In the days before blogs we poor old people had to write our thoughts down with pen and paper. While this is easier to do by candlelight in a Malawi house it makes it tough to post online if your typing is a little limited, like mine. So after only 14 years here is my diary from a bike ride I did visiting all the other VSO volunteers in Malawi. Oh, and unlike a blog you get the story in the right order. Comments in [] brackets have been added as I type for perspective and background.
Tim and loaded bike (note the 6 water bottles attached all over at Phalombe
I had thought about doing a ride around the country for a while: I'd really got into biking here and wanted to see places I'd not visited in my time in the country. Time was available between leaving my job and travelling with Tracy (she wasn't finishing work till July) and somehow the idea of a sponsored ride came up. The new volunteer working at DIPAM (the Disabled Persons Association of Malawi) was enthusiastic to work with me, the charity was small and could really use the money and was run by talented and active disabled Malawians. I got involved with the Lions Club after helping them perform a complex skit at a function (they volunteered to match all the money I raised) and the scene was set. Read about the ride here.
