Cars, friends, a sliver of moonlight and a “dazzle” of zebras….

This morning, in the rain, nine zebras stopped by for a visit and some snacks. It was delightful to see them a second time in our yard, although it wasn’t the same “dazzle” of zebras as the last time.

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

After eating many dry pellets, this zebra had the right idea, to lick the rain off the newest little blue car.  (See the story below)

The plan for today’s post had been to tell our peculiar “car story” and a little about last night’s special evening when Louise and Danie came for dinner. After a very much-needed rainy night and morning, we had an extra morsel to share that we’ve added to our story…nine zebras stopping by this morning for “breakfast.”

Big Daddy Kudu was blocking the view of the first little rental car.

Yesterday, when I was cutting up various vegetables to roast them as a side dish for last night’s dinner, I saved all the scraps hoping to share them with any animal visitors who may stop by. 

The nine zebras ate every last morsel this morning, including the carrots shown in Tom’s hands which I hurriedly cut up while he tossed out the pellets.

Tom was tossing out carrot chunks along with the pellets.

Well, then…here’s the little car story. Today is Thursday. On Monday afternoon, I noticed I had a Skype message from a South Africa phone number which was odd. We have a local SIM card in my phone and could receive phone calls, but we can’t even hear it ring for some bizarre reason. Our local friends reach us using “Messenger.”

This was the second little car they brought from Nelspruit, about a 90-minute drive to swap with the first tiny car.

We don’t keep our cell phones handy during the day until bedtime, when we both use them for late-night reading. As a result, we don’t give out the SIM card’s phone number when asked for a local phone number. Thus, the number we provided for the car rental facility in Nelspruit was our Nevada-based Skype number with a 702 area code.

Yesterday morning, they brought this little blue car which we’ll keep until the end of our three-month contract when we start all over again.  This car is the best of the three.  It has power windows and driver-controlled door locks, making it more user-friendly.

When I listened to the message, I was frustrated. They said they’d “sold” the little car, and we were supposed to bring it back to Nelspruit, where they’d give us a different vehicle. There was no way we were interested in driving for three hours (round trip) to accommodate their request.

When this zebra entered the yard at 9:00 am, we suspected others would follow, and our suspicions were correct…eight followed.

We have a contract that reads the car is ours until May 8. This same scenario had happened in 2013 when we were living in Boveglio, Tuscany, Italy. We received a similar call from the car rental facility in Venice, expecting us to drive five hours each way. 

All nine of them clamored by the veranda as we tossed pellets and vegetable scraps we’d been saving for this very purpose.

When we explained how far away we were and there was no way we were willing to drive that far so they could sell the car, they said they’d get back to us. That call never came. We returned the car when the contract ended. See our story about that scenario here.

The baby in this dazzle is shown in the back.

We expressed the same sentiment to Thrifty Car Rental in Nelspruit on Monday. They agreed to deliver the car on Tuesday morning around 9:30 am. At 10:00 am, their driver appeared with new documents in hand and a slightly bigger car. Tom checked the vehicle for dents and dings, signed the paperwork, and the driver took off in the little original vehicle.

Zebras are good at making eye contact.

We decided to take our usual almost daily drive through the park to see what we could find a short time later. As we drove the bigger car, we noticed that the air conditioning was blowing hot air. At that point, it was 95F (35C) and very humid. The AC wasn’t working. 

Well, we don’t particularly enjoy driving around in that type of heat. It’s one thing to sit on the veranda and manage around the house on such a hot day, but it’s an entirely different scenario, doing so on dusty dirt roads if we don’t have to.

One of the girls was walking up the steps, which were slippery in the rain.  She jumped off quickly when she started to slip and slide.

Yes, we’ve been to many places throughout the world in extreme heat without AC. But, there was no way we’re going to accept a car for which we’ve already paid that included AC.  We drove back to the house, called them again, and reported the facts…no way would we accept a car without AC. 

A little affection was displayed between these two zebras.

We were nice. They were nice. As shown in a few of today’s photos, they brought us the third car yesterday morning, the little blue car. It’s the same or similar low-end vehicle but slightly newer with excellent working AC, power windows, and driver-operated door locks, all of which are quite a treat for us.

We took it for a drive to the river in the afternoon (photos of which we’ll share in a few days) and couldn’t have been more thrilled with the few upgrades. Problem solved. Happy customers.

The baby also tried climbing the slippery steps.

As for last night, spending time with Louise and Danie was, as always, perfectly delightful. Since they are always doting on us, we wouldn’t let them do anything, although Louise had a tough time not carrying in the dishes. Such good company.  Such a good night and a sliver of moon, as shown in the photo below, with promises of what is yet to come in nights down the road.

This morning, when Josiah washed the now very dirty veranda after the rain, the mud was strewn about from our nine rambunctious visitors. We decided to get out of our way to go shopping for Saturday night’s upcoming dinner for six.

Last night’s sliver of moonlight before the cloud cover and rainstorm.

We were back by noon. We put away most of the groceries but soon, once this post is uploaded, I’ll head back into the kitchen to start washing the produce and sorting a new container of vegetable scraps for the next batch of visitors. Who that will be, we can’t guess, but we’ll wait with bated breath for whoever may choose to grace our day.

Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, March 22, 2017:

Bob explained this single red bloom, a type of lily, is growing out of season. For more photos from Fairlight, Australia, please click here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *