Tom’s vaccine registration went through…Mine did not…Good food, striving for good health…

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Such cute little creatures who manage to kill venomous snakes.

After using Louise‘s phone number yesterday to re-register Tom and me for the Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa, Louise received a confirmation for Tom’s registration. However, she did not receive one for me. When 24 hours soon pass, once again, I will re-register.

We won’t be getting the vaccine on the same date and time, or even the exact locations, which I expect has been the case for couples worldwide. We anticipate the jabs will transpire in Komatipoort or Malalane, the closest two cities to Marloth Park. We’ll see how and when this rolls out.

Mongoose clamoring for the raw scrambled eggs in the pan.

I’ve communicated with friends Linda and Ken in Johannesburg, who also signed up the day after we did. They have already re-registered once and may have to do so again when neither has received the confirmation text to their South Africa phone numbers. Go figure.

Today is another glorious day, comfortable without clouds or humidity. When I was up and dressed, I began cooking a few things: a large egg and cheese sausage casserole, an excellent staple for us when hunger hits, and the other part of my dinner tonight, liver.

Mongoose lined up eating from the pan of eggs.

Tom will have pork chops on the braai, which I am not a big fan of, but he enjoys. Of course, he would never consider trying liver when the smell alone makes him cringe. It’s not unusual for us to eat different protein sources at any given meal. He loves having white rice with each dinner, but rice doesn’t work for me due to the high carb count. Most likely, I’ll have a slice of the egg casserole with the liver, an excellent combination.

I don’t miss eating vegetables at all when my blood pressure and blood sugar numbers are normal  (without medication) for the first time in 30 years, and my years-long stomach ache is gone. Who knew this would happen? I never expected vegetables to be an issue for me. But, everyone is different, and what has worked for me may not work for others.

After they finish the eggs, they stare at us, wanting more.

It’s odd, but I don’t enjoy cooking as much as I did in years past. The sooner I can get out of the kitchen, the better. In the past, I could spend several hours a day chopping and dicing and preparing entrees and side dishes, Now, with our new way of eating since we arrived in South Africa over three months ago, the most time I have ever spent in the kitchen is no more than 30 minutes, and yet, we’re thoroughly our meals.

At most, we eat two meals a day, but more often only one. Lately, Tom’s been having a slice of the egg casserole in the morning, but I’m rarely hungry until at least 18 to 20 hours since my last meal when I may have something to hold me until dinner.

Warthog males often groom one another, even when they aren’t specifically “friends.”

A few days ago, when Louise headed to Nelspruit to shop, she picked up eight packages of delicious trout salmon for me. They are 200 grams, 7 ounces, and I’ve been capping off my dinner with a 100 gram, 3½ ounce serving with a dollop of cream cheese. It’s almost as good as a dessert.

While in India all those months, we lost our taste for sweets, and no longer do I bake low-carb desserts, bread, or muffins. In each of these cases, the carb count was too high to maintain normal blood pressure and blood sugar levels. If either of us craves something after dinner, a few slices of quality cheese will do the trick.

We call him “Medium Daddy,” not quite a Big Daddy yet.

We both feel better, our weight is easily controlled without effort, and we’re still able to enjoy a glass of wine or cocktail at our leisure. Of course, I only drink small amounts of low sugar/low alcohol red wine, and Tom has his brandy with Sprite Zero.

I am still working out on the rented treadmill but have now changed my routine to HIIT (high-intensity interval training) every three days instead of just fast walking on the treadmill. I hesitated to do my old familiar HIIT workout since I had heart surgery over two years ago.

This hornbill stopped by for some seeds but didn’t stay long.

I don’t experience feeling light-headed, out of breath, or any pain or discomfort during or after the workout. But my fitness level is such that I feel comfortable working out this way again. I continue to monitor my heart rate in the process, using the following as a guide for my maximum heart rate. My resting heart rate is 58, blood pressure is usually around 110/68, without medication.

