Day #173 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…A learning experience in Kenya…

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Hesborn, our houseman, in Kenya stopped by Wednesday morning, after a whole night of rain, showed us this carnivorous, stinging, dangerous creature with less than 100 legs, yet is still referred to as a centipede.  He warned us not to walk in the grass after rain. A sting from this ugly creature will require a trip to an emergency room. These not only walk but also are known to climb up bedposts. Oh.

Today’s photos are from the post on this date in 2013, while we lived in Diani Beach, Kenya, for three months. For more details from that post, please click here.

Living in Kenya for three months beginning in September 2013 was the best possible introduction we could have asked for to adapt to life in Africa. As many of us know, Africa is an entirely different and unique environment from what we were used to, spending most of our lives living in the US. This may well be the case for many citizens living in modern-day, developed countries with infrastructure and lifestyles proportional to that in the US.

Non-venomous. This good-sized lizard came to call as we lounged in our outdoor living room. Thanks for the nice pose, Ms. or Mr. Lizard.

Arriving in Kenya on September 2, 2013, we were in for a rude awakening and culture shock while we were riding for an hour in a well-worn van from the Mombasa Airport to Diani Beach, the location of our holiday home we’d booked for three months. We chose to visit Kenya to eventually make our way to the Maasai Mara National Reserve to embark on our first of many wildlife photography safaris.

In the next several days, we’ll share the photos and the stories of how and where we decided to stay for this big adventure, one I’d dreamed of all my life. Of course, the exciting photos of our many safaris in the Maasai Mara, an experience we’ll never forget, will be re-posted soon as we continue to share our past experiences while in lockdown.

Mildly venomous. Hesborn referred to this as a millipede. We didn’t bother to count the number of legs. These are harmless, although if walking on a person, they leave a trail of “itchy liquid.”

During that hour-long drive to the holiday home, I was practically hanging out the window of the vehicle in the sheer wonder of what my eyes beheld, scenes of which neither of us had ever witnessed in the past. The people, the cows, the buffalo, the goats, the pigs, and the chickens walking along the crowded pot-hole-ridden highway, sent me into an awe-stricken state unlike any other in my life.

Often tourists comment that they felt uncomfortable seeing the poverty, the way of life, the commotion, and the traffic in what was formerly referred to as “third world countries.” Witnessing these scenes sent me into a jaw-dropping state of curiosity and wonder. Oh, don’t get me wrong. It’s heartbreaking to see the poverty up close and personal.

A millipede about the tip of my shoe: one wouldn’t want to snuff this out with their foot if discovered in the bathroom in the middle of the night.

For me, it represented the strength and resiliency of a people who were making the best of a seemingly impossible situation with many thriving in the best manner possible. Perhaps, that was my overly optimistic viewpoint. Still, it served me well when over these past eight years, we experienced many similar scenarios, not unlike much of which we’d seen in India during the two-month tour.

On that day, the shutter on the camera was clicking nonstop. I shot hundreds of photos in that first hour and thousands more during the three months we spent in the country, along with the precious time spent in the fantastic Maasai Mara National Reserve, one of the most pristine and wildlife-rich places in the world. I’d go there again if we could.

As Alfred, our driver for the three months, drove us to the stores. We passed many similar buildings.

Those challenging days and nights in Diani Beach primed us for the harsh realities of Africa along with its life-changing wonders we beheld in one way or another almost every day. Whether it was the curious facts about a venomous insect shown in today’s main photo or the exquisite heart-pounding experience of taking a photo of a lion enjoying his zebra lunch a mere 3 meters from our vehicle, it had it all.

These run-down lean-to-type shacks depict the aspect of a third-world country, many without running water and electricity. And there we were in what was considered an upscale resort community of Diani Beach.

It is hard to shake once a person gets Africa in their blood, especially those deeply moved by its magic. And now, as we remain in lockdown, just eight days short of six months, the only place I long to be is, back there in Africa, amid the wildlife, the vegetation, and its amazing people.

The Nakumatt grocery store is guarded by armed military security, who, for security reasons, refused to be photographed. Armed guards thoroughly examined the car, including a mirror on the long pole to search for explosives. We were searched and wanded before entering the market. This was the day I tossed my handbag, never to be used again in Kenya. From that day, Tom carried my lipstick and passport in his pockets.

Perhaps, in time, we’ll be able to return to the heat, the bugs, the snakes, the excitement interspersed with a tinge of danger in the wild, and the blissful experience of seeing nature in its most acceptable form, both human and animal.

Stay safe. Stay healthy and have hope.

Photo from one year ago today, September 12, 2019:

Blue sky, blue sea, and craggy cliffs in Port Isaac, known as Port Wen in the TV series Doc Martin. For more photos, please click here.
Day #171 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Is a donut a fair trade-off?

Day #171 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Is a donut a fair trade-off?…

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The ferry docked at the edge of Savusavu, Fiji, makes a daily trip to Viti Levu, the largest island in the Fiji chain. It’s an overnight journey, arriving at 4 or 5 am. Since we’ll spend our last month on that island, we saw no reason to take the ferry and will again fly on the commuter plane when it’s time to leave.

Note: I started out doing the edits, starting at the oldest of almost 3,000 at page #148, with 20 posts per page. I noticed a number of the posts had varying font sizes in the text. This resulted during the conversion from Blogger to WordPress as my operating platform. The extra time it would take for me to change the font to a universal size would be doubled.

This is a daunting task in itself, and I have no interest in doubling the time it takes to do the other necessary edits. As a result, I will be leaving them as they are. Sure, I’d like every one of the 3,000 posts to be perfect. But, for the sake of time spent, I decided I must leave it as is. Today, I am on page #131, completing one page each day, taking a bulk of my free time.

The dock is available for the use of boats in this small harbor.

Today’s photos were from this date in 2015, when there was no post on this date in 2013. When we first landed in Fiji on the small island of Vanua Levu in the village of Savusavu. See the link here.

