Happy New Year!

The first week of the 2014 was a busy one - I arrived in Lilongwe on the 30th, unpacked and repacked for a trip to the lake, and a group of friends and I headed off that evening to stay at a lakeside cottage in Monkey Bay with the Moura family.  We spent a lovely few days on the lake (well, for me, more of it was IN the lake, but that's not new or unexpected!), played games, ate a ton of food, celebrated the New Year, and then headed back to Lilongwe.  My housemates, Jo and Jo, made the exciting decision to have the house fumigated, so we moved a bunch of our belongings and the entire kitchen out of the house, and then spent a day away from the fumes before cleaning the insect apocalypse up and moving back in.  I also managed to get my car stuck in the ditch bordering the garden, so we had a fun and muddy time extracting it!  We also made a trip to the local garden centre and got some more plants to add to the burgeoning garden in our yard.  It was a fun and relaxing last bit of holidays before returning to work.

Landing in my lovely green Malawi home.

The clouds were so low that at one point we drove through them!

New Years Eve fireworks at the cottage.

Watching the fish eagle snatch up the snacks we brought for him. (Photo courtesy of Gino Moura)

So green now, and the rainy season leads to gorgeous skyscapes!

Passion fruit vine and flower on the side of the front porch - I am really excited to finally get to taste the fruit of this otherworldly plant.

Had a little stowaway in the car!

The entire kitchen moved into the garage for a day so that we could get the house fumigated!

Driving out to the lake - fantastic cloud formations and sunset!

Swimming at Otter Point. (Photo courtesy of Gino Moura)

On the lake with friends. (Photo courtesy of Gino Moura)

Love hanging out with friends on the water! (Photo courtesy of Gino Moura)

I remember seeing this view with the majority being red dirt!

Beautiful flowers at the garden centre.

Managed to get my car stuck in the muddy ditch in our yard - Mataya (our guard and gardener) helped with getting it out and cleaning it off!

The rut that was left after getting out of the ditch!

Goodbye, cockroach!

We rearranged the living space after moving back in following the fumigation - Artemis is pleased!