As for today, we’re engaged with all of our visitors. We just gave a pan of raw scrambled eggs to about 40 mongooses, endless pellets to visiting warthogs, kudus, bushbucks, and of course, fresh water in a bit of container and seeds for Frank and The Misses who stop by several times a day. Life in the bush is excellent!

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

Closeup of a hippo’s face. Charming. Be well. For more photos from the year-ago post, please click here.

Today, we signed up for Covid-19 vaccine…South Africa registration found here…

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Narrow and The Imposter lying close together, appearing to be a two-headed warthog, one head at each end.

Appointments for the Covid-19 vaccine may begin booking in South Africa in mid-May. There is an option within the application process to enter a passport number as opposed to a South Africa ID number indicating that foreign nationals over age 60 will qualify for this second rollout after health care workers and emergency services workers have been vaccinated.

If you are currently in South Africa, including foreign nationals over 60 years old, you may register at this link. You will be notified by text message to confirm your registration within 24 hours of applying and then be informed where and when you may go for the vaccine, hopefully sometime next month.

Currently, we have two passports each, one expiring at the end of August and another expiring in 2024. To be safe and to ensure our vaccination certificates have the correct passport numbers we used the numbers of the latter of the two.

Siegfried and Roy drinking from the birdbath.

With a degree of uncertainty of sufficient doses available in South Africa, the uncertainly of the efficacy and various side effects, we hesitated, but for only a moment. If we want to continue traveling the world, we must get the vaccine. Even, if for some reason, we decided to stop traveling, we’d still need the vaccine if we ever wanted to cruise again or feel safe in the USA. The pandemic is not going away anytime soon.

There has been a lot of controversy as to if and when South Africa will have sufficient doses for the vaccine and according to news reports (could be fake news), it’s still up in the air. But, from what we hear, they are almost done with health care workers. There are 50 million people in South Africa.

Some may say that our being vaccinated while in South Africa is taking away an opportunity for South African citizens. But, wherever we’d be in the world, we’d be using up two doses. I suppose wherever one was located at the time of receiving the vaccine could elicit a case for objection by some.

Mongoose hovering by the hose for the pool

That same “hater” we mentioned in yesterday’s post here, berated us at the prospect of us returning to the US to get vaccinated since we’ve been gone so long, saying we aren’t entitled. Every human on the planet is entitled to receive the vaccine not only for their own benefit but hopefully the benefit of loved ones and others, with whom they may be in contact.

If you are in South Africa and choose to register for the vaccine, please keep in mind that it may take some time for the drop-down filters to load. I waited for 10 minutes to be able to select this municipality. I left it sitting while I did a few other tasks and when I returned to my computer the selections were available.

It’s best to plan that it will take about 20 minutes to complete the form for each individual, only due to the slow response time when attempting to enter the simple information into the drop-down menus. It’s one of those scenarios when patience prevails which is often the case when filling out certain online forms.

Mongoose lounging in the garden waiting for egg treats from Tom.

Today is cooler and cloudier than yesterday and a bit breezy. Sitting outdoors on the veranda feels especially comfortable. The visitors are stopping by on a consistent basis, especially large numbers of bushbucks. As it’s turned out, due to lack of recent rain, the vegetation for the wildlife is becoming sparse and they are hungry.

We currently have four 40 kg bags (88 pounds each) of pellets right now and don’t hesitate to offer pellets freely which we’ll happily do during the lean times in the upcoming winter. Before our eyes, the bush is rapidly losing leaves and already we can see well into the bush which was obstructed by lush vegetation only a few short weeks ago.

Mongoose stretching to reach the water in the birdbath. Tom refilled it after this mongoose struggled to reach the water.

We’ll be posting today’s story on Facebook today, especially on Marloth Park pages for those who may not be aware of the availability of registration for the vaccine. There are many residents over 60 residing in Marloth Park.

Have a pleasant day. Be well.