On to today…

As the proverbial optimist, I try to maintain a positive attitude throughout the day and spend little time thinking about our difficult situation. Yesterday was a hard day for Tom. I couldn’t avoid feeling frustrated when I saw and heard how frustrated he was. He’s tired of this. I am so busy with tasks, I think about it less.

As we wandered through the busy local farmer’s market, open daily, it was hard to decide which vendor to choose for our purchases. We purchased the following for $22, US $10.12;  two red bell peppers (also called capsicum here); six medium-sized aubergines (eggplant); three heads of cabbage; and eight large carrots.

For me, if we were living in a house overlooking the sea, right now, I’d be wrapped up in the necessary edits on the old posts that would take up most of my days and parts of my evenings. I might stop from time to time to savor our surroundings, take walks on the beach, do laundry, and prepare meals.

Every few days, we’d head out to the grocery shop and go sightseeing, taking endless photos along the way. As is the case when handling hundreds of photos, a tremendous amount of time is required to sort, edit, and manage the photos. In reality, I’m probably better off not taking new photos right now while I’m busy with the seemingly endless revisions.

These are breadfruit often used in curry dishes, popular in Fiji.

As a result, this time in lockdown is not so bad for me. That’s not to say it isn’t boring. Especially the walks and the repetitive meals for Tom, who spends most of his day on his laptop researching ancestry, reading social media posts, and listening to podcasts. He’s bored.

He wants a doughnut. India is not known for its donuts. He’d tried a few Indian donuts before the lockdown, but after a few bites, he stopped eating them, preferring the taste of a good donut from SuperAmerica in the US (if they even exist these days). He’d liked the freshly baked donuts from the baked goods case or bakery in any supermarket on occasion in other countries. His donut days are non-existence, and he’s feeling frustrated. Oddly, he prefers plain donuts without frosting or filling.

These are the sizes of the aubergine we purchased. These adjoining bowls contain a variety of hot peppers, which I’d love to try, but Tom doesn’t care for spicy food.

If I could eat a donut, it would be creamy, sticky, nutty, and oozing with something in the middle. I haven’t eaten a donut in over nine years. Right now, I’d be happy with a piece of meat with fat on it instead of a dry chicken breast which I never liked anyway, unless it was cooked on the grill with the skin and bone.

No, this isn’t easy. But, without a doubt, it’s easier for me than for Tom, and on a rare occasion, he expresses his frustration, and I listen with caring and compassion. Two weeks from today, we’ll have been in this hotel room for a full six months. I wonder how long we can last before we “give up” and return to the US until this COVID-19 disaster passes.

These are some types of sweet potatoes.

Our risk of infection is almost zero in this hotel. Returning to the US, flying on several flights through several airports, and finding a place to stay, live, and shop while we “wait it out” is risky, particularly for me. Would we end up sitting in a chair all day, occasionally walking and not being any better off than we are now? We’d have to be very careful and avoid being around others, not unlike what we’re doing now. Those are the questions we ask ourselves now.

We’d pay thousands of dollars more a month to live, to rent a car, to grocery shop, and our risks of COVID-19 would be exponentially higher. But, one reality remains. Tom could eat a donut.

Coconuts with peeled outer shells were readily available in the market. If we had a machete, we’d buy a coconut for the delicious meat inside.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

____________________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, September 10, 2019:

The first animals we encountered in the paddock in Treddarup, Cornwall, England, were pigs. As our readers know, I love pigs. However, as cute as they are, they can’t match the appeal of a handsome warthog. For more photos, please click here.
Day #169 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Part 1…A necessary change in diet…

Day #169 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Part 1…A necessary change in diet…

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Although most of the items on the menu at Sails Restaurant at the Almanara Resort in Diani Beach, Kenya, were seafood related, most of which Tom doesn’t enjoy.  He was thrilled to find some options that would be pleasing to his limited palate.

Note; We are seeing more and more readers signing up to receive our new daily posts in their inbox by clicking the link at the top right of our homepage, “SIGN UP TO NEWSLETTER.” As mentioned earlier, we will never use your email address for any purpose other than replying to any inquiry you may make of us directly to our email. This way, you don’t have to search for the link each day and can simply see it in the inbox. Thank you for staying with us during this challenging time, including the transition to the new site and the COVID-19 lockdown.

Today’s photos are from the post on this date in 2013, while living for three months in Diani Beach, Kenya. Please click here for the full post from that date.

For me, the menu was purely delightful. It was difficult to decide when every option was suitable for me.

On to today’s story..

For those of you who’ve been following us from the beginning of our world travels, you may be aware that a factor contributing to our decision to travel the world came about when after years of suffering with full-body severe inflammation, due to heredity, I began an extremely low carb, grain-free, starch-free, sugar-free diet, now often referred to as the Keto diet.

The Keto diet consists of very low carbohydrate intake, no more than 20 grams per day, excludes all wheat, grains, starches, fruits and sugar with a moderate amount of protein and high amount of healthy fats only (as per the Mediterranean diet). What does this leave to eat: grass-fed meats, free-range chicken and eggs, quality hard cheeses, and many non-starchy vegetables.

This photo, from the Almanara Resort’s website is the lounge area adjoining the dining area. Our photo didn’t turn out so well in the dark. This area was empty when we arrived but full by the time we left a few hours later.

My typical meals would include:

  • Protein source: chicken, fish, beef or pork – moderate portions
  • Carbohydrates: a salad with a side of vegetables to include such vegetables as leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach (no potatoes, rice, beans, peas winter squash, carrots (too much sugar), small amounts of dairy including cheese and whole cream. Yogurt is to be avoided due to its high sugar content.
  • Fats: Coconut oil, grass-fed butter, high quality olive oil, and fresh avocados. (Vegetable and seed oils are known to be toxic and must be completely avoided.
    These complimentary appetizers presented by the chef were out of the question for me. It was fried seaweed and stuffed puff pastries, all made with flour. However, much to my surprise, Tom ate all of it, finding it very tasty.  I think his limited taste buds “song and dance” is purely psychological when I see him enjoy new items.

