Photos and more from Malawi

Photo 1:Wayne doing his best to ride a local's lightly loaded bike.  Like many places in the world, here the bikes are work vehicles, used as pickup trucks, taxis, delivery vans for all kinds of stuff...I feel like a spoiled kid sometimes, riding my bike for nothing more than recreation!  No wonder we get stared at everywhere we go....

Photo 2:  beautiful Lake Malawi in the early morning drizzly mist we rode through, 

Photo 3:  a local giving Wayne's bike a try with the much-loved lunch truck in the background.  The two most welcome sights on any riding day are the lunch truck with Noah's delicious buffet of ingredients awaiting us, and the orange finish line flag marking the day's camping spot and the end of the ride.

Photo 4: bicycle taxis in Malawi, complete with registration plates and passenger seats.  We even saw one advertising "airport service" to the nearby airport...can you imagine getting off a plane, asking for a taxi and realizing you'd be getting on a bicycle with a guy somehow managing to also pack your luggage on, probably on his head or something then he'd ride with one hand on the handlebars and the other holding his cell phone to his ear!

Photo 5:  our friend Ali trying out a hand-cranked wheelchair kind of bike...we've seen a few of these around!

This is our last day in Malawi, tomorrow we are back on our bikes to head west into Zambia, would it be too much to hope for a tailwind?  We've had crosswinds from the east which swirled into headwinds, so just maybe we will get a nice push from behind!  There seems to be a post-mid-trip malaise going around...lots of riders taking a bit of a break from the tour for a few days and rejoining later.  Injuries have taken a bit of a toll as well, I hope we continue to be fortunate with our health.  

Wayne and I went to a wildlife sanctuary/rescue area today.  It was so beautiful to walk through the shady forest ; now we know what we've been riding beside looks like on the inside.  We had a guide who showed us all the animals (except for the elusive leopard! ) then we struck off on our own down the trails (walk at your own risk and watch out for the nesting crocodiles!) eventually the trail we chose turned into a big metal sewer pipe then a catwalk over top of it which we had to walk over because Wayne saw monkeys at the far end....then we decided to turn back and get back to civilization.  

It is noticeably more Western here, which on one hand is convenient for rest days but it doesn't feel quite like the "real" Africa we have been experiencing for the last 3 months.  On to Zambia!