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

The setting sun between the palm trees in Kauai in 2015. For more photos from this post six years ago today, please click here. For the year-ago post, please click here.

Gentle musing on a quiet day…I’m often wrong…

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This wildebeest looked angry and ready to charge. But, generally, they aren’t aggressive to humans who keep their distance.

At times, my thoughts run wild as to the topic we’ll cover in our post on any particular day. Let’s face it, after over 3100 new posts. The subjects may be thin and repetitive. I don’t deny this. How we manage to hold the attention of our worldwide readers often baffles us, a topic Tom and I often discuss based on the sheer wonder of it all.

Although I don’t spend more than a few minutes each morning contemplating the day’s topic, at times, I’m left staring into space, wondering what’s on the agenda today. But, this dilemma is short-lived. I press my fingers onto the keyboard and let them, as “they” said, “do the talking.”

The wildebeest was curious about us stopping by.

No doubt, the redundancy is glaring at times. Even I recall a topic I may have written about 2000 posts ago. Somehow they are all decorated in my mind, popping into the forefront, the minutes I start to type. Oddly, today’s very topic didn’t precipitate or surface any recall of a former post. But I could be wrong. I’m often wrong.

Being wrong is the “nature of the beast.” It’s impossible to avoid errors, misuse of the English language, for which I often zealously assume I have a reasonable mastery. That may be wrong also.

Oh, my. Certainly, I’m known to use the same adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, and so forth, as described here ad nauseam. It would help if you got sick of me from time to time. Even the few “haters” who read our posts, one of which refers to us as a “train wreck,” continue to read for whatever perverse satisfaction she may glean from coming back over and over again.

A group of wildebeest is called a “confusion.” Go figure.

Tom, a railroad man for 42½ years, knows what a train wreck is, and it is not us. But, perception is everything. I ask the universe if you hate something and have the option to avoid it without consequence, then, by all means, avoid it without effect. Does she think that her hateful dissertations in an email or “comments” are going to change how we do this?

Yesterday, I received a thoughtful message from a reader reminding me that I misuse the word “alas.” She included the definitions from a reliable online dictionary source, and I thoroughly agreed with her. Her message was kind and considerate. I took no offense. As we advance, I will be more mindful of my use of the word “alas,” thanks to her well-written and well-intentioned interjection in a private email.

Wildebeest crossing the road.

Would I continually appreciate comments and observations regarding words I may use incorrectly or in a slang manner? Probably not. After all, this is not an essay contest. This is a log of our daily lives, both perfect and imperfect and mostly somewhere in between. I dare anyone to write daily, over 3000 times, over eight years and not make verbiage, punctuation, and spelling errors.

At one time in my life, I was a perfectionist. I gave that up when we began this journey, knowing full well that being perfect in this year’s long world journey would not serve me well, only resulting in frustration and stress. Now, I wear the same shirt for two days, misspell words in posts and texts, and haphazardly draw on a disappearing eyebrow, a byproduct of old age,

We spotted these giraffes at quite a distance.

Over the years, I’ve learned that no one will say they were glad to be a perfectionist on one’s deathbed. They will espouse love, life, adventures, and contentment, of which we’ll have plenty.

Be happy. Be well. Thanks for being here.

Photo from one year ago today, April 15, 2020:

Beach view in Kapaa, Kauai six years ago today at this link. For the year-ago post, please click here.

A wild start to day…All is under control now!…

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Mom and baby elephant munching on the vegetation. We shot this photo from the veranda of the Mugg & Bean Restaurant in Lower Sabie in Kruger National Park.

With Louise and Danie coming tonight for sundowners and dinner, when the power went off before 8:00 am this morning, of course, I started thinking of how I’d prepare the food without the use of the electric oven. Everything I’d planned to make was to be cooked in the oven.

As soon as we were up and about, Tom ran out to purchase four bags of ice. When he returned, I loaded up the chill box, layering it with the perishables from the refrigerator, the items for tonight’s meal, and layered them in the unopened bags of ice, hoping the chill would last longer.

