Fantastic outing this morning…An old friend visits the garden…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 26, 2021 with 0 Comment

Notice the little spoked tuft of hair on the top of the email duiker’s head. So adorable.

Yes, it’s a late start to today’s post. At 9:00, Tom dropped me off outside Louise and Danie’s Info Centre, and friend Kathy picked me up. We headed to her favorite morning spot, Stoep Cafe, located on the main street in Komatipoort. Years ago, Tom and I went there every so often for breakfast. But, as of late, neither of us has been hungry for breakfast, and we haven’t stopped there at all since we arrived in January.

Once Kathy and I arrived at Stoep Cafe, Kathy’s regular table was waiting for her. She’s a frequent customer, and I was thrilled to share this particular time with her. This was the first time it had been just the two of us since she arrived in early July, and we couldn’t have been more chatty in catching up after not seeing each other much in the past two years, mainly due to Covid-19.

The time flew by, and before we knew it, we were back at Louise’s parking lot where Tom was waiting for me after I’d sent him a message on WhatsApp. Kathy and I said our goodbyes, knowing we’d see each other again soon, while Tom and I entered the Info Centre to chat with Louis and Danie. As always, it was delightful to see the two of them, as well.

After sharing interesting tidbits about our mutual days and nights since seeing them for dinner a week ago, Tom and I headed back to our bush house to find several animals waiting for us in the garden, including an old friend from before we left for the US at the end of June, two wildebeests, Hal and his constant partner, Old Man, who must be the oldest wildebeest in Marloth Park.

Upon further inspection, we noticed his face and stunted horns were covered in mud.

As shown in today’s photos, taken only a short time ago, Old Man was a mess this time. His face and stubby horns, obviously diminished in size due to years of use, were covered in mud. We couldn’t help but laugh but, then again, we were saddened to see how he improvises in digging up roots for consumption, using the stubby horns he’s acquired over the years.

Tom tossed them several containers of pellets and paid attention to the several bushbucks in the garden along with one adorable female duiker, as shown in the photos. Duikers are very shy, and the slightest noise or motion will send them off in seconds into the bush, never to be seen again.

Whenever Old Man visits, he brings this younger wildebeest with him that may be his son or even grandson, whom we call “Hal.”

Gingerly, Tom sent some pellets her way, and for the first time in a long time, I was able to take a photo of a duiker, especially a female with her adorable little tuft of hair on the center of her head, as shown in our photo and described here from this site:

“The common duiker has many common names, including common, grey, and Grimm’s duiker. The name ‘duiker’ is derived from the Afrikaans word ‘duik’ meaning ‘to dive’ due to its characteristic porpoising flight pattern. Common duiker is identifiable by their slate grey color, which in some areas varies to include shades of red and yellow. They have a tuft of dark hair between the horns, or just on the head in the case of the females as horns are absent, and a dark stripe down the center of the face. The preorbital glands in front of the eyes are conspicuous and exude a tarry secretion probably used in scent marking. Unlike steenbok, they tend to live in areas with lots of bushy covers, who prefer open areas. It is into this cover that they dart and dive when disturbed. They have excellent hearing, which alerts them to disturbances.”

A wildebeest’s eyes are high up on his face. Notice Old Man’s eyes by zooming in. Old Man wasn’t having a great day.

With only 56 days until we depart Marloth Park, South Africa. It was fun to be taking new photos of less common sightings when we consider how tired many of our readers may become of the endless flow of frequent sightings. We are especially mindful of every photo and story we post in the future.

Before we know it, our photos will be from Arizona, USA, where we’ll always be on the search for new and exciting photos. It won’t always be easy without wildlife surrounding us, but, as always, we’ll do our best.

Tonight, we’ll stay in and enjoy a quiet day and evening with our animal friends. As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we’ll listen to more music on our new speaker quietly enough to avoid disturbing the wildlife and any distant neighbors. Since yesterday, we learned more about the Bluetooth speaker. We paired it with both our phones and laptops. Now, anything we watch or listen to can be broadcast, loud and clear, a big boon for Tom’s hearing issues and also, when some streaming shows have a low volume, that previously required that we use a splitter to wear earbuds. Nice.

Have a pleasant day!

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

This photo was posted one year ago today while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #156. Although our room was more significant than a ship cabin, it was small, as shown in this photo. For more photos, please click here.

A sorrowful year-ago post…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 24, 2021 with 0 Comment

Big Daddy, as seen on the trail cam last night.

The past few days, I haven’t been my usual cheerful self. I blamed it on taking antibiotics for my bad tooth, the one that had a root canal done by Dr. Singh in Malalane almost two months ago, and still hurts when I brush my teeth. He explained a week ago, if the antibiotics don’t work, I will have to have the tooth pulled. Today is day three of five on the pills, and I’m not experiencing relief as yet.

The Imposter was trying to get comfortable to take a nap with his tusks in the way.

