Day 161: Knowing Me, Not Knowing You

In an attempt to draft a ‘getting to know me better’ post for you, my awesome readers, I put a post on FB which read, ‘if you could ask me any question, what would it be?’ The response wasn’t all that great, so I searched ‘how well do you know me’ images online and found one with thirty questions:

Do you have an addiction?

If I had to admit an addiction, it would be ice-cream. It is one of the few things I can’t resist – even when the weather is colder than the ice-cream is.

Who is/are your best friend(s)?

I have many besties – all for different reasons. It wouldn’t be fair to single out only one or two.

When is your birthday?

Soon – September 22^nd.

What is your current mood?

I’m still a bit cheesed off because of Stage 4 loadshedding, but I’m feeling remarkably chipper otherwise.

What is/are your favourite animal(s)?

I love any kind of cat. Oh, and baby elephants. I am fond of birds too.

What is your favourite cartoon?

I will never tire of the roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote.

What is/are your favourite movie(s)?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dirty Dancing, Fatal Attraction, A Few Good Men, An Officer & a Gentleman, Dead Poet’s Society, Shanghai Noon, The Holiday, Two Weeks’ Notice, and Notting Hill.

What is your favourite colour?

Purple.

What is/are your favourite food(s)?

Homemade: The Toppie’s curry or The Bean’s cottage pie. If I splash out at a restaurant, I prefer a medium-rare steak, sushi, or seafood.

Which of your girlfriends do you trust?

All of them – we wouldn’t have a friendship without trust?

Which of your guy friends do you trust?

See the answer above.

What is/are your favourite TV Show(s)?

Lately I’ve been watching Nurses and Pure Genius and loving them. A few of my all-time favourites though are: Bones, Dr Who, NCIS (all of them), and Suits.

Do you have any insecurities?

Show me someone who doesn’t, and I’ll show you a liar.

What is the last lame joke you heard?

On AlgoaFM Breakfast yesterday, Charlie T told this one:

A woman goes shopping and when she gets back to her car, she sees she locked her keys inside. A man stops, asking if he can help She explains what happens and the man removes his pants, wiping them across the lock on the door and it springs up. She asks how he did it and he replies, ‘these are my khaki pants.´

Who is the last person you hugged?

The Bean

What is/are your favourite hobby(ies)?

Blogging and more recently, cooking.

Who is the last person you texted?

My colleague, Nikita.

What is a random fact about you?

Before I got my braces, I could fit my fist in my mouth.

What is your current relationship status?

I’m so single that if I was a dollar a stripper’s g-string would spit me out.

Do you have any children?

Of my womb, no; of my heart, many.

Who/What do you miss?

Charlie, Suki, Carmen, and my mind most days.

What is something you hate?

Being woken up when I’m not fully rested. Seriously. Just. Don’t!

What is something you love?

Spending time with my parents and with my friends.

What is something you want?

To travel abroad again.

Who is the last person you called?

If you must know, it was Teresa – and that was on Tuesday night.

Where are you from?

Earth

What do you look for in a significant other?

Honesty, integrity, loyalty, trustworthiness, and compassion.

Do you have a morning routine?

Yes. Most mornings it is to try to get to the office on time after working from home for almost five months.

How much do you weigh?

More than I should.

And lastly…

How tall are you?

Not as tall as I’d like!

Day 151: Remembering Honey

On Thursday last week I had a MS Teams meeting at 11 and I was out of data, along with money to buy, so Eliza offered that I work at her and Nathan’s place for the day. Their little boy, Lambert, aged almost four called for Eliza and I to ‘come look’ and eventually we got round to it. There on the ground in front of the sliding door lay a tiny bird, clearly stunned from flying into the sliding glass door.

Weird-Ass Wednesday

Refusing to put the light on because I didn’t want to be alert enough not to be able to resume the glorious slumber I had been enjoying before, I stumbled to the bathroom to well, expel the demon was causing the stomach cramps that had awoken me. Muttering to myself about the wee hours of a Wednesday morning being a crap time for a bowel movement. I heard a kind of scratchy sound, which I attributed to my medication not being completely absorbed into my system.

Old Drift Lodge Sunrise Cruises

As I mentioned here, Carmen once told me “you either have a heart for Africa or you don’t”.

During my trip I did two sunrise cruises at the Old Drift Lodge, and both were spectacular.  The boat sets sail from the jetty shortly after 05:30 AM, but dawn breaks much earlier, meaning me getting up at 04:30 AM to catch the first light, which changes from dark shades of blue to warm oranges and then fiery red, with a touch of purple.  If I hadn’t had a heart for Africa before, I would have after seeing the magnificent sunrises.

I cannot put into words the feeling that being on the water as the sun begins to rise brings.  The water is so calm, a mirror of only beautiful reflections and yet there is an underlying excitement within which surfaces when a pod of hippos does the same, although I did get a huge fright one morning while taking photos (from above, on the  jetty) when a hippo decided to make his presence known to me, but the river was so calm, even his reflection was captured on camera.

Both morning cruises, Fanwell was the guide.   He is friendly, well-versed with the birdlife and game along the river, and he is a good boat Captain to boot.

The first cruise I shared with a South African couple, Marko and Maryke, from Pretoria, both keen bird watchers.  As we sailed up and down the river, we saw many birds, many of which were firsts for the pair.

I recall great excitement and joy when they saw a Lesser Jacana, and a bird with bright reddish orange feet (and beak) which name I can’t remember, but Marko told me that what I was seeing was something truly special.

We saw Maribou Storks nesting in the high treetops, and an array of other water birds, including a Black Heron, which Maryke explained to me, spreads its wings to form an ‘umbrella shadow’.  The little fish swim towards the shade and before they know it, breakfast is served and they’re it!

There are also many Water Berry trees on the banks of the river.  Their roots are exposed during the drier months, but when the rain comes and the river rises, their roots are covered entirely and the don’t drown.  How incredible is that?

My last morning at the lodge, I went out on a solo trip with Fanwell and again we saw much birdlife.  I was so lost in the serenity of it all, at peace for the first time in as long as I can remember, that I almost forgot to take photos.

It was only when a lone hippo (not the same one from the jetty) stepped out of the shallows that I grabbed my phone to snap a picture of it.

We saw a few crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks, with some white billed ducks keeping a close eye from what I don’t think was a safe enough distance.  To me, crocodiles always look dead, but I’ve seen how quickly they can move.  They are reptiles not to be trifled with.

We heard the call of an African Fish Eagle, and while we spotted him with the help of binoculars, I couldn’t get close enough to get a picture.  I was a little sad about that because again, The Toppie and The Bean would have loved to see it.  I did get to see a Water Buck drinking on the banks, which was a super consolation prize.

The Zambezi is known as mighty, and it is.  But for me, it is a soul-restorer too.