Baby elephant playing with another elephant in the Sabie River.

Also, I placed one bag of ice in a large metal bowl on a shelf in the refrigerator. This has worked well for us in the past as long as the ice stays frozen. I noticed the freezer was doing fine when I had to take out an item, and it could conceivably keep the foods frozen for many hours to come.

I considered how I’d cook the main items we’d planned for the meal on the braai, as opposed to the oven, when some dishes cook better in the oven than on a grill, with a more consistent and even temperature. The braai would have been my only option, and I contemplated the fact that everything wouldn’t be quite as well prepared as I’d planned. Plus, with three main dishes cooking on the grill at once, Tom would hardly have had time to socialize when he was busy tending to the food.

Elephants love to swim, using their trunks as snorkels. They are prolific swimmers.

Fortunately, the WiFi kept working during the outage. It often goes out within an hour or two of an outage since the towers run on batteries that don’t last long without electricity. I contemplated whether or not to post today when it was entirely possible. We’d have no connection in no time at all.

Much to our delight, while drinking our coffee while seated at the big table on the veranda, made with hot water that Tom heated on the side burner of the braai, the power popped back on. The way we know it’s back on is because Tom always turns on the outdoor fan. When the power returns, the fan starts running.

Elephants were climbing out of the Sabie River in Kruger National Park.

Immediately, I got to work prepping the meal, warming the oven for the first item of slow-cooked smoked baby back ribs, and preparing the bacon-wrapped, Emmental stuffed chicken breasts. We’ll cook the jumbo prawns when they arrive. With a few side dishes, we’ll be good to go.

Now, while I’m cooling off in the bedroom with a bit of air-con after sweating profusely in the high humidity, I am preparing today’s post, sharing more photos from Kruger National Park. We can’t wait to return to the park and will do so next week. We plan to embark on a self-drive every week, especially on sunny days.

Elephants on the move.

Although it’s the weekend and our visitor count is usually lower than during the week, today was an excellent start to the day. We’ve had several visitors so far and look forward to more as the day progresses. Once I complete and upload today’s post, I’ll get back to work on prepping for tonight.

I don’t enjoy cooking as much as I did in years past, but we certainly love having sundowners, starters, and dinner guests. In part, I think my diminished interest in cooking is because I don’t have all the cooking gadgets and serving pieces I had in my old life. Also, it’s often scorching and humid, like today, and sweating in the kitchen impacts my level of enjoyment. I suppose that’s to be expected.

Elephants were crossing the paved road in Kruger National Park taken through the car’s windshield.

This morning, I spilled a little liquid from the bags of prawns onto the kitchen floor. Immediately, I wiped it up with hot soapy water. Less than 20 minutes later, while I was here in the bedroom cooling off, I could hear Tom busy in the kitchen, spraying with Doom and sweeping.

My little spill attracted hundreds of ants from outside, who crawled under the front door to the spot on the floor where I’d spilled. I apologized for not cleaning the spot well enough, but he didn’t seem at all concerned. When I asked him what happened, he explained about the hundreds of ants he killed and removed.

Another Mom and Baby in the bush

This is the bush. It’s hot. It’s humid. And insects of many types are found inside the house daily. The power goes out regularly. The water stops flowing from time to time as it did last week. For many, these annoyances and inconveniences would be unbearable. For us, they are fair and reasonable trade-offs for the things that we do love.

Last night I jumped out of bed when some creepy crawler was walking on my neck. I got up, flicked it off, and then shrugged it off, content I didn’t get bit. It’s the way it is. The bush. Nature’s paradise. What more could we ask for?

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 10, 2020:

Birdie, contemplating his day. For more photos, please click here.

Rental car complications…More Kruger National Park photos…

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“This is a good place to rest my head.”

Some readers/friends have suggested we buy a car to keep in South Africa, rather than continue to rent. We appreciate the suggestion, but that doesn’t work for us. We’d have to buy the car, put out the cash, buy an insurance policy, and find a place to store it when we are away. This would cost considerably more than we’re paying for rentals now.

