Hey everyone, Sorry for being out of touch as of late but things here have been quite busy. I think the last time I sent an update was when we were approaching the halfway point of the tour. Right now we only have one month left to go. The group is swelling, we're up to nearly 70 people including staff and there are still more to come. Needless to say this tends to create some logistical challenges along the way. On some days this group will consume over 600L of water in a single day, not to mention their insatiable appetites. But my support staff have done an exceptional job this in dealing with all provisions. In hindsight I believe that the third month of this tour is the most difficult. In a previous update I mentioned that some people are strong physically and others mentally. This last month is when everyone needs to be mentally strong. Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia do not present the physical challenges that we face in the north. There are no open dessert crossings, roads made of lava rock or naked stone throwing children. But there are still mountains, dirt roads and long days. This has been an exceptionally wet year and many of those dirt roads were mud. There were days when the truck got stuck in campsites, roads were submerged by raging torrents of water that used to be passive streams. This region is also a high risk area for malaria and infections. Crossing the halfway point induces an inversion of mentality for the cyclists. They no longer count how many days they have been riding for, they start counting how many days are left. They start thinking about what they are going to do when they get home, they miss home. And even though the capital cities are as western as any city in North America or Europe we still have bush camps, water rations and porridge. The energy supplements that they have been consuming constantly over 70 riding stages are beginning to become less palatable. This is when the duration of the tour takes its toll and some of the cyclists struggle with the day to day monotony. Some of the cyclists have taken matters into their own hands and arranged special meals and awards ceremonies to keep the morale high. I must admit although I can see the frustration among them the group as a whole has overcome this challenging stage with greater success than any other year. I managed to take a bit of time off this year in Malawi as Shanny joined us for a few weeks. I scouted an alternate route that followed the shores of Lake Malawi rather than the plateau leading us to Lilongwe. It was a great trip. I was kick'in it on the beach for five days. The water in Nkata Bay was majestically clear, its one of the best freshwater scuba diving spots in the world. I did lots of swimming, some cliff jumping, sea kayaking and I even managed to catch a wave. Surfing without the salt is far superior. This new route may be anew addition for the 2007 tour. In fact several of the cyclists followed me as I cruised the lake. I rejoined the group to help facilitate the border crossing into Zambia and then tried to depart again for a canoe safari on the Luangwa River, but do to a minor emergency I was called back to duty, c'est la vie. Perhaps I'll get some time off when Henry arrives in Windhoek. There has been some incredible music that I've seen in several places over the last month. Of course when ever I hear drums in the distance I start to twitch and must go seek them out. I have a drum that is broken but still playable that I've been carrying since Egypt. So I always try to join in and learn something new. Several times its just been a bit of a jam session. But one of our last days in Tanzania there was the most incredible church choir serenading our bush camp through the darkness. I recruited several others and when we arrived at the scene we ended up dancing singing and drumming with the locals for a few hours. Their rythms, moves and vocal harmonies were magnificent. The strange part was that it was so dark I never saw a single persons face. When their rehersal was over they thanked us and walked us back to camp in the pitch black and still singing. In Malawi we had an amazing drum jam on the beach with a whole troop of locals around a bon fire. They had the most bizarre names like Easy Coconut, Cisco, Sweet Banana and Mel Gibson, but these boys could play. I don't know if my cracked dumbek will survive the rest of the tour but fortunately, the day we leave here we pass Felix “the maker” where I purchased one of my favorite drums “Mazabuka” two years ago. When we leave Lusaka tomorrow we will have three long days to get to Livingstone, the Adrenalin capital of Africa. This will also conclude the “Zambezi Zone” section of the tour, which only leave one left, “the Diamond Coast”, the home stretch. Although we have some long days in the last month the cyclists spirits will be high as we visit some incredible sites in Namibia and South Africa. Internets and ice cream become readily available as the conclusion of this epic journey draws near. But they may not realize until they hit the coast of the Atlantic that after we cross the finish line we will all set off in our own directions. As much as they may long for the finish now, when they reach they will realize that they wish it would never end. I hope all is well and we'll see ya'll sometime in June.