Magoebaskloof : Lockdown Day 211 to 215 - Friday 23 October to Tuesday 27 October

Seven months of Lockdown and no end to this crazy pandemic in sight. 

Perhaps one day when I look back on these daily posts it will just seen like a bad nightmare. This blog has a life of it's own now; some days it doesn't get written and then we have a catch up. I'm going to let it do it's own thing for a while longer. We have been away for a few weeks but we headed back to Ximongwe on Friday. I was so happy to be back, even if it was only for 5 days. Carol and Jane joined us and on Sunday Mazzie and Fiona too. On Monday we did a day trip to Magoebaskloof. We met David the bird guide for some birding in the forest. Of the many birds we saw, good sightings of a Narina Trogan and an Emerald Cuckoo stand out. And our lifer for the day was a Black Fronted Bushshrike. We visited Kuhestan organic farm to buy cordials and jams and had lunch at a rustic organic-cheese farm before heading back to Ximongwe. I am enjoying the local travel and very grateful I am not cooped up in a city or a suburb facing months of cold, grey winter.  On the other hand I feel anxious and unsettled not knowing how much longer our lives are going to be so restricted by this pandemic.

There'll be no big family Christmas celebrations this year.

No friends from overseas joining us at Zebula or in the Cape.

No long, lazy lunches on wine farms.

No live music concerts or visits to the theatre.

No hugs.

What has become of us?

Pics courtesy of the Robert's app

Lockdown Day 208 to Lockdown Day 210 - Tuesday 20 October to Thursday 22 October

Still at Zebula. We haven't spent a whole week here for a long time and it's really quite nice. Especially during lockdown when things are so slow and travel is still limited to South Africa only. To be out in the bush with no restrictions is a pleasure. Steve and Oliver joined us for a few days and we cooked out on the open fire every evening. There is no wind and it's warm enough to sit outside at night in just a t-shirt and shorts. Despite this I am still missing my traveling. This time last year we were in Phuket. Up until 2020 it has been where we spend the most time in one place. I miss it. It's not just that we can't get there. It's changed. Most hotels, restaurants and businesses are closed. There's no Bangla Rd, no Ka Jok See, no Moody's. It would be dreadful to be there now. And it feels like it's going to be a very long time till things get back to normal. If ever... And that's quite scary. Sending love and hugs to everyone in Phuket and cherishing all the happy memories of everyone we've be lucky enough to share our crazy "Island Life" with over the years.

Lockdown Day 207 - Monday 19 October

We are still at Zebula. The company and change of scenery has been good for everyone. I always enjoy cooking in this kitchen. I didn't get good photos but I made Lasagne from scratch; including the pasta sheets. Yesterday Chris asked when we'll be heading down to Capetown. A tough one. Pre- Covid our trips to cities in South Africa like Joburg, Capetown or Durban focused on visiting with friends and family and meeting up in groups at restaurants and bars and going to concerts, theatre, music or sports events. I loved this social whirlwind; often seeing loads of different people in a few days; scheduling lunch and dinner arrangements back to back to fit everyone and everything in. So now that none of this is possible, it makes no sense to hang out in cities. And this goes for all our favourite international cities too. No fun to be had in London, New York, Singapore, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Venice, Munich or in Dublin, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Paris, San Sebastian... Rio has no carnival, Chicago had no Lollapalooza, Hong Kong had no Sevens, Patong had no SongKran, New Orleans has no Mardi Gras... Rugby and tennis played with no fans at the stadiums. All my favourite things about cities... gone....

Lockdown Day 203 to 206 - Thursday 15 October to Sunday 18 October

Well, there go the daily posts after all. When you just get too busy looking after everyone else, that's what happens. 

On Thursday we spent the entire day at the farm repacking everything for life on the road for the next few months.On Friday we left at 6 am, the cruiser packed to the gills. We had some shopping to do. Since living out of town for the last 7 months, I'm in the habit of pre-ordering everything and just popping in to pick things up. We had lunch with Neil's mom; sitting outside on her verandah. We met up with my folks and Tracy at Zebula. The house is big and the weather is warm enough to spend lots of time outdoors. We have stuck to ourselves pretty much for the last seven months, only mixing with friends a few at a time. We won't be traveling on any public transport, visiting malls or going anywhere crowded.

Lockdown Day 202 - Wednesday 14 October

We drove to the farm from Dullstroom for a big unpack and repack. I can't believe how much stuff we managed to accumulate over lockdown. We are leaving the caravan at the farm and we will live out of the car for the next few months. We are going to flit around between Zebula, Ximongwe, Kruger Park and Mejajane. In late November we are going to spend a few weeks in Northern KZN and then we will be at Zebula for Christmas and New Year. We are hoping that by then travel into Namibia, Mozambique and Botswana will be easy. Of course, it's the wrong season to be up North but it is what it is! 

The weather at the farm is lovely but there hasn't been as much rain in the Free State yet and the dam level is very low.

Lockdown Day 201 - Tuesday 13 October

Well it seems I am not ready to give up writing this daily post quite yet. 

