Malawi

I was hoping to keep this thing saturated with a steady stream of blog posts, but lack of access to (decent) internet, and frequent travel make that reality more like a dream. I am in Malawi. Currently the capital, Lilongwe. This ordeal began a week ago yesterday. We began with a two hour bus ride from Portland to Boston. Then a two hour flight from Boston to DC. Then 18 hours on a plane from DC to Johannesburg, stopping briefly in Dakar, Senegal to change crews and re-fuel. We stayed the first night not in the air in a beautiful guest house in Johannesburg, a place that gave us absolutely no trouble despite it's very hairy reputation. But we kept to our room, and rode in a car that regularly re-checked the locks the entire drive. We flew out the next morning to Lilongwe, Malawi, arrived no problems and got a cab to the camp we are basing out of in Lilongwe. The camp is called Mabuya camp, in area 3. Lilongwe is divided into many different areas. I'm told, it's usually around 60, but perhaps some days more or less. We stayed a night in Mabuya and then scrambled off to get in the only possibility for vacation we'd have the whole trip at the lake. Malawi has at its Eastern Border with Mozambique an enormous lake, bearing the country's name. We stayed for three nights in this balmy paradise (although this IS the start of their cold season) living the easy life. Eating fish caught in the lake, tomato sandwiches from the market (the tomatoes were) and taking long walks where we would be joined by an entourage of giggling children. We're back in Lilongwe now, basing at Mabuya camp and getting acquainted with the rest of AGE's research team. I have been keeping an extensive travel journal, and will probably be posting postdated transcriptions of that when I get back home to the land of reliable internet, food, cars, water... most things reliable. But this place is amazing. There is an unfathomable number of problems which there seem to be no shortages of ideas of how to deal with them, but they either aren't dealt with, or don't work. I am adjusting, and continuously thrilled. I don't know when I will be able to update, but I will be here until then. Remember this mantra: In Africa, no news is very good news.

Photos as they come