Usually, by the third day of taking antibiotics, one often begins to feel relief from their infection. Although I prefer to get optimistic, at this point, my optimism is fading fast. Sure, losing a tooth isn’t a big deal in the realm of things, especially when it’s the furthest back molar. If it left a gaping hole, it wouldn’t be noticed when I eat, laugh or talk. But, I spent my entire life taking good care of my teeth, and surely this issue is a part of aging more than from a lack of good dental hygiene, facing all of us as we age.

Also, as I’ve pined the past few days since we decided to leave Africa in 58 days, I’ve found myself feeling melancholy, as evidenced in yesterday’s post here. This is quite unusual for me, when most of the time, I am upbeat and cheerful. Then today, when I reread the post of my dear sister Susan’s passing while we were in lockdown in India, it dawned on me that I have been grieving her loss all over again.

Spikey is too cute for words. He stops by several times a day, often with his mom.

Many experience a resurgence of grief on the anniversary of their loved one’s passing. In actuality, she passed away on August 16th, but I didn’t write the tribute to her until August 24th. When she died, I was caught up in our new site going live and its many issues in the process, and oddly, I kept some of my emotions at bay until the site was working and I could allow myself to grieve. I did so writing this post, dated one year ago today.

And today, as I began to reread it, I asked Tom to let me read it aloud to him. I did so while he waited patiently, while I stopped several times, overcome with tears, in an attempt to continue. Sharing this with Tom, once again, helped me so much. When I was done, I felt better already.

Mr, Hornbill, doesn’t stay still long enough for a good photo, but we’re happy to see him and his three companions several times a day.

I knew that the sadness I’ve been feeling these past several days had everything to do with losing Susan, coupled with the knowledge and acceptance of leaving Marloth Park in less than two months, and little to do with taking antibiotics and the prospect of losing a tooth. It’s funny how we do that. We cry over something insignificant when, in fact, we’re crying over something else, something big, something meaningful.

So, now I’ve shaken myself off, so to speak, and put on my “big girl pants,” and I am getting ready for tonight’s dinner party here at our house in the bush. There will only be the six of us, Kathy and Don and Linda and Ken, since Rita and Gerhard are yet to return from their trip. But, six is ideal for the small table and accommodates the sparse number of matching dishes in this house.

It’s always delightful to see a young-growing “Big Daddy.”

It will be a leisurely dinner, not typical of “the olden days,” where I prepped and cooked for hours. We’ll start with easy appetizers during sundowners, and dinner will consist of bacon-wrapped filet mignon, baked potatoes with sour cream, vegetables, and salad. The evening will end with the choice of a dozen ice cream bars we purchased yesterday at the little store. Easy peasy.

Once the table is cleared, Tom will do the dishes, and my work will be done. Right now, this suits me just fine. Linda and Ken are leaving soon to return to the UK and may not return for a while, not unlike us. Kathy and Don will return to their home in Hawaii for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Rita and Gerhard are leaving within a week for Germany to see family. Most of all, we’re looking forward to spending time with our friends tonight and avoiding being trapped in the kitchen.

The uncertainty of travel in times of Covid-19 has impacted us all. We are not unique in our decision to return to the place in the world that feels the safest and provides us all with a degree of comfort and peace of mind, coupled with future time spent with family and friends wherever they may be.

So that’s it, dear readers. I need to get back to a few remaining tasks for tonight’s dinner. It’s a beautiful day and should remain comfortable well into the evening.

Enjoy your day and be well.

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

This flower was posted one year ago today, in a tribute I wrote to my sister Susan who passed away a few days earlier while we were in lockown on day #154. Aptly, named a” bleeding heart..” If you missed this post or would like to reread it, please click here.

Hahaha, it’s so busy in the garden, I can’t get anything done!!!…It was almost two years ago…Can’t stop thinking about it…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 23, 2021 with 7 Comments

I am sitting at the big table on the veranda and can’t stop laughing. There are so many animals stopping by I can hardly type a word for today’s post. Between Little, Broken Horn, ThickNeck/BadLeg, Spikey, and his mom, 25 helmeted guinea fowls, Frank, Go-Away birds, and other warthogs and bushbucks, I can’t sit still long enough to type a word. I keep getting up for more pellets and seeds.

The sights and sounds of the bush grab my attention, especially knowing that in 59 days, we will be leaving South Africa, unsure as to when we’ll return. It could be one year. It could be two. It’s all subject to what transpires with Covid-19. We do know that beyond the end of February, after friends Karen and Rich’s wedding in Florida, whether or not our cruises to Japan sail or not, we will be leaving the US to continue on our journey.

A few Go-Away birds have been hanging around for days. We love their funny sounds.

Of course, if Covid continues to rage throughout the world, and if there is nowhere safe or without restrictions for us to visit, we may have to rethink the possibility of plans outside the US. The alternative has been our long-range plan to travel to the US, and in the worst case, the time to do that may be coming sooner rather than later. At this point, we don’t have a clue.