Once I began eating this way, beginning in August, 2011, I saw no impact on the level of pain I was experiencing, until three months later when one morning I awoke to being 100% pain free. For the first time in 15 years I had no pain and my life changed exponentially.

Within a few months, with our enthusiasm and hopefulness over my improved ability to move about without pain. I’d worked out for years in hopes of allaying the hereditary factors prevalent in my family, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity and auto-immune diseases. (Working out provided me with endorphins, which relieved the pain for a few hours each day).

This amazing array of seafood was all grilled and seasoned to perfection. It contained lobster, prawns, octopus, squid, snapper and a few  chewy wormy looking items I didn’t recognize but ate anyway. Need I say that I cleaned this plate as well?

At this point, I should mention for those naysayers, I was told when I had open heart surgery, my diet and exercise may have saved my life. The hereditary cardiovascular disease I am plagued with, had been brewing for 20 or 30 years long before I changed my diet. (I could have had a heart attack at 40 years old instead of cardiac bypass surgery at 71). Prior to that change of diet, I’d stayed on a low-fat, high carb, near vegan, way of eating for most of my adult life in an attempt to avoid diabetes and heart disease. Little did I know…

Both the surgeon and cardiologist that performed the surgery, approved of my low carb way of eating to reduce inflammation and advised me to continue. Not all doctors agree with this way of eating, but  imagine in 10 years, that will all change.

Anyway, I continued my way of eating diligently all of these years of world travel, never experiencing the awful pain from the past. That’s not to say that pain from an injury, a shoulder or knee might not hurt from time to time. They did. But, once the injury resolved, once again, I’d be back to my pain-free way of living, continuing to follow my diet diligently. A few years ago I was able to include a moderate amount of red wine in my diet without incident.

 Tom’s dinner consisted of Fillet Mignon, fries, grilled vegetables. He kept insisting that I try a taste of his steak, finally taking a bite of tender well seasoned meat. He also ate every morsel.

And then, COVID-19 hit and we were struck in this hotel room with a menu and food options that included too many carbs for my way of eating. I decided to see how I’d do eating lots more vegetables and the red sauces associated with curry and Makhani, which included tons of tomato sauce, which is loaded with sugar and extra carbs, although free of any grains.

Night after night, I ate the same meals; either chicken curry, paneer Makhani or chicken Makhani (most recently) all of which are swimming in the tasty, spicy, red sauce along with an over-sized portion of vegetables sauteed in butter. The chicken was fine. The vegetable portion was too large and the amount of carbs I’ve been eating  via the sauces far exceeded the 20 grams a day I was meant to follow.

Over the past few months, keeping in mind, we’ve been eating here for almost 6 months with no avail meat other than chicken and tiny portions of expensive salmon, which I’ve ordered once a week, there was nothing I could do. The pain returned. Walking has become almost unbearable with horrible pain in my arms, legs, shoulders and back.

We borrowed this daylight photo from the resort’s website. It was dark as we were seated at this table. Our photo didn’t do it justice.

I finally accepted the fact that the pain has returned as it had been in 2011 and was due to the food I’ve been eating. This knowledge hit me over the head two days ago. I had to figure out something else to eat or give up dinners entirely. Sitting in this room, between walking each hour, is way too boring to only subsist on an omelet and two thin slices of bacon each morning. And, I couldn’t see how this meager amount of food would be healthful with all this walking I’m struggling to do.

Today, finally, I figured out what to eat for dinner. Tomorrow, I’ll share my newly revised menu. It’s not easy to change anything with the chefs with a distinct language barrier, and their lack of knowledge of micro-nutrients, more commonly understood by chefs in the US and other countries.

Also, last time I started eating this way in 2011, it took a full three months to see any improvement. Hopefully, now, it won’t take so long.

No, I don’t particularly enjoy spewing my health problems over and over again. But, let face it, many of us seniors, (and others) have chronic health conditions that impact our everyday life. Finding solutions is always utmost in our minds. Some of us are fortunate enough to make lifestyle changes that can improve our health.

We’ll be back with “the rest of the story” tomorrow.

Be well.

P.S. A month after we left Kenya on December 1, 2013, this restaurant, Sails, was bombed by terrorists on a Saturday night. We always dined there on Saturday nights.

____________________________________________

Photo from one year ago today, September 8, 2019:

Many towns, villages, and countries throughout the world have these colorful buildings lining the streets in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. For more photos, please click here.
Day #162 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…

Day #162 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…

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In 2014, we traveled to Normandy, France, on a private small-group tour from the ship. At the time, I was less interested in touring Normandy than Tom. Tom was especially interested and passionate about visiting this historic site. However, everything changed once we arrived at the location, and I found it impossible not to be captured by the powerful message and presence of this critical cemetery and part of history.

Photos posted today are from this date in 2014 from this link.

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial.

Our small group of 12, riding in a van from the port, were less friendly than most small group tours we’d participated in in the past. As a result, we mostly toured the vast site on our own, later meeting with the group. The tour lasted over several hours as we walked from area to area, emotionally moved by everything we saw.

Tomorrow, we’ll share several more photos from the Normandy tour, but on this particular date on September 1, 2014, we’d posted only a few photos, for whatever reason, as shown.

With hotel rates increasing with more and more business people arriving from throughout the country, we’re currently booking for shorter periods when it seems we ccan’tbook for weeks at a time. It appears the rates are much higher for long periods, as opposed to short periods, as much as US $25, INR 1820 per night. We keep checking daily in an attempt to lock in better rates.

The region of Normandy is rich in history and charming for its appealing French architecture of the ccentury’spast.

Of course, it would be great if we could negotiate a better rate with the hotel. But, after attempting to do so, their prices wweren’tas good as we could get through Hotels.com on our site, after factoring in the “one free night with every ten nights “they provide. We did the math, and wwe’reahead using the website. However, the hotel provides us with a 30% discount on meals which helps.

