Last night while seated at the table on the veranda, more warthogs stopped by than we’d ever seen at once since we arrived here over a year ago. They included Mom and Three Babies; Tail-less Mom and Two Babies, Barbara, and Lori (all family members); Little Imposter; Little; One Wart; One Tusk, Siegfreid and Roy; Wounded; Wounded Wart; along with a few new visitors we didn’t recognize.

What prompted them all to show up simultaneously baffled us, but we enjoyed every moment. Of course, it was sad to see  Wounded Wart’s face bleeding again where he recently lost his left Wart. From time to time, he’d rub the bloody area on a tree, and in one case, he rubbed it on another cooperative male warthog. It certainly must hurt.

But, this species is exceptionally sturdy with robust immune systems. They often fully recover, leaving them with a scar that seems to dissipate over time. Amazingly, they don’t become infected as they roll around in dirt and mud and seldom die from injuries. Surely, they may pass from time to time, but we don’t see that when most likely they wander off into the bush during the last days of their lives. It’s a sad thought for any injured or ill animals.

This past year we’ve yet to see a kudu with TB as we’d seen on many occasions when we were here in 2018/2019. We’re surprised we don’t encounter more sick or injured animals. No doubt, the improved health of the kudus and other animals prone to TB have been helped by Marloth Park Rangers, local vets, and other staff who care for the animals when illness becomes prevalent.

Right now, all of the many visitors we get in the garden are looking well-fed and healthy, except for the few who are injured. Many are pregnant, and all benefit from the lush green bush after many months of good soaking rains. In reviewing photos from last year at this time, the bush is twice as green and thick as it was last year based on all the rain we’ve had this season.

The bushbucks, who seem to visit mainly in the mornings and during the day, look fantastic. Their coats are shiny, eyes bright, and torsos full without any ribs showing. They remain shy around us, and we don’t encourage “taming” them by getting too close or hand feeding. But, our connection with them is palpable.

If I’m in the bedroom putting laundry away, the bushbucks and the kudus will come up to the window and look inside for me. It melts my heart. Sure, they may just be looking for pellets, but I choose to believe it’s much more than that. Bushbuck Gordy won’t touch a pellet or a lettuce leaf if I talk to him and look into his eyes.

Gordy (named after Chef Gorden Ramsey) seems to live in our garden. At times, we’ve seen him sleeping in the dense bush, but most wild animals here in Marloth Park don’t sleep more than a total of four or five hours a day in very short spurts, always keeping an eye out for danger. Many can sleep while standing.

As of lately, with the continuing warnings about lions free-roaming in Marloth Park, the vulnerable animals, which are most, seem more alert than ever. There’s no doubt that they are all aware of the presence of the lions and stay on alert day and night. The slightest unexpected sound makes many of them jumpy, especially the vulnerable bushbucks and smaller duikers (already skittish).

The dynamics of living in the bush have a profound effect on us. Whether it’s day or night, we, like them, are always on the lookout to see who’s stopped by for a visit. Never a morning passes when I don’t ask Tom (who’s up and about earlier than me), “Have we had any visitors this morning?”

In the evenings, when we are eventually indoors, every so often, we turn on the outside light to see who is in the garden. Usually, no one is there, and those that do visit are shown in the photos on the trail cam. But, many times, a visitor is standing there, wondering where we are. Those moments are precious, along with all the interactions we have during the days and nights.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 26, 2021:

One year ago today, we were finally able to leave the hotel in Mumbai, India, where we spent a few days short of 10 months in lockdown at the Marriott hotel due to Covid-19 to fly to South Africa. Several days earlier, we’d made arrangements but expected the flight to be canceled. It was not, and we made it as far as Dubai on January 11, 2021, as described in this post.

Without a doubt, with Covid-19 in the air; it was scary flying for so long. From the Mumbai airport to Marloth Park, it was 59 hours. We remember that day as if it was yesterday. We were so happy to be here, in this house, with this fantastic garden, backing up to Lionspruit, the exhaustion we felt after 2½ days of travel was incidental.

In a matter of a few days of rest, good food, and sleep, we were feeling great and settled in, thanks to Louise‘s help, dinner at Jabula, and our uncanny ability to adapt to time zone, and long travel days reasonably easily. In no time at all, animals came to visit us. Most exciting was the day that Little appeared, shortly after we arrived, tearing a hole in the screen trying to get into the house.

We hadn’t seen Little in over two years at that point, and the fact he found us so far from the Orange house where we lived in 2018/2019, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. He visits almost every day, except during this busy now-ending holiday season. Soon, he’ll be back to his old routine of stopping by around 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs, daily.

At this point, we’re busy getting all the documents the law firm needs, and undoubtedly, it’s been a hassle. We carried a small portable printer and scanner when we first began traveling. But those days are long gone. Both weren’t of the quality of desktop models, and neither lasted more than a few years. Besides, they were bulky, although travel-size, and added a few kilos to our luggage weight.

When we need to prepare documents for visas or other reasons; it is a real pain in the you-know-what. There is a post office here in Marloth Park that does printing and scanning for a fee, but their hours aren’t always convenient, and we could end up waiting for quite a while with other customers in the shop.

Louise has an excellent printer and scanner which we use. But, lately, with the busy holiday season, we haven’t felt comfortable pestering her so much, although she is always happy to oblige.

So I got all the necessary documents together, and some of them weren’t acceptable. Our passport pages couldn’t be adequately scanned on a camera, so we had to run back to Louise to do these. Plus, the immigration department wouldn’t accept airline tickets for our eventual departure without the Expedia (or other vendors) logo on the tickets. It’s impossible to make a PDF of an Expedia ticket for whatever reason.  I ended up having to take a screenshot to comply.

Then, yesterday, the law firm couldn’t get South Africa’s immigration system to accept any of our credit cards to pay the additional processing fees. I called our credit card companies, spending almost an hour on the phone, to find out nothing was wrong with our cards, which I knew would be the case. It’s a South Africa VSF immigration department issue. Hopefully, today, that will be resolved on their end. Otherwise, I don’t know what they/we will do.

At this point, other than the payments as stated above, we’ve done our part, and they should have everything they need to complete our extension applications. It’s frustrating, to say the least. We’re glad we didn’t attempt to do this ourselves. It would have been even more cumbersome.

On another note, last night, after returning from picking up Rita’s sister, Petra, and her husband Fritz, at the airport in Johannesburg, Gerhard called and said he had a “perishable” treat for Tom. He and Fritz came over to hand Tom two boxes of Krispy Kream glazed donuts. He couldn’t have been more thrilled. With six donuts in total, Tom ate three last night and the remaining three with his coffee this morning.

Soon, we’re heading to Komatipoort to shop.

Have a wonderful day!

Photo from one year ago today, January 11, 2020:

I was wearing my N-99 mask, face shield, and gloves continuously during the entire 2½ days of travel from Mumbai, India, to Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport. The post may be found here.