We arrived back in Pretoria early evening of 10th July. It was a 970 km drive, I was by this time feeling terrible. On arriving home I jumped into bed & slept for sixteen hours! Delana was a few days behind me in her symptoms, which was a good thing, as it meant when I was getting a little better I could look after her. We got all the medicine. At one stage, I was on thirteen different meds a day! Gradually we both got better & we visited the doctor on 19th July, We received the all clear, no lasting damage to lungs & no longer infectious to others. We had both survived covid!
The next day we packed & drove to Sabie Park. We thought it was a great place to sit, relax & take it easy for a while. Both of us were still far from 100% & we got tired easily. The next few days were spent around the house doing general cleaning & other chores. And of course, a lot of sitting on the veranda!
We went for our first bird walk on 23rd July, just over 4kms. I felt fine, but Delana was a little tired.
We spent a couple of afternoons at the picnic site & very pleasant it was to. The viewing platform which got washed away has now been rebuilt & this version is larger & better than before!
Quite a few afternoons were spent at home, sitting in our lapa just enjoying the scenery, animals & birds on offer.
We decided to have a small waterhole built for the animals & birds which visit our garden. It turned out to be four days work & a much larger job than I originally thought.
We more or less stayed home for the first two weeks of August, (apart from a night away to get vaccinated in Nelspruit). Did quite a bit of birding in the mornings followed by afternoons in the lapa! Both star birds were still around, although very elusive. We enjoyed a nice restful time. Extended walking still causes us breathing difficulties but we are getting better slowly.
We spent the night of the 4th August at Andrew & Jackey's house on the banks of the Crocodile River. We enjoyed a lovely evening with them & left early the next morning for the hospital in Nelspruit. We both received our vaccinations without any difficulty & then drove back home. The next day I had a bad reaction to the shot & basically the whole day was a wash out for me.
We left Sabie Park on 18th August for a quick trip to Pretoria to attend a friends wedding.
We arrived back in Sabie Park on 22nd August & spent our time birding & animal watching as well as working on the house & garden. Morning bird walks were slowly getting more productive in the increase in the number of species recorded. And generally the weather got better each day. Both the Grey Cuckooshrike & Narina Trogon were still present. Although the former is being seen in a large area, even in normal bushveld away from the river.
The weather is beginning to change now, slowly getting warmer & most days sunnier. However, we have enjoyed thee winter here, rewarded with some great sightings. Roll on spring!
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