Also, eal to all of our readers to use the links on our site for your Amazon and travel needs. We receive a small commission when booking through our links on our site. The pricing for you, using our site,  is the same as yyou’dreceive if you go to these sites on your own and wwe’reprovided a small commission to offset a few of our website expenses. S so much appreciated. We received a number of inquiries from readers mentioning they have noreceivedng the automated email each day with our new daily post. It appears you will have to sign up again for our new site. We apologize for the inconvenience. There is a link entitled “Sign Up to Our Newsletter” at the top right of the main page, where you can enter your email address and will automatically receive the most recent post in your inbox. It takes a day or two to activate this, so; please check our link in the interim: www.worldwidewaftage.com.

The fog rolled into the Normandy region, as shown in our early morning two-hour drive.

Otherwise, everything seems to be working well on our site. Our developers continue to work in the background on a few issues that don’t impact your reading of the new daily post. I have a lot to learn about using WordPress while I spend at least an hour a day going back through the 3,000 old posts, making corrections.

There are a few items I ccan’tcorrect which are images of particular items wwe’dpurchased from time to time. WWe’dcopied the ads from Amazon or another site to illustrate what wwe’dpurchased. Now, those images are gone on the retail site, and I ccan’tseem to delete them from past posts. You may notice these from time to time. Please move past them, knowing there iisn’tanything we can do to resolve this issue.

As in many other areas of Europe, many homes and buildings are attached, each with its definitive front.

Mainly, these images were posted in the first few years of our world travels, in 2012 and 2013. IIt’sunfortunate that Blogger had so many issues over the years that require me to go back over every post. As mentioned, this process will take many months, doing a batch each day. In the interim, you can still read old posts without interruption.

II’mbehind today due to a few tasks that kept me busy; paying off the credit cards we do the first of each month; heading downstairs to the reception desk to pay the current bill, which took more time than it should have. And working on the corrections. I should have been done with ttoday’spost an hour ago.

The area is filled with tourists from all over the world.

Have a safe and fruitful day! I won the game with this word! (II’mreminded of the word “ruitful” when last night when I ccouldn’tsleep, I used this word when playing Scrabble with other online players).

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, September 1, 2019:

The greenery, the cliffs, and the white sand beach create a stunning scene at Swanpool. For more photos, please click here.
Day #161 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Mad about this…Are you, too?

Day #161 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Mad about this…Are you, too?

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We’re still working on a few issues on our new site. Mainly, we’ve been getting many email messages from readers who fortunately had access to our email addresses. They can’t load our link. To them, it appears we are down. Obviously, for those of you seeing our new posts each day, this is not an issue. However, many readers need to empty their “cache” to bring up our same web address: www.worldwidewaftage.com.

Today’s photos are from this date in 2014, as we boarded yet another cruise. Please see this link here for more.

We spotted several popular attractions on our way through London to the Harwich pier, including this church.

This transpired because we changed our hosting company from Blogger to Hostinger, although our web address didn’t change. Those readers’ computers or devices are “remembering” the old link pointing to the former hosting company. I hope somehow those readers who don’t have access to our email can figure out that we haven’t stopped posting and are still here, hoping to be so for more years to come.

Otherwise, all is moving along well. As mentioned earlier, I am going back through each of our 3,000 posts and correcting errors. I started making corrections beginning on the post on March 15, 2012. But, as of today, I am only up to October 12, 2012, with lots more to go. It takes at least an hour to edit 20 posts. I will be at this for months to come.

Buckingham Palace.

Between walking, posting, editing, and handling other general business stuff, my days are full until finally in the late afternoon. We can take a break to start streaming a few shows and escape from our confinement reality.

There’s a harsh reality that’s been on my mind, especially after reading the text in the “year-ago post” mentioned below in this post.

Big Ben was to the right in this shot, but I could not get the photo in traffic.

It wasn’t that I’d suddenly and miraculously started feeling better after enough time had passed since I’d had open-heart surgery in February 2019, which at that point had only been 6½ months earlier. It was because I was finally off three heart medications with side effects that were stripping me of any possibility of a quality of life.

At the rate I was going at that point, we’d surely have had to return to the US, for me to sign up for Medicare to become the proverbial patient, frequently visiting the doctor with a plethora of chronic symptoms and given more medication to treat those symptoms, rather than look at how these three drugs were impacting my life.

Ferris Wheel in London is referred to as the “Eye.”

It wasn’t easy to stop taking these drugs, and I didn’t do so lightly. I spent hundreds of hours in research, determining the potential risks if I stopped them. After following strict guidelines on how to wean off of these three drugs, finally, on this date one year ago, I was free.

The change in my pain levels and lack of mobility dramatically impacted my state of mind and hopefulness. After I stopped the drugs, I no longer needed to be lying down most of the day, no longer felt listless and sleepy, and could bound about the house with the similar zing in my step before I had the dreadful surgery.

A quick shot was taken from the taxi of the Tower of London.

Although my legs tire easily while walking due to persistent vascular disease, I continue to work past it, hoping someday this will improve. Otherwise, in the interim, other than a typical ache or pain here and there, not uncommon at my age, I feel good. No doubt, certain positions precipitate a pain in my chest where my sternum was wired back together, such as when getting in or out of bed. I expect this discomfort to last indefinitely.

However, I’m mad. Sure, I may have been given extra years of life having had triple cardiac bypass surgery with three arteries 100% blocked (heredity), and for that, I am grateful. But, I didn’t feel bad before the surgery, other than a pain in my jaw which ultimately proved to be the warning sign of cardiovascular disease. Women, pay attention. This is a common symptom for women, whereby men may be more inclined to have arm or chest pain.

Not sure as to the name of this memorial as we zoomed past.

