More of Malawi

This picture was taken on the road between Lilongwe and Zomba. From Dedza to Ncheu the road lies on the border between Malawi and Mozambique. Malawi is on the left, Mozambique on the right. So much for needing a passport.


These monkeys trampled across my roof in Zomba shortly after daybreak every morning. Natural alarm clocks...

The maize fields were bare by the time that we took soil samples, which made things easier.


The mountains around the fields were so pretty, I couldn't resist taking more pictures. This is also Zomba mountain, from the north-east. I think that the little boy wondered what I thought was so interesting.

I spent most of my time near Zomba, a beautiful old colonial-style city that used to be Malawi's capital, and still houses the fine arts and humanities college of the University of Malawi. Zomba city lies at the foot of Zomba mountain, which makes it cooler and wetter than lower-lying districts.This is over the border in eastern Zambia, and is very typical of the rural landscape. Maize fields everywhere you look, a soccer field beside every school, and bicycles everywhere.

Hello again! I've just had news that I will be moving to Malawi in a few weeks, and to celebrate, I am posting some pictures from my visit in 2006. This is the patchwork of fields of maize and tobacco seen from the landing pattern at Lilongwe airport.


Malawians eat a lot of maize, and grow most of it themselves in family fields along with groundnuts, tobacco, bananas and many other things (below, left). Unfortunately the increase in population is outstripping the increase in food supply.

My research task was to discover if planting gliricidia (the tall shrub on the right) improved the fertility of the soil.

I visited Caprock Canyons, a state park near Quitaque, TX last week. For those old enough to remember, the "Marlboro man" television commercials were shot here, against the red canyons. I hope to visit again in the springtime and get pictures with the brightest red colors.

As sunset came on, the pictures became more interesting...


Lake Theo, a small lake in this park, is seldom this still.

Sorry for the hiatus this week. Merry Christmas! These photos were taken by a friend who was traveling with me. The trip from Michigan to Texas went well, even though the weather didn't cooperate. The weather went from...










snow in Michigan...

to ice in Illinois...










to clouds in St. Louis...










to sun in Texas. Happy New Year to all!