As for most of us, Covid-19 determines our future fate, especially regarding travel. We’ve often thought about renting an RV to eventually travel the US when we were getting too old for long-distance travel, hauling heavy bags, and flying on countless red-eye flights. Is the handwriting on the wall and that time may be sooner than we’d hoped?

This tiny bushbuck couldn’t have been more than a month old but already knew about pellets. Her mom is in the background.

It will be less than two years ago that we stayed in Apache Junction with Tom’s sisters. We particularly loved the days and evenings we spent with them, socializing and having fun. Now, as the days tick away for us to leave Africa, where we’ll be soon, looms heavily on my mind.

But, the days in-between those delightfully fun social interactions were hard for me. It reminded me too much of what our lives would be like if we gave up our journey and settled somewhere in the US. After all, we’ve seen and done. Such a thought is far removed from our reality. The trips to the supermarket, Walgreens, Target, the bank, and more remind me of a life I struggle to embrace at this point.

Bossy and Broken Horn, together in the garden.

We never imagined our life of world travel would end due to a pandemic. Who imagined they’d lose their jobs, work from home, home school their kids, and wear face masks every time they stepped out the door? Who imagined their social lives would be small and fraught with worry and concern over “catching” the virus?

Even those of us vaccinated are still proceeding with caution in everything we do, everywhere we go, when the media and even science continue to throw us curve balls on what we can and can’t do, what is safe for ourselves, and our family. Will a booster jab be necessary? No one seems to know for sure. When will the numbers come down? Are the numbers real or exaggerated? None of us knows for sure. We live in a constant state of limbo.

Many of our friends who usually spend time in Marloth Park never came here, frightened of their fate, their safety. Are we no different in deciding to leave when we don’t even know if it’s safer in the US or not? Based on the stats from Worldometer, the US is still in the #1 spot on the list of countries. Why would we assume it’s safer there?

Arizona, where we’re going in 59 days, is listed in the 12th position out of 56 states and US territories. There’s a large senior population in Arizona. From the web:

“The number of elderly (persons over the age of sixty years) in Arizona will grow from a current level of around 900,000 in 2000, representing some 18 percent of the population to 1.8 million and 24 percent in 2020 and almost three million and 26 percent of the population in 2050.”

If 24% of the current population in Arizona is senior citizens, what percentage of those are recent cases of Covid-19?

From this article:

Arizona’s older population could mean more COVID-19 deaths.

That’s a higher share of the elderly than some states that have so far seen more significant outbreaks than Arizona. About 18.6% of people in California are over age 60, 19.1% in Colorado, 20.6% in Washington, and 21.2% in New York.

“Those that are over the age of 60 or those that have other significant medical issues are the ones most likely to suffer that mortality rate from COVID-19,” Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical officer for Banner Health, said. “The age of a country or a state or even a town will determine the death rate.”

One Wart, a regular visitor to the garden.

No, we don’t dwell on this every day. Of course, we will continue to avoid a sense of doomsday and be optimistic for the future. But now, as the time to return to the US nears, it’s unavoidable to free ourselves of such thoughts when we are out in public and at gatherings, just as we’ve done here in Marloth Park.

And, as I sit here today, surrounded by our wildlife friends, I already feel the sense of loss I’ll feel leaving here. If it weren’t for the necessity of going every 90 days for a visa stamp, undoubtedly, we’d have stayed longer. But, without a doubt, we’ll have a good time in Apache Junction, Arizona, with Tom’s siblings and then on to Florida for the wedding.

Life goes on. Thank God for that!!!

Photo from one year ago today, August 23, 2020:

One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #153. This is St. Mary’s church in Bampton, known as Church of St. Michael of All Angels, as shown in the series Downton Abbey, where Mary married Matthew, Edith was jilted at the altar, and eventually, Matthew was buried. For more photos, please click here.

Day #5, water is back!!!…Yeah, what a relief…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 22, 2021 with 2 Comments

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.

During the night, the reservoirs began to refill, then the pipes to the houses filled, and this morning we had water. It felt great to take a hot shower, although the water pressure was still a little low. By the end of the day, pressure should return to normal, and we’ll be good to go.

The dishwasher will be running most of the day with the accumulated dishes we had from the first day when we tried to cook without water. We gave up the next day and dined out for the duration except for today when we’re “back in business.”

Broken Horn was sharing pellets for a change when we had nine warthogs in the garden yesterday. (Not all nine are shown in the photo).

According to Eskom, the electric company who made the repairs, we may experience some outages during the week when they fine-tune the repairs. Hopefully, that won’t result in a day-long outage. Being without water for four days wasn’t easy, but it was easier than being without electricity and WiFi.