In any case, why am I mad? Simple answer, folks, which many of you will relate to….time is passing while in lockdown, chipping away at any possible time I have left on this earth. I am 72 years old, and now, I have spent five months in lockdown in this hotel in Mumbai, India. We could be looking at five, six, or seven more months trapped here.

Will we end up wasting an entire year of our lives, at this later point lost, sitting in a hotel room, when we could be out seeing more of the world, more than we have in the past many years of world travel? What a waste of precious time! I believe this bothers me more now than it would have if I’d been 20, 30, 40 years old. But at 72, one could easily be wasting 10% or more of their time left on this earth.

A memorial near Buckingham Palace. With WiFi restrictions, we’re unable to look up the names of these monuments.

This is not intended to diminish the sorrow for those and their family members directly impacted by the horrors of COVID-19. My heart breaks for all of these people, as well as those who’ve lost their jobs, financial security, and countless families with children unable to attend school who are missing a vital aspect of their growth and development.

On top of that, the sad scenarios worldwide of wars, looting, rioting, shootings and unjust, befallen upon citizens and peacekeepers from every faction of life. It’s heartbreaking. There’s war transpiring in India right now at the India/’Chinese border. We live in trying times.

At last, our ship, Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas.

But, everything is relative. And a family stuck indoors without being able to go out to dinner, a movie, bowling, or sporting events, requiring their young children to wear masks and stay away from other people, has its own set of woes and frustrations. This can’t be good for their young emotional state, let alone that of their parents.

All we can do at this point is “our part” to avoid infecting others by social distancing, wearing masks, and making every attempt to stay safe and healthy until this scourge in human history eventually wafts away.

We always appreciate having a sofa in the cabin as opposed to lying on the bed when relaxing.

I pray for all of us, our safety, personal freedoms, and our dedication to hope for the future. Be well

Photo from one year ago today, August 31, 2019:

Colorful buildings create a pretty scene on the narrow roads in small towns in Cornwall. For more photos, please click here.
Day #160 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…The frightening reality…

Day #160 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…The frightening reality…

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Today’s photos are from this date in 2014 while wrapping up our final day in South Kensington, London, England. You’ll find our total expenses for the 15-nights in a hotel below:

Here are our expenses for the 15 nights in London:

Hotel:              US $3,312.26, 1,995.40 pounds
Transportation:          455.29,    274.28
Tours:                        451.81     272.18
Groceries:                 240.34     144.79
Restaurants:              850.46    512.34

Grand Total:     US $5,310.16, 3,198.99 pounds
Daily Rate:         US $354.01, 213.27 pounds

Yesterday, we walked down this road toward Bobo’s Bubbles to do our final two loads of laundry.

Each hour, while walking, I listen to podcasts on my phone. At this point in time, I am not interested in much other than those podcasts that are educational and informational, often a variety of videos from immunologists from all over the world. I do so in an attempt to determine which countries we may possibly visit when we’re able to leave India.

Of course, leaving India is entirely predicated on how India is doing with COVID-19, their infection and death rates which at this point are increasing like a raging fire. Yesterday, by happenstance, I stumbled across this India generated video with a immunologist from Harvard, born in India and interviewed by an Indian news/podcaster.

Occasionally, we spotted a brick building mixed among the white buildings.

This video, found here at this link, This is not a conspiracy theory-type podcasts but a well researched and highly informative report on the statistics for COVID-19 for India and the projections by this highly qualified medical professional. The prospects for us leaving are not looking good.

In essence he’s stating that the reported cases in India, with a population of 1.3 billion, is only reporting 15% of the actual cases when many get the virus, don’t test, and subsequently don’t report their case. In reality, based on statistics gleaned from countries and researchers throughout the world, this could mean there are currently 200,000,000 to 500,000,000 cases in India.

This was the shortest (height) car either of us has ever seen. I can only imagine that getting out of it would require rolling out the door onto the street and then standing up.

This threw me for a loop. I can see why our hotel doesn’t want us to go outside. There is a very high percentage of contagion in Delhi and Mumbai, the two largest metropolises in the country. Opening the airports for international flights is highly unlikely anytime in the near future.

One might think, “Why would they be so cautious for flights leaving India?” The answer is logical. The international airlines are not about to send empty planes to India. To warrant the resumption of international flights it must be a two-way process. India is not about to allow international travelers into the country. It certainly makes sense when worldwide, so much of the virus has been brought into countries via flights from highly infected countries.

South Kensington consists of one pretty street after another with parking always at a premium.

Citizens of the US, regardless of where they’ve been, are on “no fly” lists all over the world and will continue to be so for an indefinite period. The prospect of us leaving India anytime soon is grim.

We accept the fact that if at any point, we cannot stand being here another week or month, most likely we can find a way to get on one of the repatriation flights for US citizens to return from India back to the US. Finding an affordable holiday home in a nice area in the US at this time is impractical and costly, far more than we’re paying here. Also, we’d need a rental car which is outrageously priced in the US for extended periods.

In London, there are no large trash bins for residents in which to place their garbage.  Instead, they place the bags on the sidewalk or street where they’re picked up a few times a week from what we’ve seen.

The alternative would be to find a hotel comparable to this hotel in the US which most likely will be more costly than here. Plus, the travel required to get to a location we’d prefer could result in numerous flights at numerous airports with added risk of contracting the virus. We’d simply be trading one confined location for another. The US is still in the #1 position of most cases of the virus in the world. We don’t want to go to the US due to my high risk status.

At least, here and now, we are as safe as we can possibly be. There hasn’t been a single case of the virus in this hotel. We don’t go out to grocery stores, pharmacies and other shopping. We can get most of what we need from Amazon India which items are sprayed with disinfectant when they arrive and are delivered to our room. We wait a few days to open any package.

Wildwood had a comfortable ambiance, but the food and service was mediocre. See the post here for food photos and prices.

Breakfast is included in our room rate and our dinners are never more than US $20, INR 1463, per night. There is nowhere in the world we’d be able to eat for this low cost. Besides, during these lockdown conditions throughout the world, we can’t justify paying more than what we’re paying now.