In reality, we don’t plan on living in South Africa long-term. We will continue to visit every few years and stay as long as we can make the visa situation work. But, we still have lots of the world left to see. Once the pandemic settles down and we all settle into a “new normal,” and when travel resumes more readily, we will be on our way.

Classic giraffe photo with blue sky in the background.

Where will we go? That remains to be seen based on the availability of travel throughout the world and, of course, coupled with our ability to get the vaccine at some point. We’re especially looking forward to cruising again once we can get the vaccine, hopefully within the following year. Everything is still up in the air.

As for rental cars, lately, we’ve noticed substantial price increases for vehicles from the Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport, our closest and most convenient pickup and return location. Since the pandemic, all the rental car facilities in Nelspruit are closed on weekends, which is a challenge to ensure we pick up and return cars Monday through Friday. The contract for the car we have now will end on Sunday, yet they want to charge us for an extra day returning it on Monday. Go figure.

Giraffe munching on low-lying trees.

We’d arranged for another car from the site we often use, rentalcars.com, and received a confirmation after payment in full. Two days ago we received a notice from rentalcars.com that they are canceling our contract for the new rental period since they don’t have “that particular car” and offered us another car at a 30% increase in price. We refused that car.

Then we called Budget about our current contract to see if they could help us by extending our current until June 30th. It was impossible to speak to someone who knew what to do. We kept getting disconnected, or someone would come on the line and direct us to another phone number. We’d call the other number, and they’d direct us back to the original contact person.

Giraffe among dead trees in Kruger National Park.

After multiple tries, we finally located an affordable car at Thrifty at the Nelspruit Airport for pickup on Monday. Then we called Budget again last night to find out what they’d charge us for the extra day. No one knew. After multiple calls, we gave up. Finally, we gave up and started all over again.

We told them we’d be there by noon on Monday to drop off the car and find out at that time the fee for the extra day. They could easily gouge us, but from experience, additional days are usually prorated from the initial contract rate. If it’s more than that, you can be assured we’ll handle it. We’ve always found that kindness and patience work better than hostility. We will figure it out.

View from the bridge of the Verhami Dam.

So, at the moment, we have a car selected from Thrifty with full insurance for under US $1400 for the next 79 days, averaging at ZAR 248, US $17 a day, higher than we usually pay but still a reasonable price. The insurance includes us returning the car every 30 days since our credit cards only cover the insurance for the first 30 days of any car rental contract.

Hippo up for some air. Hippopotamuses love water, which is why the Greeks named them the “river horse.” Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun. Hippos are graceful in the water, good swimmers, and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes.

Thus, we’ll make the almost three-hour round trip drive to Nelspruit on Monday, returning with the new car from Thrifty. We’d intended to grocery shop on the return drive at the fabulous Spar Market in Malelane. Still, when we ran out of food yesterday, we headed to Komatipoort and purchased enough groceries to last for at least the next ten days.

Elephants on the move on a path in Kruger National Park.

Today is sunny and a little warm with a high expected of only 87F, 31C. As always, the humidity is high, making it feel more sociable. All is quite well here. We are content as we could be.

We hope you are also. Be well.

Photo from one year ago, April 9, 2020:

Hanalei Bay on a sunny day, taken from our condo in Princeville in Kauai, Hawaii. Year-ago posts were all taken from older posts while in lockdown in Mumbai, India. Please excuse the repetition. For more photos, please click here.

Finally, I saw it!!!…Last night’s outstanding visitor…

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Handsome male impala.

Sure, I wish I could have taken a photo of last night’s porcupine. Tom was doing the dishes while I was in the bedroom, setting up a show for us to stream when quietly, he opened the bedroom door and signaled to me to follow him. He’d happened to peer out the sliding door with the garden light on to see if any visitors were in the garden in the dark and spotted the porcupine for the fifth time.