Without power, we constantly have to keep the food in the fridge and freezer safe to consume until the power is restored. We can’t do our posts, stream shows, or entertain ourselves in the evenings without WiFi. The daylight hours are much easier when we can go to Kruger or sit outdoors with our animal visitors, But, at night, without lights and streaming, we’re subject to playing dumb games on our phones which gets boring quite fast.

There were warthogs everywhere but no Tiny.

Without power or water, cooking is a challenge. It feels unsanitary to prepare food without being able to clean up afterward. Although we have the gas braai for cooking meat, we have an electric range. Last night, without water at dinnertime, I ate a small piece of leftover meatloaf, heated in the microwave, and a salad. Tom ended up ordering takeaway from Bos restaurant, ordering chicken tenders and chips (fries).

Today, worried about ingredients spoiling after not cooking for days, I knew I had to make low-carb pizza for Tom. In contrast, I’ll have grilled chicken breast, skilpadjies (Skilpadjies is a traditional South African food, also known by other names such as Muise and verjuice. The dish is lamb’s liver wrapped in netvet (caul fat), the fatty membrane surrounding the kidneys) and salad. I know this doesn’t sound very good, but it’s pretty delicious.

Little often comes to the side of the veranda. This way, he doesn’t have to share pellets with many others.

There will be enough food to last us through Tuesday. I always enjoy making meals to last for days, allowing me to have some days where I don’t have to cook at all. We only heat up what I’ve prepared. As much as I enjoyed cooking in our old lives, I don’t want it so much anymore.

Cooking for three days is an easy solution to cook less often, even though it takes more time on the day we prepare the food. Tom helps a lot. Today, he grated cheese for the pizza and has done all the food prep and dirty dishes from the past five days.

Little is afraid of One Tusk. Whenever One Tusk arrives, Little takes off, as do many other warthogs.

We no longer purchase pre-grated cheese when unnecessary chemicals are used in the preparation of the product. Also, buying grated cheese prevents us from knowing the source of the cheese. We purchase high-quality aged cheese, which Tom always grates by hand and also does the messy clean-up.

Currently, free from kitchen tasks, Tom is watching the Minnesota Vikings pre-season game on his laptop, using the “NFL Gamepass,” which only allows viewing outside the US. He’s been using this app for almost nine years, and it has served him well. The price for this service is now ZAR 1515, US $99 a year, when it was much higher when he began using it.

A lone mongoose positions herself with a birdseye view of what we’re doing in the hope of more food being offered. Here again, we’re to please.

It’s a quiet day in the bush. We haven’t had as many visitors today as we did yesterday. Mostly, we’ve seen the usual bushbucks and a few groups of warthogs. Frank has been by a few times without The Misses, and three of our four usual hornbills banged on the window for seeds. We complied, of course, as always.

Enjoy your Sunday wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, August 22, 2020:

With our new site going live during this period last year, we could not post on this date. As a result, there were no photos on this day while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #152. Please check back tomorrow for this feature.

Day #2, no water…After all, this is Africa..

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 19, 2021 with 0 Comment

A Go-Away bird was sitting at the birdbath for a drink.

Whether it’s no water, no power, or no WiFi, this is the “nature of the beast” (no pun intended). The infrastructure is delicate. Theft of cables, copper, and various parts for running the water system in Marloth Park is the culprit. Yesterday, we were informed of a theft at the water station.

This morning I signed up for a WhatsApp group for updates, and here’s the most recent, as of a few minutes ago:

“Eskom (the electric company) has reported another theft at the Fig Tree substation near Masibekela. Copper blades were stolen last night around 2300 hrs (11:00 pm). The power supply has been restored. However, low voltage is still being experienced. Water supply is affected due to the low voltage. Eskom is attending the matter urgently.”

Another Go-Away bird is ready to drink from the bottom portion of the birdbath.

Another post from WhatsApp::

“This will happen when power is off. Ideal for perpetrators.”

The question in my mind is, “How are these perpetrators being allowed into Marloth Park to commit such crimes? A lot of controversies exist in regards to the security at the entrance gate.” But, to avoid an unpleasant back and forth with locals, I won’t get into this.

After all, we are just visitors here and not property owners. We have no say in what transpires in the park. Many people are actively involved and work hard in an attempt to avoid such situations. But, again, “This is Africa,” and not everything goes as one would like. Preventing crime is a complex process in this area and other parts of South Africa.

Lots of mongooses wondering what is on the menu today: Paloney? Eggs? Leftover meat?

But, it’s not exclusive to South Africa or Africa itself when we hear about crime throughout the world, including our own USA. The bottom line is, “You can run, but you can’t hide.” Nowhere in the world is exempt from awful people who commit crimes upon fellow humans, animals, and property.

Today, we have no water pressure at all. Early yesterday morning, while we still had some water, I had put a load of laundry in the washer. When the water stopped running, we now had a load of dark clothes, soaking wet in the washing machine with no way to rinse or spin them. The washer doesn’t have separate settings for these features alone. If the water isn’t restored today, we’ll have to remove all the clothes and wring them out by hand, hang them to dry, and rewash them at a later date.

