We spent ten days at Silver Creek Gorge. I, sadly, was not mobile yet so spent most days sitting inside Ufudu crocheting, reading, and listening to audio books. It was very hot so the aircon was going full blast for most of the time. We were home again on the 3rd of January.
Kevin, meanwhile, started his next period at sea, boarding the ship in Greece. He kicked off with a night shift on New Year’s Eve. He achieved good results for the 2020 exams; we are very proud of him.
The pin was removed from my little toe on the 12th of Jan. I could now sleep without the boot, and I was able to take a shower the next day; the first since my foot operation 5 weeks ago.
In keeping with every other year, we spent some time at Marloth Park for my birthday. The only difference this time was that we travelled on the day, rather than ahead of time, due to other commitments. And as so often in the past, it rained shortly after we arrived!
In order to avoid the weekend rush in Kruger we pottered around the house the next day and went into the Park on Monday the 18th.
It was a pleasant change to encounter a cheerful, chatty official at the Crocodile Bridge gate rather than the sullen, ‘I really am doing you a favour by being here’ attitude we often get. It lifted the spirits and made a remarkable difference to our day. He informed us that Lower Sabie was closed due to an outbreak of COVID, but we already knew this thanks to our Marloth Park chat group.
While eating our packed breakfast overlooking Sunset Dam a car pulled up and asked us about the closure. Their gate official clearly did not inform them about it and they were highly unimpressed. I could understand that, because if you planned to have breakfast there and came unprepared, there are no immediate alternatives!
We wanted to buy an Impala Lily as a birthday present for our friend Anthea so we planned our route in order to be at Skukuza for lunch and then go to the nursery afterwards.
The nursery was a huge disappointment. Everything looked neglected and rundown, from the buildings, signage, and plant areas to the lethargic members of staff. The ladies toilet was unusable due to a water leak that caused flooding of the floor and surrounds. We later learned that the person who used to run the place had retired and was not replaced…
We were rather amused by a young woman who was so scared of it that she needed encouragement to pass it and then almost sprinted past while looking back and clinging to her companion’s arm!
Back at Marloth Park we spent the next few days working on projects, as usual.
While sitting quietly one afternoon there was a sudden ‘plop’ at the indoor braai area. Looking up we saw a gecko lying on the floor.
“It’s very unusual for a gecko to lose its grip! I think it’s just stunned, so let’s leave it” I said.
After some time, it was still in the same position, so we went to inspect it. There were two puncture marks on its head; it was clearly dead. A quick Google search revealed that Spotted Bush Snakes prey on geckos. We’ve had them in the roof before so assumed that this was the case.
The veld is very degraded thanks to overgrazing and drought.
We were tempted to stay another day to witness the arrival of tropical storm Eloise but wisely decided against it. We had no sooner left Marloth Park when the downpours started. Many roads in the area were closed and bridges were flooded.
We had a lot of rain en route but arrived home safely at 8:40 pm, just ahead of the 9 pm curfew! As always, we had a busy, eventful, and enjoyable time.
