Happy New Year --- photos added!

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Dear blog reader,

I would like to say Happy New Year to you and thank you for reading my blog. So far you have read about our adventures in Africa. You have read about our stay in Blantyre and our visit to Liwonde National Park, I have told you about our trip to Monkey Bay, from where we started our exciting boat trip on Lake Malawi (the photos from the boat trip can be found here), and our safari from the train window, catching the Tazara railway. Today, I have also posted photos in all the articles. However, I still haven't told you everything from this trip. When I have time, I will tell you about the remainder of our trip, and what happened in Zanzibar and on our safari in Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Lake Manyara.

For the last few weeks we have been in Ålesund, Norway. Yes, Helene, technically I have been staying with my parents in Skodje, a village about 30 km from Ålesund, whereas Helene has been staying in Ålesund. Still, it doesn't make me a total redneck, does it?! It has been a great time, seeing family and friends, celebrating Christmas and New Year's, and eating and drinking well. Now, we are heading for South America. Leaving Oslo, Norway on 4 January, we will arrive in Lima, Peru. After about three weeks or so, we are going to Cuenca, Ecuador for Astrid and Helene's four weeks of hospital practice. Along with us will be Åshild, a Norwegian girl who is also studying medicine but is only on vacation --- just like myself!

We have much to look forward to and will keep you posted on the way. Remember that if you find the blog updates arriving in your email in-box very annoying, you may unsubscribe by clicking the link in the body of the email or if unsuccessful, by dropping me a line. TravelBlog does as far as I know not send you any spam (apart from my travel updates!) and was recently named the travel site of the month by the travel section in New York Times. Of course, we hope you stay tuned, and if you like, you can sign up people you think might be interested by entering their name and email address after clicking the subscribe link from my main page or simply by sending them the link http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/robinbye/.

Please feel free to post your comments on the articles or send us a personal message!

That was all for now, until next time: Hasta la vista!

Robin & Helene

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Photos

New Year's Eve
At midnight the sky exploded in colours from the fireworks. So much money blown up! We didn't buy a single rocket...

Red lights
The red (emergency?) lights sent up by some people tended to kill all other light, making everything red.

Ålesund
Looking out the window at midday at the mother of Helene's apartment in Ålesund. Notice the Christmas tree on the balcony yet to be taken indoor and decorated.

Comments

[Ian]

Godt Nytt År
Hey Robin, thanks for seeing me safely onto the bus in Ålesund! I'm back in Sweden now. I had a great time in your beautiful country, some of my pix are here: http://www.pbase.com/ianm_esquire/norway my blog is here: http://gomoron.blogspot.com/ Seeya back at unsw in feb.

[Anna i Sverige]

Tjenamoss
So nice to read all your blogs, and trust me, when I see your pictures of you guys I realise one more time that I am no longer in Australia.. I wish I was. Take care and have a safe trip.