As for showering, no such luck, this morning, I did a “sponge bath” using bottled water warmed in the teapot. That worked out well. Tom’s hair is another issue. Without a shower, he looks like the “nutty professor.”

Siegfried and Roy cuddled on a cool morning.

After last night’s dinner, we had dirty dishes sitting in the dishwasher. This morning, Zef used pool water to wash the floors, a daily must-do with all the dust from the animals in the garden. We’re still using pool water to flush the toilets. That also works out well.

Thank goodness we have electricity. No water and no power is quite the nightmare. We are very grateful to have power and WiFi. We can cook, but we can’t clean up after ourselves. We’ve heard stories of water outages in Marloth Park that lasted for weeks. Hopefully, this time won’t be such a case. Two or three days are tolerable. Longer becomes exceedingly annoying.

At 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs, we’re heading to Louise and Danie’s to drop off the money we owe for pellets and stay for a little social time. That will be a nice break!

Have a spectacular day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 19, 2020:

There were no photos posted one year ago today while our new site was going live, and the “to be expected” temporary issues prevented us from doing so.

Special trail cam sighting…No water today…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 18, 2021 with 0 Comment

Every morning Tom removes the data card from the trail cam and carefully goes through each photo, looking for something other than warthogs and bushbucks. We see plenty of them during daylight hours. The nocturnal wildlife piques our interest, which was the purpose of purchasing the trail cam many months ago.

Last night, once again, we were gifted with a visit from a porcupine, as shown in these two photos captured by the trail cam. No, they aren’t as clear or bright as we’d like. I tried editing them, but the result was less visible than those posted. Right now, we don’t see a wide variety of wildlife. Mostly, it’s those same warthogs, including Little, about eight bushbucks, Broken Horn, hornbills, and of course, Frank and The Misses.

Don’t get me wrong. We love seeing our “regulars” and respond to their visits with enthusiasm at every opportunity. But, we are limited right now on the number of photos we can offer on each days’ post. We will soon return to Kruger National Park, but we are busy making plans for the future this week, considering our visas expire at the end of October.

After booking flights and places to stay, we will post what we’ve decided to do in the next several days. With the state of the world now, we have many considerations as we watch the increase in Covid-19 cases in most countries, even as more and more become vaccinated. It’s crazy! Why are the numbers going the wrong way?

On occasion, we move Frank’s seeds to the table when other animals try to eat them. He’s content to jump onto the table even when we’re sitting there.

No doubt, we are in a quandary as to where to go next. At this point, we know for sure that we are heading to Howey-In-The- Hills, Florida, in February for dear friends Karen and Rich’s wedding on February 11th. Yesterday, we booked three nights at the resort where the wedding will be held.

At either end of the wedding, Karen and Rich have invited us to stay with them at their house In Apollo Beach, right on the water. It was hard to resist their invitation. After staying with them in 2019 for our three-week visit to Minnesota, we know the four of us to have a great time together and can easily live under the same roof.

Handsome Big Daddy stopped by for a visit.

Yesterday, after considerable research, we managed to book a car with Budget in Tampa, Florida, for around ZAR 13411, US $900, which is reasonable for vehicles in the US. In this case, it paid to book as early as possible. Florida is a busy place in the winter months.

Staying with friends and family isn’t always easy. We each have our peculiarities and routines, Tom and I included. But somehow, Karen and Rich have similar routines and habits, making staying together easy and seamless. Plus, we have so much fun together. It’s irresistible!

We’re looking forward to spending time with them once again. We plan to be in Florida for about a month.

Old Man also stopped by for a visit and a few pellets.

But, the dilemma now is what we will be doing when the end of October arrives and our visas expire once again. The more and more research we do, the less confident we feel about traveling to other countries in Africa. Many African countries aren’t reporting Covid cases, nor have they since the onset of the pandemic. It’s a guess to determine which countries are safe and which are not.

Breakthrough cases of vaccinated individuals are rapidly rising worldwide, and the unavoidable reality is…where do we want to be if we become infected? What countries have adequate medical care? Also, we’re not well informed yet whether or not the one jab J & J vaccination was sufficient to provide ample protection. At this point, no medical organization has definitive answers about the necessity of boosters or the long efficacy of the various vaccines.

Hal likes to wander the park with his friend, Old Man.

It is no wonder that so many “vaccine objectors” exist worldwide when information is sketchy and uncertain, with endless exaggerations from social media impacting people’s views. However, we don’t judge others for refusing the vaccine. Each person has the right to choose what is appropriate for themselves and their loved ones.

We chose to be vaccinated based on our desire to continue to travel the world. Only time will tell if our five booked cruises will set sail in 2022 when such awful news is posted daily about Covid cases on cruise ships, even for the vaccinated.