Once our night vision trail cam arrives, we will be able to share photos of our visiting porcupine. We wondered why she starts in the same spot each time Tom has seen her, realizing it was next to the edge of the veranda where we often leave seeds for Frank and The Misses.

A medical clinic opened up this month in Marloth Park, ideal for emergency treatments.

When searching online for porcupine sources of food, we discovered the following:

“In the winter, they primarily eat evergreen needles and the inner bark of trees, often feeding heavily on a single tree causing damage or death to the tree. Porcupines shift to eating berries, seeds, grasses, leaves, roots, and stems.”

The seeds we left for Frank at night have attracted her and are the reason she’s returned time and again. Tom has kept a watchful eye out for her since his first of five sightings beginning a few months ago, hoping to be able to show her to me. Last night was indeed a treat for me.

A creek was running through Marloth Park.

I was totally in awe of what my eyes beheld. She had her quills fully extended, and she was much larger than I’d anticipated. She disappeared into the bush in a matter of seconds with no time for me to prepare the camera for a nighttime shot. Thus, we’re excited about the prospect of the trail cam arriving in the next month or two.

As for yesterday, I had the wonderful treat of a long conversation on Facebook Messenger with my dear friend Karen, who’s now moved to her fabulous home in Florida from Minnesota. It was Karen and Rich with whom we stayed when visiting Minnesota in 2019. We rarely stay with anyone while traveling, but it’s been so comfortable staying with them, we didn’t hesitate to do so again.

We’ll visit them in Florida at some point in the future, although they are planning to visit us here in Marloth Park sometime next year when the timing is right when international travel eases a bit. We plan to move into one of Louise’s larger houses for the almost three weeks they intend to be here. (Our current house is too small for four adults).  It’s not worth coming all this way, halfway around the world, for a short stay.

The Marloth Park Water Treatment Plant.

Tomorrow, Tom will take the little rental car to the Marlothi shopping center’s car wash for a thorough cleaning, both inside and out, which car rental companies require in South Africa before returning vehicles, or an additional charge will be imposed.  On Friday, we’ll return the car to the Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport to collect another car for the next 82 days.

It’s about a 75-minute drive each way. After we collect the car, we plan to stop in Malelane on the return drive to do our grocery shopping at the fantastic Spar Market, which is packed with goodies for our way of eating. It will be a fun outing. Next week after the traffic lessens in Kruger National Park, we’ll head to the park for a much-anticipated self-drive in search of fantastic wildlife and lunch at the popular Mugg & Bean in Lower Sabie. We can hardly wait. The Easter crowds are gradually diminishing with less and less traffic in Marloth Park.

A lovely animal on the side of the road.

Following is a video we found on Facebook with a kudu attacking a man who got too close to the massive mature male. The animals we love so much are wild, and it’s never safe to attempt to touch them or get too close. I hope this video comes up for you. Please see here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/377035355798904/permalink/1901623916673366/.

Have a fantastic day.

Photo from one year ago today, April 7, 2020:

This is the only health food store, Healthy Hut, within a half-hour drive from our holiday home in Kauai, Hawaii, in 2015. The inventory was ripe with fresh, locally grown organic produce, grass-fed meats, free-range chickens and eggs, and food and health supplies one would find in a much larger location in a big city. Pricey? Yep! For the full story from six years ago today, please click here. For the year-ago post, please click here.

Almost every day something amazing transpires in the bush…See the latest…”Pig in a Pond”…

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I.B. (Itchy Butt) laying in the wet, muddy cement pond, attempting to ease the itching.

Here’s our new video of “Pig in the Pond”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw4uSqCK_1o

Just when we think we don’t have enough photos to share here, something unique happens in the bush, and once again, we’re in business, ready to post a new story with accompanying photos. If we wait patiently, it will happen. Late yesterday afternoon was no exception.

