Today, I am older than dirt. Well... not really :)

So lots of excitement the last few weeks!  First of all, saw ELEPHANTS at Liwonde!!!  It was spectacular.  Its completely different than being at the zoo.  The game count consisted of 2 days at Liwonde.  One day was a transect walk.  Quite simply, walking about 13k across the park, which is basically the bush... Of course we went with some protection.  2 scouts with the park accompanied us (Amy and I) brandishing some very impressive semi-automatic rifles.  And they were ridiculously casual with where they were pointing them at times... But thankfully, no accidents.  On the transect walk we saw a rather impressive elephant skeleton torn apart by hyenas.  The skull was HUGE!  As for live animals, we saw impala, sable, bushbuck, waterbuck, bushpig, hartbeast, and warthogs (just like Pumba!).  Plus a ton of monkeys and baboons were hanging outside the youth hostel we stayed at.  The other day of the game count was a hide/blind... Literally parked it on a 10 ft termite mound on the Shire River flood plain with a little shelter built over it for shade and sat there for 4 hours.  The last 2 hours we watched elephants going for water!  It was awesome!  There was nothing between us and them but grass and space.  It was cool b/c they had a "scout" who kept going ahead and checking things out.  Then she'd wait for the rest to catch up and off she went again.  There were two groups we watch, one with 10ish members and the other with 13-14.  All different ages.  Also saw some water buffalo too. 

In other news, Sara Lane from Ntchisi came to Amy's so I crashed there for a few days.  It was a really nice visit, just hanging out and chatting.  Best of all, Sara made Amy and I a birthday cake!!!  Not a small thing when you only have a kerosene stove at your disposal!  And it was absolutely delicious!! 

Also, my women's mushroom group started mushroom farming Thursday!  I'm really excited, but also a little nervous.  It's really time consuming and also a little tricky to get a good harvest since there are so many ways to contaminate or loose the mushrooms.  but... keeping my fingers tied.

Last but not least... its my birthday!  27 today!  Traditional midnight birthday call from Caitlin and Jan was amazing.  Also hanging out with Amy is great.  Best site mate EVER!  She shared ranch packets and candy in honor of the day.  Well... times up.  Miss you all...