There’s no water pressure today in Marloth Park. Some thieves ripped off electric cables to run the power for the water plant. As a result, we are without running water at this time. Thank goodness we have bottled water for drinking and hand washing. We’re using pool water to flush the toilets.

May our world become safer in months to come.

Photo from one year ago today, August 18, 2020:

One year ago, there was no post on this date while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #148, due to my dear sister Susan’s passing

Sorry, if we missed responding to your comment…Remembering…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 17, 2021 with 0 Comment

Zebras along the bank of the Vurhami Dam in Kruger National Park.

Within the inner workings, on the admin pages, I can see comments posted by our readers. Each day before I begin preparing the post, I check the “comments” section to read comments posted on any past or present posts. Comments may be posted on historic entries as far back as our first post on March 15, 2012.

Recently I noticed I hadn’t responded to some comments, and I apologize for that. In the future, I will make every effort to respond to each comment and email. Some days we receive more email messages that I can respond to in a day. So please bear with me as I attempt to get caught up.

A zebra was taking a drink at the Vurhami Dam. Note the elephant on the opposite side of the wall.

With some technical issues impacting our WiFi signal in the house, I haven’t been able to work on the corrections for the past posts for several days. After uploading this post, I will spend the remainder of the afternoon beginning this process once again. At this point, I still have 1200 or so posts to correct.

So far, I have completed about 2286, which was quite a task in itself. But, it’s the nature of the beast, and I chose to go back and do the corrections, never knowing how long it would take. Since I can comfortably correct about ten posts per day, I expect I won’t be done with this task until four months from now, hopefully by the end of the year. It will be a relief to have my afternoons to work on other things I may enjoy more.

There is an adorable youngster in this photo.

Life is filled with responsibilities, some pleasant, some not so much. This morning I made Tom homemade, from scratch, blueberry muffins. His weight remains stable, and he’s been able to enjoy some treats. Each time we grocery shop, he makes his way to the bakery section, checking out the muffins and doughnuts.

He’d added a few items to our grocery trolley on a few occasions, but after trying them with his coffee the next day, he always mentions they aren’t very good. Finally, I made homemade blueberry muffins for him, not from a box but scratch. I found a good-sounding recipe at this link, entitled “To Die For Blueberry Muffins.”

By the time I finally finished making and baking the muffins, he’d already had his coffee for the day. But, he didn’t waste any time, eating two warm muffins, each topped with a dollop of butter. He loved them! I was thrilled. I’d made a double batch ending up with 18 muffins. To keep them fresh, I froze them in ziplock bags of four. The entire batch will last a total of nine days, eating two muffins a day.

I won’t be surprised if he asks for another batch at the end of the nine days, and of course, I will be delighted to make them again. In the meantime, I was tempted by his muffins which aren’t gluten-free, sugar-free and low carb. As a result, I made a batch of suitable lemon/poppyseed coconut flour muffins for me. I have been longing for such a treat for so long.

This elephant was too far for a good shot.

This morning, the wonderful smells emanating from the kitchen brought back many memories of past times. I’m reminded of all of the years I worked full-time and spent my spare time cooking and baking for us, for family, and friends. I love the life we have now. No, I don’t miss that life. But, it’s pleasant to go down “memory lane” when amazing smells fill the house, stirring up memories from the past.

Today, we’re staying here, cooking a flattie (a flattened chicken) on the braai and some side dishes, feeding our endless stream of visitors and continuing to revel in this life in the bush, seven months after arriving, with almost six more months to go. Then, we’ll be off again to other adventures in this chaotic world, as restrictions and lockdowns allow.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, August 17, 2020:

One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #147. Taken from our seats on the Eurostar from Paris to London in 2014. The seats were more comprehensive than airplane seats. I had pictured a four-seat configuration with a table in front of us, which was not the case with our seats. For more photos, please click here.

Busy morning in the bush…Paid off a debt hanging over our heads…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 16, 2021 with 0 Comment

This morning’s visitors were plentiful. We had no less than eight bushbucks, seven warthogs, 50 mongooses, and Frank and The Misses. Tom was busy feeding everyone while I showered and dressed for the day. Once done, I was outdoors and joined in on the feeding and usual chatting with the wildlife.

It’s odd to think about talking to wild animals, but many of them look into my eyes, tilt their heads, flick their ears in response to the gentle, albeit high-pitched voice. No, they don’t necessarily know what I am saying, but I often repeatedly use the exact words, and they may quickly become familiar with those words.

At this point, the most frequent warthog visitors do a little dance when I say, “Do you want some pellets?’ It’s not different than asking your dog, “Do you want to eat or go for a walk?” Pigs are listed as smarter than dogs. Is it any wonder that the warthogs and other wildlife would eventually associate my words with actions after a while? It’s not surprising to me at all.

The most significant joy of interacting with the wildlife is the way they make eye contact. As I’ve mentioned in the past, zebras don’t seem to make that same type of eye contact. I genuinely believe that the lack of emotional interaction with them is why we seldom see them in our garden, although they do visit from time to time.

