Whilst Ian was having a pre lunch siesta I decided to wander around the vegetable garden. Graeme had been telling us how the two new gardeners they'd employed about 6 months ago had transformed the place from growing a few sad tomato plants to providing a large proportion of the herbs, salads and fruits for the kitchen.
Ashley, one of the new recruits, was delighted to show me round.
They have very basic equipment to work with but I suppose the soil is so thin, it is quite easy to work.
Watering has to be done at least twice daily in the dry season (early morning and late afternoon being the best times).
I love the scarecrows
This Avocado tree was massive and I don't envy them harvesting the ripe fruits. Obviously like this tree, not everything has grown in 6 months but at least the fruits are now being collected instead of being left to rot.
Ashley was rightly proud of what he and Christopher have achieved in a short space of time and was making sure the gate was secured when I left so that no animals could get in (apparently nothing will go in whilst they're working, but how they stop them just jumping over the fence at night I don't know).
I didn't bother to test the pool for temperature this time - in 2018 I went in and it was freezing.
We only saw ground squirrels here; this one seemed to be having a good chew of his tail.
And finally Speckled Mousebirds having a dust bath.
After another delicious lunch and a bit of down time, we met with Dickson and another guide Jonathan down near the swimming pool around 4pm as the plan was to go for a bird walk. We'd assumed we'd be walking in the grounds as there were plenty of birds around but in fact we went outside the perimeter fence and, unfortunately, saw very little. The clouds were quite heavy too and rain clearly coming down in the distance.
The heavy skies remained and towards the end our two hour meander the plan was to head to the top of a nearby hill for our sundowner. A truck had thoughtfully been despatched, presumably stocked with our favourite tipples and as Ian was feeling a little leg weary he and Dickson decided to hitch a lift up the rather steep hill. I viewed it as a bit of a challenge and having sat in a truck for 3 days was keen for a bit more exercise and so Jonathan had to accompany me. Halfway up the hill the rain started and by the time we, and the truck, reached the top it was absolutely chucking it down so we abandoned the sundowner idea and headed straight back to camp.
I've felt this holiday that the sundowner has been a bit unnecessary; there is just us two and we've not long recovered from lunch and soon will be drinking again at dinner so it's almost like we're doing it for the sake of it. When you're in a group it's different as it's a social event but on our own ...........
As we had to pack ready for our early start tomorrow it suited us to be back at a reasonable time. Shortly before 1930 we climbed up to the communal areas and went to the office first to pay our bill; 3 gorgeous cushion covers and some strange little wooden spoons to remind us of Africa.
Both Candy and Graeme were waiting in the bar for us and we had a good long chat, we seem to be on the same wavelength and it also transpires that their main residence is in France and only about 1/2 hour from where Ian's sister lives in Brittany. We've exchanged contact details and mutual invites to visit when in the respective areas. The sad piece of news which I didn't include in our arrival at Tortilis is that Liz who we'd met in Kaingo (Zambia 2016) and good friend of Candy and Graeme had lost her battle with breast cancer in November 2021. I'd instinctively felt that she'd passed, and fairly recently too, so it wasn't a great shock and I was glad for Graeme and Candy that they'd been able to visit her. Her husband Garth apparently is doing OK and will most likely stay on in Ireland where he manages a large house and grounds for its millionaire owner.
We could have stood chatting for hours but were aware that, as managers, Candy and Graeme had to interact with other guests and also we needed to eat! All the time we'd been chatting, the skies were being lit up with flashes of lightening and the heavens had absolutely opened - torrential rain. It poured and poured for several hours and although by the time we'd finished dinner it had lessened somewhat, we still had to take advantage of an Askari and torch to guide us down the slope to our tent in case we slipped in the wet.
I keep thinking of Dickson's view of the weather - "when the rain falls on you, you are blessed"
Sometimes it's a mistake to revisit a place, but we've thoroughly enjoyed our time here once again. Dickson has been a great guide and seeing so many staff we knew from before (Chris, William our waiter previously, Esther in the kitchen etc) really has made us feel like we were coming home.