Half Way!

Please forgive the order of these photos, I can't get them to move!!

Lake Malwai sunset 05-20-09

Lake Malawi sunrise 05-20-09

Nature Sanctuary - Lilongwe, Malawi 05-18-09

Crisis Nursery - Lilgonwe, Malwai 05-18-09

Crisis Nursery - Lilgonwe, Malwai 05-18-09

Poinsettia tree - Lusaka, Zambia 05-16-09

Game drive - Lusaka, Zambia 05-16-09

The team has had a much needed two days off from Rotary duties. We have spent the last two days at a resort along Lake Malawi thanks to the Rotary clubs of Lilongwe. We needed a chance to put our feet up and just sort of hang out together. Tomorrow morning we will be picked up and driven to Blantyre to meet a couple of new clubs and begin the last leg of our trip. It has gone by fast, but we still have a lot to look forward too!

I've attached some photographs from our last day in Lusaka, where our hosts Hassan and Pankaj took us to an amazing lunch and on a short safari. We were on the hunt for zebra (none spotted as of yet!) but found some giraffe instead. I'm sure the group would agree that we had a fantastic time in Lusaka, good food, good times and especially good friends!

In Lilongwe we visited the Ministry of Hop Crisis Nursery, as you can see, the babies were very cute. The nursery is a great project, giving babies who have been abandoned or are HIV positive a place of respite until they can be reunited with family or placed in a home. We also took a walk through a nature sanctuary. These animals were rescued from all over the world and put into contained areas, more like their natural habitats and less like the zoos they had been living in.

Here is a photograph of some men working to clear an area that will eventually be the site of a veterinary clinic. Currently, all surgeries are done outside in the open.

Finally, we reached Lake Malawi on Tuesday morning. Somehow I managed to wake up this morning (5:30 a.m.!) in time to photograph the sun rise over the lake, so beautiful. Today we took a few walks, the guys climbed some boulders and we hit the pool. Then we braved the water and took a very choppy ride out to see the sunset behind the mountains, what a way to end a great two days off!

To our families: We are having a wonderful time and everyone is getting along great. Not a day passes without the thought of how very grateful we are for this opportunity. We love and miss you!