In today’s heading, I’ve mentioned the payoff of a debt hanging over our heads. When I had open-heart surgery in February 2019, and our then insurance company refused to pay, we had to pay the entire balance out of pocket. After we paid off the bulk of it, we had a remaining balance which we agreed to pay monthly to the tune of ZAR 10000, US $678, a month.

On Friday, I made the final payment. The actual US dollar amount varied monthly based on the rand (ZAR) value, but we chose to pay in rands rather than US dollars, which ultimately saved us some money. We could have used personal funds to pay this off, but it made sense to pay it off this way when no interest was charged. Now that this is finalized, we can put this behind us.

We used a credit card each month to make the payment using a South Africa payment app through a bank, but we paid off that card every month, as we usually do, avoiding any interest charges. It feels good to have this behind us since we have no debts, without a home or car and accompanying lifestyle.

Being debt-free is a good reason why we always strive to live within our means. That way, we never have to worry about money which can be an enormous stressor. Sure, from time to time, we’ve charged substantial amounts on our credit cards to pay for expensive cruises, but we’ve always managed to pay them off quickly.

Bossy drank from the pool as opposed to the birdbath.

I easily recall being a single mom while owning a business subject to the ebb and flow of the housing market and how financial struggles kept me awake at night. I never stop appreciating how fortunate we are these days, not to worry about money. But, here again, we live on a tight fixed income, and foolish spending is not within our realm.

Speaking of spending, finally, after 12 days, we’re going grocery shopping once again. Having dined out several times during this period and using all the meat we had in the freezer, we made it through. But today, we’re down to the “bare bones,” and grocery shopping is a must.

That’s it for today, dear readers. And thank you for all the kind and thoughtful messages regarding yesterday’s post about losing my sister, Susan, one year ago while we were in lockdown in Mumbai.

Be well. Be safe. Be happy.

Photo from one year ago today, August 16, 2020:

One year ago, this photo was posted in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #146. With almost 13,000 restaurants listed on Trip Advisor in Paris, it’s tricky deciding on where to dine. For more photos, please click here.

Thinking ahead in the short term…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 14, 2021 with 0 Comment

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.

Last night, at dinner at Jabula with Rita and Gerhard and Linda and Ken, we all discussed our plans for the next several months, which includes the Christmas season, which is only four months from now. Linda and Ken are returning to their home in the UK after selling their home in South Africa months ago.

Rita and Gerhard are heading back to their home in the state of Washington to spend the holidays with their adult children, not returning until February or March. Kathy and Don will head back to Hawaii. Next month, Alan and Fiona will depart for her home near Durban, South Africa, and won’t return until March, when we will most likely be gone.

We were surprised by how many crocs we saw in one day.

We’re fortunate to have other friends here in Marloth Park, including Louise and Danie, Dawn and Leon, and others, but with the holidays looming and Covid, we aren’t sure of their plans. It just may turn out that we are almost entirely on our own over the holidays. Thank goodness for great food, fun, and festivities at Jabula, where most likely, we’ll celebrate the holidays.

As of this moment, with uncertainty looming about travel, we’re hoping to go to Zambia again at the end of October for a week for our new visa stamps. But, at the end of January, when our visas expire once again, we’re seriously considering going to Florida, US, for dear friends Karen and Rich’s wedding on February 11th.

How long we’d stay in Florida is up in the air, subject to the anticipated cancellation of three cruises we have booked beginning February 27, 2022. Between these cruises, we have a month to fill in and around Japan. For that part, as in the rest, we have to “play it by ear.” If these cruises do sail, we’ll disembark in Seattle, Washington, on May 6, 2022, and from there, we will stay in the US to visit family once again while we await the next two cruises on June 29, 2022.

As cruises are experiencing more and more cases of Covid by vaccinated individuals, at this point, we’re wondering about cruising in general over the next year or two. Here is an article about 27 vaccinated individuals who tested positive on August 13th, on a Carnival Cruise, 26 of whom were crew members along with one passenger, as follows in part:

Another crocodile on the bank of the Sabie River.

“Twenty-seven vaccinated people who are on board the Carnival Vista cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Belize Tourism Board. Twenty-six of the positive cases are among Carnival crew members, with only one passenger testing positive. According to the tourism board, everyone who tested positive was vaccinated, and “most are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms.

The ship departed from Galveston, Texas, and headed to Belize when the authorities reported the outbreak. Last week the cruise line reported positive cases on the Vista, but it would not disclose the number.

“We have managed the situation utilizing stringent health protocols which included placing those who tested positive in isolation and close contacts in quarantine,” Carnival said in a statement on Friday to ABC News. “Guests onboard the July 31 and August 7 sailings were notified and kept updated, and the CDC and destination officials have been apprised.”

Contact tracing was initiated for the other almost 3,000 guests and 1,500 crew onboard the ship, which docked in Belize on Wednesday.”

