Ring of Fire

---

Hi All,

We hope that all of you are well. We are trying our best to keep you up to date with everything but the internet is slow here and not very frequent.

Picking up where we left off....

LIvingstone island was fantastic!! We rolled up the pick up point which is this lavish hotel where guests are driven around on golf carts, the workers dress in safari suits and to ask for a taxi is met with the reply of you need to walk out to the main road and get one there!! Check it out on the web it is called the royal Livingstone. Anyway we were taken to this island that is basically in the middle of the falls on the edge! You get taken there by boat and then toured around the island (its is probably 100 square metres) taking in the sites of the falls, standing in the falls and then get treated to afternoon tea with drinks supplied. Worth every cent (photos to follow!)

That night we ventured to a backpackers called jolly boys to say our goodbyes to the rest of our truck group. Getting there was no problem but leaving was a different story. Everyone one in Africa has a mate that can do everything for you... We ended up waiting an hour and a half to get a taxi ride back home because this guy knew all his mates that would do us a better deal. We had a person that we wanted and eventually got him but it got very frustrating.

This is now when the trip gets a little sour. We had been doing so well with the food and water that it had to come to an end. The next morning Mark felt very unwell and was quite sick in the morning. We had had a subway the day before that wasn't exactly 'eating fresh'! Anyway we both came down with the runs and this made the next few days of travelling n the quite exciting.

We met all of the new people in the truck, (more aussies this time) some from the previous tour and some new so we tried to mngle as best we could considering the circumstances. THe truck left for Lusaka still in Zambia.

From Lusaka we left for chipata another driving day. The main highlight was that we fixed the truck with trusty condoms as the revs were out of control and the truck was not going to get us anywhere. Thank goodness for the Ansell!!

From Chipata we left for Kande Beach leaving Zambia and crossing the border into Malawi. It was Kates turn to be ill that day. With all the driving she evetually succumbed to a stomach bug that knocked here around for a bit but by the time we got to Kande beach she was okay. I was abit funny though that during a toilet stop all the girls got prickles in their bums from a plant that grew in there 'toilet'! A lot of savlon and jumping around ensued much to the laughter of all the guys!!

Kande beach was a beautiful spot on the lake malawi. The camp site was clean and we set up camp for the next few days. A lot of other trucks where there when we got there which was good to see some fresh faces. After arriving late and under the weather we went to bed early that night. After a goodnights sleep we felt better and went to the beach where we swam for a bit and mark lazed on the sand while kate swam for around 45 mins to an island that was just of the beach. There she jumped off rocks and explored with some of the others that also swam over. Mark played Volleyball only to injure his foot so that it was black and blue by the time night came along and quite swollen! In the afternoon we walked to the local market where we saw many beautiful paintings don eby the locals and the swarm of children that met us was great. The vendors all had funny names like superman, puff daddy and harrods! They weren't as full on as the guys in the vic falls markets which was nice but still pushy. Once again they took trades and money and we bought a few paintings as well as some name tags and a travel game! That night we played Ring of Fire a drinking game (that is all the english seem to do!). It was a good night with one casualty but everyone pulled through!!
The next day we had a relaxing day sleeping on the beach and in hammocks as well as picking up the paintings we ordered yesterday. That night we had a great dinner...pig on the spit! It had been cooking all day and was an absolute delight!!

Well that brings us a little closer to the present and we will continue to update you when we can.
We hope everyone is well and look forward to hearing from you all soon.

Lots of Love
Mark and Kate

---