It has been a long time since I’ve blogged from my phone, but I don’t have my laptop with me now and since I do have a connection on what’s been a sketchy day on that front, I’m gonna take advantage of it while I can.

We both slept a much needed 10 hours, waking up about 4:30 AM. I got the blog up while Ash went for a walk.

The beginning of sunrise from our balcony just before 6 AM. That is the moon and what we think is a star called Sirius – the southern hemisphere version of the North Star. 

We met for breakfast in the hotel around 7 AM. It was a pretty typical hotel buffet breakfast; I didn’t even take a single photo.

We got on the road a little after 8 AM and did not get to our destination until about 1:15. There are two primary reasons that made the trip take about an hour and a half longer than anticipated:

  1. Potholes: good Lord. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that. But only on the Mozambique side, which was about halfway through from a miles perspective. The roads in Eswatini were significantly better.
  2. We had heard this could be quite an affair because of the manual process, taking up to a couple of hours. So we were very surprised that there was nothing to it – no guards, no signs telling you what to do or to stop you even. So we just drove straight through. Thinking that’s kind of odd. Until about 20 km in we get to a military stop. And they turned us right back around. So this time we stopped on the Eswatini side. They look at our passports. They’re looking for a Mozambique stamp. We said we got one yesterday they said no what about today? So we had to go about a block further back and stop at the Mozambique office to get an exit stamp. Then back to the other one to get our car registration for Eswatini and pay a fee. Then back to the military guards who were happy that we had finished it all. And very quickly waved us through.

I have an irrational fear about things going wrong at border crossings, and this played into all of that. We learned a lot and in the end, it turned into nothing. And at least now we know what to do on the way back.

As of today, I am at 27 countries. Mind you, my first international trip was 2013. Ash is at 66.

It was at least an hour before we got to our destination: Summerfield Luxury Resort and Botanical Gardens. Ash booked all seven nights of these two hotels using Chase points. So essentially free. They offered us an upgrade for about $115 a night. We agreed to it before we saw it, but she said we should see it first.

It is literally a house. We think about 800 ft.².
What a dump!
Ash said that mirror must’ve been picked out by a gay guy because no one else would pick out a mirror that fabulous. 
This bedroom is bigger than the one we have in our master at home. 
Beautiful bedroom and super comfy.

Needless to say, we took the upgrade. 

Above photo and the next several that follow were just of the grounds on our way to the restaurant for lunch.

This is the outside of the restaurant as seen from the other side. You can’t see Ash sitting at the table because his view is blocked, but that’s where we were.
Bread to start with three spreads. That orange is peri peri and super hot. the yellowish one is a buttery spread with peppers and other flavorings that was wonderful. The red is really a fancy ketchup.
We split the starters equally. This they called puff prawns, with a great sweet chili sauce.
This was the star of the meal. Prawn rissoles.  Think crispy patty with a creamy cheesy shrimp inside. 
I was even moved to take a photo of the inside.
Ash had a fish called klingpen. It was very good. 
I had oxtails which were also really amazing. They even brought a bowl of warm water with the understanding that you were gonna use your hands on this gravy laden dish. 

After lunch, we walked around a bit on our way back to the room.

Notice the Jade surrounding this tree. I had never seen jade the green before. See the close-up below.
When we returned to our room, they had left some fruit and a bottle of champagne. We are going to take the champagne as a gift for the folks at our next day.

It was about 3 PM when we got back to our room. We just relaxed for the next couple of hours. I think Ash managed to sleep about an hour or more. I rested, but didn’t sleep.

And then all of a sudden, we lost both our cell phone connection and our Wi-Fi. Everything just stopped working.

I had set up to start working on the blog from the dining room table, but couldn’t get a connection there either. It makes for a pretty photo that doesn’t it?

This is our front porch, which looks better at night than it did during the day. 

Somehow, we were hungry again by 7 PM and went back to the restaurant for dinner.

It’s about 60° outside so this time we sat inside. They initially sat us in the bar while they found us a table. The dining area is downstairs and upstairs in the background there. We were seated upstairs.

Ash had a Bengal shrimp curry that he said was really good.
I had a rump steak with the same spinach and sweet potatoes as lunch. Rice instead of regular mashed potatoes. But the hit of this plate was the garlic sauce on the left. I could’ve drank it.
For dessert, we had a spice cake with a warm vanilla custard sauce. This was pure heaven. 

And that is our day. It’s been a long time since I’ve posted just as the day was ending. I might have to do this phone thing more often. 

6 Comments

  1. Lindsay A Hutchins August 2, 2025 at 10:10 am - Reply

    WOW! So impressed with you world travellers and masters at points!!! Wonderful pictures. Somehow I get brought easily into your vibe as you experience fully being there! Love it! Thank you

  2. Melanie August 2, 2025 at 6:50 am - Reply

    7 days later until I can dive into your blogs. Always worth the wait! Thanks for splitting food open! Potholes I bet that annoyed you!!! Great place!

  3. Deanna Leitch July 23, 2025 at 3:06 pm - Reply

    So happy to hear from you and find you in your usual digs, comfort and good food could be the title of the book that was suggested. By the way I still don’t have Marks number. No rush keep having a glorious adventure. Love you both.

  4. Gregory Broyles July 22, 2025 at 4:24 pm - Reply

    Thanks for sharing your adventures!! The food looks amazing and your chandelier mini palace seems appropriate!! Enjoy!!

  5. Susie Peyton July 22, 2025 at 3:49 pm - Reply

    WOW! You two are really roughing it! Of course, that’s exactly how I would do it. Please keep blogging. I think you’ll eventually need to turn this into a travel book (for real-I’d buy it!).

I'd love to hear from you!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to the Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog, which will provide notifications of new posts. Soon after you enter your email address below, you will receive one to confirm your subscription. Check your spam/junk folder if you don’t see it.