This news further leaves our future travel plans up in the air, as is the case for many past and future cruisers who’d like to make cruising an integral part of their upcoming travel plans.

A creek was running over the rocks at the Sabie River.

Tonight, we’re off to dinner at Alan and Fiona’s home, starting with sundowners at 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs. We are savoring any time we can spend with friends until many have left Marloth Park for other destinations in the months to come.

That’s it for today, dear readers! Stay diligent. Stay healthy. This isn’t over yet.

Photo from one year ago today, August 14, 2020:

This photo was Tom’s dinner at an upscale restaurant in Paris, posted again one year ago while in lockdown in Mumbai, India, on day #144. Tom’s filet mignon with fries and butter for the breadbasket. His steak was very small. For more, please click here.

Need advise…Is there a secret to wearing flip flops?…More Kruger photos…

Posted by worldwide-admin on August 13, 2021 with 3 Comments

This might be a serrated hinged terrapin, but it was difficult to determine from this photo.

Yesterday, friend Fiona and I had pedicure appointments at a local Marloth Park spa where I’ve gone three times in the past. Before these recent pedicures, I probably didn’t have more than three professional pedicures in my life. I am ticklish and don’t like anyone messing with my feet.

But, as we age, I believe that maintaining good foot care is as important as maintaining the health of any other part of our bodies. It isn’t as easy to do my pedicures as it was years ago as I’ve aged, especially since I had open-heart surgery here in South Africa in February 2019. I find I have a difficult time bending over. I’ve read that other heart patients have experienced the same issue.

When I drop something on the floor, I have to force myself to pick it up. Last night, during the night, I couldn’t sleep. On a rare occasion, I take one aspirin that, for some odd reason, makes me go back to sleep. When I got the bottle of aspirin out of the cupboard during the night, I dropped the lid, and it rolled under the bed.

This morning when I got up, I got down on my hands and knees in an attempt to grab the lid—no such luck. My wobbly sternum, which never healed quite right, prevented me from reaching for it. When Zef was cleaning this morning, I asked him to get the lid, and in seconds, he had it in his hands. He’s 30 years younger than me and had no problem. Oh well.

Another distant shot of an elephant along the Sabie River.

Back to the pedicure, after my sidetrack…Yesterday, I made another batch of gluten-free apple crisp for Tom. He’s been craving this dessert, and since he hadn’t gained any weight from eating the first batch, and his blood sugar is regular, I didn’t hesitate to make it for him. We had ample apples and ingredients left for another batch. He peeled the apples, which helped speed up the process.

He loves vanilla ice cream on his warmed apple crisp, so we headed to the local little grocery shop for the ice cream at noon. While there, I had an idea to purchase a pair of flip-flops that I’ve never owned in my life. When I tried them on long ago, it hurt so much between my toes that I swore I’d never buy flip-flops. I am very picky about not wearing shoes that hurt my feet.

While Tom was in the grocery shop, I checked out the flip-flops on display outside a gift shop next to the market. I expected they’d be very inexpensive here. I imagined a cheap pair of rubber flip-flops for a few dollars. But, these were much nicer, basically decent cushy-heeled shoes, priced at ZAR 390, US $26.24. Should I buy them since no store in the area would have the cheaper version and eventually “learn” to wear them painlessly?

The edge of the car’s window is shown in this photo. We were very close to this elephant.

Knowing mine and Fiona’s pedicure appointments were upcoming in a few hours, I purchased a pair of the flip-flops that “looked” most comfortable. I tried them on. Yep, it hurts between my toes, but I’d heard that regular wearing will toughen up the space between one’s toe. I decided to give it a try.

After our appointments, I carefully put on the flip-flops, aware that it was painful but not wanting to wreck my newly polished toes. Once back at our house, when Fiona and Alan stayed for sundowners, I kept the flip-flops on, only taking them off after they left a few hours later.

This morning, as soon as I was up, showered, and dressed, I started wearing them again. It would be much easier to slip on flip-flops every time I go outside to the veranda instead of bending over to put on other shoes. We’ll see how it goes. So far, still painful. Any suggestions or input as to how long it takes to get used to wearing flip-flops would be greatly appreciated.

It’s hard to see, but was there a crocodile in the river in the background?

The power is out right now. Oddly, the WiFi is still working. That’s Africa, for you! It’s very cool and windy today, and most animals are hunkered down. They don’t like wandering about in the wind. Right now, our only visitor is Thick Neck/Bad Leg, who is busily dining on pellets.

Tonight, we’re off to Jabula with Rita and Gerhard and Linda and Ken. No doubt, we’ll have a great time, fantastic dinner, and excellent service once again!

Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, August 13, 2020:

This photo was posted on this day one year ago while in lockdown in Mumbai, India. We were at Le Louvre in Paris. Tom is in front of a statue of a hunter in the center courtyard. For more photos, please click here.

Tag: world travel

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