Complaining? No. Observing. Reality. Safe. Healthy. We’d OK

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Photo from one year ago today, August 30, 2019:

Look at the numbers of sailboats moored in this bay! For more photos, please click here.
Day #158 in lockdown in Mumbai, India Hotel…Cleaning up old posts…

Day #158 in lockdown in Mumbai, India Hotel…Cleaning up old posts…

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Note; We hope everyone can find our site. I have no way to get a message to our readers who may be having trouble getting our usual link to load due to the necessity of emptying the cache on your browser. Your computer remembers our old hosting site, Blogger, and not our new hosting site, Hostinger, making it impossible for you to log in. If you clear your cache, the problem will be resolved, and no harm is done to your other settings. I have contacted our web developer to see if there is a way we can handle this on our end, but I don’t think there will be. We only hope you’ve found a way to find us. We still are at www.worldwidewaftage.com.

Enjoy our photos, yet again from South Kensington, London from this date in 2014, and found at this link. There are numerous food photos on this particular post from dining out in the area.

A prehistoric creature, at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London.

Since our new site went live, a few issues occurred that prompted me to make a tough decision to go back through every one of almost 3000 posts to correct any errors. There are 147 pages of 17-18 posts each. I will have to go through each post, one by one. I started yesterday from the first post on March 15, 2012, and have completed two of the 147 pages. I plan to do one page per day.

This is referred to as a Football Fish.

Another issue is that all old posts show a duplicate of the main photo at the top of each page. I’ve contacted our web developers today to see if they can correct this. Hopefully, soon this will be resolved. Please be patient with us as we work through this issue and a few other remaining issues.

More fish from rivers, lakes, and streams.

At this rate, if I do one page of 17 posts per day, I will complete the editing process in about five months. I finished this same process of correcting old posts about four years ago. However, with the recent transition to the new site, many lines and paragraph issues occurred. Also, in reviewing old posts, I’ve realized I’d missed many grammar and spelling errors in my past mission to correct the mistakes. Now, my goal is to correct everything. No doubt, it’s a daunting task which each day will take about an hour.

A lizard that puffs up the frill around the neck to scare off predators. This could not be very safe.

At first, I thought I’d do this each day before preparing each new post. But now, two days later, I realize I’d instead do it first thing in the morning. It’s not a pleasant task, like preparing a new post is for me. I’ve always been one to get the complex functions out of the way first thing in the morning, leaving me free to enjoy the remainder of the day’s tasks.

“Jaws!”

I was very disappointed to see how many errors there were in the old posts. I had no control over the line and paragraph spacing going wonky in the transition. But, the typos and grammar errors were all on me. It’s frustrating to face a 3,000 post string of errors when I think back over how hard I’d tried at the time to prepare each post correctly.

Komodo Dragons are found on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, and Flores. We’ll be spending four months in Bali, Indonesia, in 2016, where tourists have spotted Komodo Dragons on occasion. Komodo Dragons are of the species of Monitor Lizards, two of which lived in our yard in Marloth Park, South Africa. Please see this link to see our photos when they made a rare appearance by the pool.

I do not doubt this new process; I’ll still miss a few corrections; Fortunately, WordPress, as opposed to Blogger. Is more aggressive in reminding writers to type correctly and avoid making errors. This is a tremendous help. I’ve been using the apps Gingerly and Grammarly the past few years, but even they have missed several mistakes I’d made.

More marine life.

I give myself a break on this because I realize I am preparing the equivalent of an essay 365 days a year, at times during challenging and stressful periods, comparable to those most recently. These scenarios are a breeding ground for making errors.

We saw a smaller version of similar crabs at the beach in Kenya which is on the eastern coast in Africa.  They moved so quickly. We couldn’t get a photo.

I laugh when texting family and friends over spellcheck changing words to unintelligible words and phrases, often leaving me in stitches. Then again, I usually type incorrectly since I’m slow when texting on my phone. I bet many of you relate to this laugh-worthy scenario.

Many of us lobster enthusiasts would appreciate a lobster of this size on a platter.

We love technology. But, technology is only as good as our skills to use it. I am not adept at web development, although I played a significant role in designing our new site. I am slow at typing, even after all these years of banging away on a keyboard. I pick away at a keyboard in a meager attempt to avoid typing errors. Even that hasn’t worked so well.

After many visits by Zebras in our yard in South Africa, seeing this lifelike rendition made me miss them.  Click this link to see Zebras that visited us in South Africa.

I am hoping to get done early enough today to watch an episode of The 100 on Netflix before 3:00 pm when Tom and I try to have time to start streaming a few shows together. We’ll see how it goes. Of course, whatever I do is interrupted by the necessity of walking every hour for at least ½ mile, .8 km,  to reach my daily goal of 5 miles, 8 km.

We saw Rhinos in the wild in Kenya. Some of the displays of Rhino were taxidermy.  There was a sign stating that the horns had been removed and replaced with man-materials. Please click here for a few of our Rhino photos from Kenya.

Through all this recent sadness over the loss of my sister and the stress of getting this site up and running, I’ve never missed a day of walking. Knowing this may be beneficial for my heart is my sole motivator. Consistency is important.

Ah, my heart did a flip flop when Tom spotted this warthog.  The first time either of us had ever seen a warthog was in October 2013, in the Masai Mara, Kenya, while on safari.  Of course, later in South Africa, we joyfully saw them each day.  Click here for the first time we saw a live warthog (scroll down the page).

Have a healthy and peaceful day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 28, 2019:

While on a walk in the quaint town of Falmouth, Cornwall, England, we encountered these vegetables for sale in a front garden. We selected a zucchini and a small pumpkin. We left the money in a jar sitting on the table. For more photos, please click here.
Day #157 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…A lovely meeting in London in 2014…Terror in our favorite place in the world…

Day #157 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…A lovely meeting in London in 2014…Terror in our favorite place in the world…

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Note:  If you are able to read the posts on our new site on your smartphone, but not on your computer, laptop, or tablet, please empty your cache and you’ll be able to see us on those devices. If you don’t know how to do this, please email me with the operating system you use (Windows, Chrome, Safari, etc) and I will send you easy step by step instructions. Voila! The problem will be solved!

Today’s photos are from August 27, 2014, while in South Kensington, London from this link.

My lunch salad in the hotel dining room on a very small plate was US $10.77, 6.50 pounds.

Hello, again! Wow! I’m learning more and more each day about using WordPress and I’m liking it. No doubt, I could spend months learning every aspect of it. But, for what we do each day, it’s proving to be a relatively easy and enjoyable process with less system-generated errors than we previously experienced with Blogger.

I’m noticing most of our old posts, moved over from Blogger, are seriously impacted by inadequate paragraph spacing. I am contemplating going back over each of our almost 3,000 posts and correcting them, one by one. If I do 10 a day, I could finish in less than a year.

Liz’s vegetarian lunch in the hotel dining room.

No offense intended to Blogger. Good grief, they served our needs for over eight years since our first post on Match 15, 2012. (See the link here). Overall, it handled the massive size of our site without an annual hosting fee, whereas we now have to pay for hosting. With confidence and optimism, we signed up with Hostinger, a web hosting company for 48 months, hoping good health and mobility will keep us on the move and able to continue posting.

We continue with our plan of posting photos from years past and right now we are working our way through the 16 nights we spent in South Kensington, London in August 2014, thoroughly embracing English culture, art, and dining. The old notion that English food wasn’t palatable has changed dramatically over the decades.

How thoughtful of Liz for this useful set of organic products to prevent and treat insect bites, always my nemesis.

We found English food to be delicious, interesting, and often gourmet with a wide array of international flavors. We particularly enjoyed the popular local “Sunday roast” which generally consisted of meat, beef, pork, or lamb, falling off the bone with au jus, along with a plethora of various roasted vegetables. I skipped the potatoes and other starchy root vegetables and savored every Sunday’s treat, as did Tom.Liz’s husband Dave sent this bottle of beer for Tom.  Tonight, we’ll chill it on ice and he’ll drink a toast to Liz and Dave for their thoughtfulness.

It was a year ago we spent over two months in England and we never hesitated to partake of Sunday roast at local pubs and restaurants. A few times, we prepared our own Sunday roast, using selected pot roast cuts of beef, a meal we’ve always enjoyed with carrots, onions, whole portobello mushrooms with big chunks of fresh garlic and spices. What a treat!

My mouth is watering as I write this. We haven’t had a morsel of beef since we arrived in India seven months ago, five of which we’ve spent in lockdown, dining on the exact same meals over and over again. Not only do we miss an occasional glass of red wine or a cocktail, but also such simple meals as a bun-less burger, topped with crispy bacon, sliced tomato, and onion, lettuce with homemade sugar-free ketchup. We haven’t had a salad in months.

Tom’s Calzone at Bella Italia in the neighborhood.

And this reminds me to get on with the story about today’s photos when six years ago, we met a devoted reader and new friend Liz, who took a two-hour train ride from Bristol to South Kensington to meet with us at our hotel. Again, here’s the link to that post with today’s photos.

Not only was it utterly delightful to meet Liz on that date and share both lunch and dinner with her, later walking her to the train station in the dark, but the continuation of that friendship over the years since that time. Last year, in October, while staying in Wales for 11 days we had an opportunity to see Liz once again, this time with her husband Dave when we all dined at a fabulous restaurant along the river. More on that in October.

My dinner at Bella Italia of two small chicken breasts in a pot of red sauce with a side of grilled vegetables.

Please excuse today’s main photo for being blurred. Guess who took the photo? Speaking of photos, I’m chomping at the bit to be able to take and share new photos. Who knows how long it will be before its possible? It could be many months from now.

As for the above mention of “terror in our favorite place in the world,” we’re referring to yesterday’s fire in Marloth Park that totally destroyed three bush houses and damaged a fourth, supposedly from the cigarette of an installer of a thatched roof. High winds caused the fire to rage so quickly, nothing could be done quickly enough to save the bush houses. Due to the dry terrain during this time of year, there’s always a high risk of fires. We were always mindful when cooking outdoors to ensure safety. A fire could destroy the entire conservatory with horrific consequences.

Liz’s dinner of vegetarian cannelloni and a side salad.

Not much happening today. After a good night’s sleep last night, today I feel refreshed and more energized than I’ve felt in many days. Hopefulness prevails.

Be well.

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Photo from one year ago today, August 27, 2019:
                                     Sunrise over the bay in Falmouth, Cornwall, England. For more, please click here.

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Day # 151 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…Never knew how hard this would be…Photos from St. Petersburg…

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Photo of a canal at the Peterhof Fountain Park and Garden in St. Petersburg, Russia. For more photos, please click here.

Unsure if this post will get online today or in the days to come, I’m spending less time posting photos, captions and text. I’m at a loss as to when our site will become “live” again, enabling our readers to continue to read new and old posts.

Real gold leaf was used in these buildings.
Based on the huge size of our site, getting it uploaded is proving to be a long and complicated process. Each day, the web developers ask me to be patient while trying to get the site back up, and I remain frustrated regardless of these reassurances. Had I known this would transpire, I don’t believe I would have been willing to make such a substantial change.
We toured many exquisite buildings such as this.

It’s been incredibly challenging because I am also dealing with the loss of my dear sister only days ago. Of course, continuing to be stuck in this hotel room isn’t making it any easier. Listen to me whinging (whining, complaining)!

One of the many beautiful gardens.

Little did I know how dependent I’ve become over the years of the comfortable routine of preparing a new post each morning for the past many years. My routine has been thoroughly out-of-kilter recently, so I decided I’d schedule a new post today, even if it may not be online anytime soon.

An elaborate fountain in a man-made pond.

