Jeez, it's been awhile, but I'll try and make this a nutshell version.

First up: Our journey to Liwonde National Park.

It was our next weekend adventure destination post Cape Maclear and turned out to include some of my fave spots. (It's likely I'll over use 'fave' by the end of the trip. I apologize in advance.) Conveniently a couple friendly faculty were heading out that way and kindly offered to drop us off at Liwonde. Driving in a car vs. taking a bus was almost too nice. It wasn't just the radio serenading us with country gospel or the time we saved, but mostly the make-shift tour guides who told us stories of all the beauty spots we'd pass.
When they dropped us off to our lil' river-side resort they made sure we were safe n sound, and setup in the best of the inexpensive places in town. Needless to say, they were lovely driving buddies.
Murph and I spent our afternoon wandering around the town and investigating the bank situation. (We learned a la Cape Maclear that you've gotta know your nearest ATM to avoid stopping the fun due to lack of funds on hand.) It didn't seem like a touristy town, but everyone was pretty friendly. They did opt for the stop-n-stare approach, while the kids chanted either "mzungu" or the less popular, "give me money".
Our first night was spent drinking next to the river with our eyes peeled for hippos. It might have been the beer mixed with the heat, but that spot was amazing; a perfect mix of tranquil and laid back.
The next morning Biff met us in time to catch breakfast and head out for our boat safari plans. There were zero hippos the night before, but the morning was spent surrounded by 'em. Our guide took us up the river into the National Park to visit the local hippo pods. Not surprisingly, they were completely uninterested in our presence, but a few did show off their mouth-opening skills, plus some jumping acrobatics. Other animal sightings included purdy birds along with warthogs and impalas. I'd say the icing on the cake was the elephant herd who were havin' a feast of tree-bits and wading in the marsh. Amazing.

After Liwonde we headed to Zomba aka the old Country capital. Murph had set us up at the Trout Farm camp on top of the plateau. You guessed it; they farm trout. The elevation makes it cold enough and also means pine/cedar forests. All those familiar pine smells floating around meant lots of east-coast hike nostalgia plus hometown, NS fall memories.

The cabin didn't have electricity, but we were ready with a deck of cards and our stock of Malawi Rum and water. This is the recipe for fun while staying hydrated. It's also a combo that reminded me just how awesome I am at Asshole and brought me back to a sailing trip to PEI circa 1990 something. Needless to say, I spent the majority of the night being referred to as President George.

Despite our mild group hangover, we left at 6am the next morning for a 4 hour hike around the plateau. Our guide took us to some classy lookouts and one of the dams, plus some pine-filled shortcuts that were FernGully qualtiy beautiful. After we got back we packed up and headed down the plateau for town. Before leaving Zomba tho we made some time to stop at the local cafe/christian bookstore for lunch. If you ever find yourself in Zomba, go there and get dessert.

Up next was our trip to Balntyre.

It offered up some perks we don't have in Lilongwe. Blantyre has the country's only South African mini superstore chain - Game. Our one friend happens to be from South Africa and described it as a Cosco mixed with a Canadian Tire. For us it meant Murph could find a proper backpack and I could invest in a yoga mat. I say invest 'casue it was ridiculously overpriced, but up to that point, I had very little success at advancing my beginner yoga skills. After that we made a visit to the country's only theatre (Cine City Theater; clever). Since we were till recovering from the previous night's Trout Farm events we opted for snacking on butter-less movie popcorn and settling into an evening viewing of Salt. After our fill of chain stores and movie theaters we wandering around town and concluded that Blantyre was surprisingly free of hustle and bustle. It was nice and there's definitely lots more to explore, but it was missing that city-buzz that I'd fallen for in Lilongwe.

The next day the plan was to head back to Lilongwe, but sadly en route, I started feeling pretty badly. This was a first for me since I arrived here, but it got exponentially worse within 45 min. Murph and I concluded it was the slightly sketch Kips Snacks from the night before. Ugh, that was a low point. Once we made the next pit-stop, I somehow exited the packed-to-the-brim bus, while Murph gathered up our bags and met me on the side of the road. The bus went on, leaving us in a tiny 'not on the map' town... I still owe Murph for jumping into big bro-like action while I uselessly tried to regain some composure. Since we were only 45 min outside of Blantyre and the journey home would be another 5 hours, we headed back to Blantyre so I could rest up. Eventually I started recovering and the next day we made the trip home to Bunda.

The next couple weekends included less travel and more Bunda. Biff made a trip trip out for the necessary visa-renewal, I (shockingly) made it through Silence of the Lambs, we found a delightful Indian restaurant (reminiscent of India Gate), and I discovered a shop where I can add a bit more class to the 'dressy attire' I've been getting away with on campus.

Most recently tho, Murph became our very own certified advanced scuba diver, I discovered just how easy it is to make pizza dough (try it tonight!), completed one full-blown pushup, and booked a flight to Cape Town for Christmas :) I'm also in the process of shamelessly trying to make nice with the local kids using a frisbee and a hacky sack (someday kids and I will get along...) and watching The Wire with Murph. (I could live without season 3, but so far season 4 is TV gold.)

Ah! Tiny work related update: I filled in for a prof last week which meant teaching a 3rd year aquaculture class. I was 100% shocked by my level of lecturing enjoyment and offered up my fill-in services whenever required. Fingers crossed I'll get to stand in again.

Well, this turned out to be less nutshell-sized than I'd imagined. If you got through it all, I'm impressed and we can be friends forever. Either way, thanks for visiting folks. I'm sending you all love from Malawi.