OK, I get it. You may be tired of hearing about warthogs and their hysterical antics. But, the reality remains…we see more warthogs at this particular house in the bush than we’d seen in past houses in 2013/2014, 2018/2019. Undoubtedly, we’ve embraced this fact and named most of the pigs, many due to their physical characteristics or peculiar behavior.

The cool water, on a cool day, must have made him feel better.

Today, we introduce you to I.B., short for “Itchy Butt.” We’ve never seen anything like it. Yes, we’ve had a Pig in the Pond in 2018/2019, when Little, whom we seldom see now, since Tiny, has become “King of the Garden” entered the pond, and we wrote a story about him, entitled, “Pig in the Pond, Pig on the Porch, Pig in the Parlor. See that post here.

Little not only entered the pond, but he also came up the seven slippery steps to the veranda (the porch) and entered the living room (thus, the parlor). We continue to laugh over that story even a few years later. And now, this new pig, who arrived late yesterday afternoon with a severe itch, spent considerable time in our cement pond.

He repositioned himself in an attempt to feel better, scratching his hind end on the sand.

During the first few months since we arrived in Marloth Park in 2021, it rained non-stop for days and days, leaving mosquitoes breeding in every pool of water, including cement ponds. The cement pond outside our bedroom window was filled with vegetation, creating an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Moses, an employee of Louise and Danie, stopped by one day and emptied the pond’s vegetation and water, filling it with sand. Well, it continued to rain and the cement pond filled with water once again. No doubt, more mosquitoes are breeding in the pond, although the small amount of water continues to evaporate during the past dry weeks.

Nothing seemed to help relieve the itching.

Yesterday afternoon, as we lounged on the veranda, watching various animals stop by, including bushbucks, kudus, Frank and The Misses, and of course, numerous warthogs. I’d stepped inside to put away the laundry when I heard Tom yell out to me, “Get the camera! Pig in the pond!”

And there was I.B., rolling around in the mud and remaining water in the cement pond, mainly attempting to scratch his itchy hindquarters. He was on a mission, scratching against the boulders lining the pond, using the sand at the bottom to scratch. During one hour, he entered the pond three times, exhibiting the same behavior on each occasion. Later, when he exited the pond, he practically visited every surface in the garden to help him get a good scratch.

Finally, he climbed out of the cement pond.

Of course, we felt sorry for him. There was nothing we could do to help him. After all, this is nature. When warthogs have medical issues, the rangers don’t attend to them. There are many warthogs in Marloth Park, and their healthy and sturdy constitutions prevent the park from providing medical care for them. They usually recover from most injuries and illnesses on their own. It’s a rare occasion that a carcass of a warthog is discovered in the bush.

He tried scratching on the pebbles and big rocks in the garden.

If they have life-threatening injuries or illnesses, typically, they are found and euthanized and delivered to Lionspruit for Dezi and Fluffy’s next meal. Marloth Park residents are good at informing the rangers when such serious situations occur. But, an itchy butt is not necessarily a life-threatening situation. After we’d taken photos of his bloody behind, it looked so much better when he returned this morning. We were relieved to see the improvement.

After all his efforts for over an hour, his hind end was red and bleeding.

It’s a fantastic experience to watch wildlife all day and evening, learning their behavior, nuances, and special needs. Observing the behavior of wildlife is a rare opportunity and experience. Watching wildlife in zoos doesn’t provide such an opportunity. It’s only a feature of being in the wild among them, watching them and interacting with them, day after day. For this, we are humbled and grateful.

While all of this was happening, another warthog took a nap using a rock as a pillow.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, April 6, 2020:

Beautiful orchid we spotted in our travels from this post. For the year-ago post, please click here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s always delightful to spot giraffes.

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

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

We were fortunate to get these shots this morning.

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

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

Munching on treetops.

Be well.

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

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

Happy Easter to those who celebrate…Long ago memories…

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

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

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

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

A forkl of kudus stopped by for a morning snack.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This one decided to lay down in the shade.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Be well.

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

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

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