Many readers/friends often ask how I manage to “make myself” prepare a new post 365 days a year. Oddly, it never felt as if it was a task or obligation. However, I’ve always made it a priority when we had plans for any particular morning.

More fountains with extensive detail.

We’d often planned to return from sightseeing or other outings in time to prepare a new post since I’ve never felt like doing it in an evening. Once 5:00 pm comes, I prefer to be off my computer and out of my head.
One of many towers in the park.

A nice dinner, great conversation, in regular times a glass of wine with a pleasant evening on a veranda overlooking our scene-of-the-moment has always been a priority, not only since we’ve been traveling but also in our old lives.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and the facility was packed with tourists.

Now, in this particularly odd situation, stuck in a hotel room for five months, we still partake in good conversation but are seriously lacking in the scenery, the wine, and the veranda.

Instead, we hide away, engrossed in a few good TV series on one of several streaming services we are using at this time. Right now, at night, we’re streaming Lucifer (just ok) and the engaging, The Man in the High Tower, free on Amazon Prime.

Another stunning fountain.
In the late afternoon, we watch mindless drivel, nothing of great importance. We watch the light, silly show, Schitt’s Creek, which is always good for a chuckle or two during dinner.

After posting each day, my recent viewing obsession for about an hour, I watch The 100 on Netflix. Tom doesn’t care for dystopian; sci-fi type shows, so I am on my own on this. I know I’ve mentioned this in the past, but if you like sci-fi (or not), this show is the best TV series of this type I’ve seen in years. I watch it with my laptop on my lap, using my earbuds to disturb Tom.

A couple dressed for the era, charging fees for photos.

Hopefully, our new site will be up and running soon. Today’s photos are from the Peterhof Fountain Park and Garden in St. Petersburg, Russia, one year ago.
Have a peaceful day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 21, 2019:

Beautiful house on the waterfront in Helsinki. For more photos, please click here. 
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Day #147 in lockdown Mumbai, India hotel…Travel on the Eurostar from Paris to London…First live post tomorrow…

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The Eurostar train came into the station, which will travel under the English Channel to take us from Paris to London in 2014. Tom, my railroad guy, explained that the train is operated from either end, never having to turn around for the return trips. For more photos and the story, please click here.

Urgent note for today: My dear sister Susan passed away yesterday, and I have decided not to post on the new site today. I had little sleep for two nights, and my brain isn’t working at total capacity to learn an entirely new system today. Hopefully, tomorrow you’ll see our new site with a new post. Thank you!
Today’s photos are from the post from August 17, 2014, while in Paris, France. See the link here for more photos.

While we waited for the train.

Today, we’re sharing photos from our trip from Paris to London via the exciting Eurostar train, which travels under the English Channel. In years past, it was often referred to as the “Chunnel” but less so now as more and more travelers have used this good, efficient service, respecting its proper name.

It was an exciting mode of transportation for us first-timers when considering the engineering feat required to take six years to complete. It only takes 35 minutes for the train to travel through the under-the-ocean tunnel. 

The station while we were still in Paris.

The entire train ride, including considerable above-ground travel on an outdoor track, requires 2 hours 36 minutes plus waiting time at the station and disembarkation at the destination point. In total, it was about a four-hour undertaking.

Tom was finally smiling again when I told him we wouldn’t have to “walk” the bags down steep steps.

For 25 exciting facts about Eurostar, please click here for comprehensive information that may particularly appeal to train buffs and those considering experiencing not only this fast means of travel between these two countries but also in its novelty factor as a sightseeing adventure in itself.

We were taken from our seats which 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.

Once we arrived in London, we took a taxi, one of those traditional “black cabs” as follows: “As well as setting the tone for the general proportions of all black cabs since, the Austin FX3 is also the reason why all London taxis tend to be black. … In 1958, the FX3 design evolved into the FX4, which still serves as the basis for the modern TX4 models.

The scenery along the tracks was mostly limited to industrial areas, although we passed a few areas of the French countryside.

We found taxi fare to be often more than the cost of dining out at most restaurants we visited while in London, as also the case in Paris. So once again, we walked everywhere. 

A church steeple at a distance through the glare of the glass window.

Fortunately, by staying in the lovely area of South Kensington, it was an ideal location for walking with shops, restaurants, and museums less than 20 minutes from our excellent hotel, the historic Regency Hotel.

Cows. Not wildlife but, we enjoy seeing animals wherever we may be.

With expensive laundry service in both cities, we found laundromats within walking distance and waited while our clothes washed and dried. We waited until we had accumulated enough dirty laundry to warrant the walk with a rolling bag to the distance laundromats in both cities.

Within seconds of entering the tunnel, I took this shot of blackness, resulting in only the reflections of the seats in the glass.

If we were to have our laundry done by the hotel in Mumbai, our monthly laundry bill would easily top US $300, INR 22456. As mentioned, we hand wash our clothing every few days and only have jeans washed and dry by the hotel. Instead of wearing jeans, I’ve been wearing yoga pants each day which are easy to wash in the shower and hang to dry.

Within seconds of departing the tunnel. We were now in the UK.

As for comparing sightseeing between London and Paris, we both found Paris to be more exciting with better photo ops. Although we had many wonderful experiences in London, most of which we accomplished on foot.

We arrived in London at the St. Pancras station.

Would we return to either city? Probably not. We saw exactly what we wanted to see, and with it still fresh in our minds, it’s unlikely we’ll return for anything other than a short layover that may be required.

After exiting the train station, we had to walk a distance to the next street and around the corner to flag a taxi. No taxis were allowed to stop at the main entrance.

Hopefully, tomorrow, all will go well when our new site goes “live.” If we run into any problems, please check here for any issues that might impede the process.

There are lots of double-decker buses in London.

Have a good day!

Photo from one year ago today, August 17, 2019:

View over Tallinn, Estonia, as a port of call from the Baltic cruise, from a scenic overlook. For more, please click here.