It's therapeutic and it seems that at least a few regular readers are still enjoying it.

Mostly, I enjoy Neil's quirky Peter-Pan take on life.

There's a picture of our new frying pan. Just one of the many toys we've had delivered since Lockdown. 

And there's a picture of the new car he posted on What's App. " My new vehicle..christened 'Babi'..an Egyptian God. 

Role and function : The role of the moon god Baba included punisher and executioner in the Underworld.

Titles : 'The Bull of the Baboons' meaning dominant male."

And a picture of our nephew Paul's  response.

We spent the day catching up on chores and admin.

I'm planning the rest of our year, revolving pretty much around travel in Greater Kruger and Northern KZN. Out in the wild. Avoiding cities. But more of that tomorrow.

Dullstroom : Lockdown Day 200 - Monday 12 October

200! Two Hundred! 200 days... And sadly no return to normal in sight... In fact the second wave of Covid infections in Europe and the UK is terrible and safe international travel is not returning as we'd hoped. Today we travelled a little further afield...to Dullstroom. We've been coming to Middelpunt Trout Farm since the late 80's. So many good memories. The weather is never hot in Dullies and today as we drove in the temperature was 8°C. 

It was a bit warmer on the farm and we were cosy next to the fire.

We were able to add a few birds to our list now that we're in a different habitat. Lockdown Bird List tally is 263 today!

Ngwenya : Lockdown Day 199 - Sunday 11 October

It was rainy and a little chilly at Ngwenya but the guys still went Tiger fishing again. Our plans to go into Kruger Park in the afternoon were thwarted by the weather. Instead we watched the Grand Prix and the French Open tennis on TV. We've been TV free for 7 months - we're always TV free in fact- and apart from sport, we don't miss it at all.

Looking back over this week in 2019, 18 and 17, I am reminded once again how curtailed our lives are. Life was so carefree and time spent with friends was so spontaneous. I won't call what life has become in 2020 the "New Normal." It's not normal. It's Dystopian. And it sucks.

Ngwenya : Lockdown Day 198- Saturday 10 October

The guys left early for Tiger fishing on the Komati River. Ronell and I spent the morning on the deck. Suddenly a big herd of impala ran full speed along the river bank. We jumped up to see what was going on and spotted two beautiful male lions sitting on the opposite bank. Then we saw two of the lionesses on a kill. It was a bit far off and the prey was obscured by the bushes but when they left a few minutes later their mouths and front legs were dripping with blood. Only one of the males and two of the four females went down to eat. 

We are not sure if they had just nabbed an impala or if the kill had been earlier but we only saw half the pride eating, which is a bit strange.

We had a great lunch at Tambarina Restaurant in Komatipoort followed by a long afternoon nap and a quiet evening. Life is good!

Kruger National Park, Ngwenya : Lockdown Day 197 - Friday 9 October

Luckily we didn't have a very early start because we had so much stuff to pack up. I am going to have to pack more sensibly for the road trips planned for the rest of October, November and December. Seeing as we'll be living out of the car, it's lucky the new Cruiser has so much space. 

We drove South through Kruger and saw so much game. Three different lion sightings, lots of elephant and giraffe and the biggest herd of buffalo we've ever seen; numbering quite a few thousand. They do congregate to migrate locally depending on rain and grazing. Buffalo as far as the eye could see but not easy to capture in a photograph.

We checked into Ngwenya and enjoyed a braai on the deck overlooking the Crocodile River.

Kruger National Park, Talamati : Lockdown Day 196 - Thursday 8 October

We had a wonderful sighting of the pack of wild dogs again. They were out on the hunt, followed by three hyenas. We revisited the den to see the cubs. The lions are still on the giraffe carcass. Johan and Ronell arrived at Talamati and we had a lekker evening with lots of wine.

Kruger National Park, Talamati : Lockdown Day 195 - Wednesday 7 October

We have been at Talamati Bush Camp since Saturday and there's no data or phone signal at all. A good time to wean myself off Social Media a bit. We are sitting in the car by a lion kill and get a bit of a connection every now and then.

As SA opens up and we venture beyond Limpopo Province and the greater Kruger area for the first time since March, I am going to post less often, maybe twice a week. My friend Ranji has been painting some of my pictures from my lockdown posts; here's her young elephant! 

And as we move on I just had to share this awesome roadtripping picture from Ann. It just makes me want to get going with all my adventures again. And I just love buff Vincent in the black tee shirt!

Kruger National Park, Talamati : Lockdown Day 194 - Tuesday 6 October

So we went into Hoedspruit to take Hanli and Andrew and their caravan to meet up with their repaired car. We had brunch at the Fig n Bean and did some shopping before heading back to Talamati Camp in Kruger. No distractions for the first time since we left Ximongwe and the reality of this shitty Covid Global Pandemic hit me hard. Enough! Enough! The weather is still quite rainy and the Kruger Park is turning green before our eyes. If you have to be stuck somewhere, what a beautiful place to be stuck in!