his dad.

There were times in my old life before I met Tom that were particularly challenging and emotionally impactful. But, since Tom and I have been together, everything changed, and my life took off an entirely different meaning and purpose, filled with love and companionship like none other in my past. I never spent a single day not thinking about how grateful I am for this life with this man.

We often giggle and say such things as, “Hey, Sweetie, look around, can you believe it,” as we point to the bush and our magnificent surroundings. Tom often says, “Who would have thunk it?” We never imagine spending so much time in Africa in our old lives or in any of the fantastic countries we’ve visited along the way.

Norman and I have a special relationship. He likes me to talk to him. (yea, I know this sounds crazy, but how about talking to your dog or cat?). He won’t touch pellets we’ve tossed until I stop talking to him. His ears flip back and forth as he listens to me.

Although we didn’t love every country we visited, we certainly found ourselves in awe of our surroundings, wherever they may have been. When we opened the door of our “riad” in Morocco in 2014, finding ourselves in the world-renowned “souks,” we shook our heads in sheer wonder.

If you have never seen our posts from that period living in the Big Square in Marrakesh, you can check out posts beginning at this link, where we stayed for 2½ months. What an experience! Most often, tourists visit Marrakesh for a week or two, but we had the opportunity to learn a lot about this magical place living there for so long.

He has started sniffing Nina again. Is a new mating on the horizon?

Well, I need to go. Rita will be here in a few minutes. May each of you enjoy close friendships that last a lifetime.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 11, 2021:

Although a little blurry, we shot this photo of a dining leopard in Kruger National Park on this date last year. For more photos, please click here.

Thank you for all the kind comments and inquiries!…

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This kudu has huge, wide horns. Such a majestic and wonderful animal!

Gosh, we’ve had many comments and inquiries about our non-starchy roasted vegetables, as shown on Monday’s post here. Most of the questions were regarding which vegetables were included and the spices used. Here are the vegetables I used, but you can use any you prefer.

  1. Zucchini
  2. Onions
  3. Mushrooms
  4. Red, green, and red bell peppers
  5. Carrots (a small amount, if low carb)
  6. Eggplant
  7. Garlic

Seasonings

  1. Himalayan coarse salt
  2. Garlic powder
  3. Onion powder
  4. Bottled Cajun spices or any other spicy mix
  5. Fresh ground pepper

I spray the pan with olive oil or coconut oil spray and then place a piece of parchment (baking paper) to cover the bottom of the pan to get the paper to stay in place. Then I lightly spray the vegetables before adding the spices, so they stick nicely. Bake for 90 minutes at 375F, 190C, tossing with a spatula every 30 minutes. These will keep refrigerated for four days. Reheat or eat cold; delicious either way.

Also, a few readers have written that they are not receiving automatic emails again. Please email me if you aren’t receiving the emails; we will report it to our web people again. In the interim, if you do not see a post, check for a new one each day at the same time, and the latest one will appear. Type: www.worldwidewaftage.com in your browser’s address bar. Thank you for being so patient. It’s some fluke the web people can’t figure out but keep trying.

Last night, for the first time in days, we could relax and enjoy our sundowners on the veranda. The issues have bogged us down. We had to resolve and for me to get the taxes ready for the accountant. We must wait for the duplicate tax documents to arrive at our mailing service and forward them overnight to the accountant.

This morning, these two male kudus rested in the garden for a few hours.

The cruise credit has been processed for the next upcoming cruise, our paperwork is in order, and I feel like I can relax for the first time in a while.

In 10 days, we’ll be leaving for our next visa stamp trip, returning to Zambia and Botswana for more safari adventures.  We’ll only be gone for a week and plan to post each day as always, providing the WiFi is working OK at the resort and hotel. Hopefully, we’ll have some stunning photos and stories to share.

Today is another perfect weather day, and the wildlife has begun to return since the holiday weekend is over as of last night. The majority of the holidaymakers have left. The roads are quiet once again. Construction sounds waft through the air from time to time since sound travels in the bush, but we aren’t bothered by it.

My tooth to be pulled when we return isn’t hurting right now. The dentist gave me extra antibiotics (which I hate taking) if it flares up while we’re away. If it becomes a problem, I’m bringing along plenty of Tylenol (Paracetamol). I don’t particularly appreciate packing for these short trips and most likely won’t start packing until the day before we leave.

Then again, I wouldn’t say I like packing anytime we leave for anywhere when we aren’t taking everything with us. In those cases, I have to decide what to bring and what to leave behind; when we go for an extended time, taking everything with us is much more straightforward.

Yesterday, I made Tom some “regular” (not low carb) blueberry muffins which he loves. Here’s a photo:

Two dozen blueberry muffins I made for Tom yesterday afternoon. He takes one out of the freezer each day. To have with his coffee.

Instead, I’d make these for him rather than have him eat those awful chemical-laden muffins sold at the Spar Market. He invariably buys the junk at the market if we don’t have homemade muffins or banana bread in the freezer. At least when I make them, I know the ingredients I am using are good quality.

Tom reminded me today that he was getting low on coconut banana bread. When checking his frozen inventory, he only had a few pieces left in the freezer. He takes one piece out of the freezer daily to savor after dinner. A new double batch is in the oven, taking 60 minutes to cook. I put the ingredients together, while he mashes the bananas. When it’s done, we let it cool, cut it into individual portions and place them in a freezer bag.

With him enjoying one of these days, the entire two batches last 24 days. There will be a little left when we return from our trip. But, the day after we return, I have my tooth pulled and may not feel like baking for a few days. I may make these all again next week. Fortunately, Tom has a propensity to enjoy the same thing repeatedly. That’s why he likes me!!!

After the baking, we’ll head to the butcher store here in Marloth Park to purchase some prawns for our sundowner event with readers/friends on Sunday. I’m making a list of starter-type items to serve, all of which will be as filling as a meal but served as appetizers. None of our guests will need to return to their houses to make dinner. Serving this way is easier, leaving me time to spend with our guests.

That’s it for today, folks.  Enjoy the day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 10, 2021:

Spikey and his mom came to visit. For more photos, please click here.