Tropical trees

I had always heard that papaya trees came in male and female. In
the courtyard of my apartments there are two trees loaded
with fruit (above), and another (below) with no fruit
at all, but loaded with flowers.

I thought that this small mango tree was young until I
walked over and looked. It has an enormous,
gnarled old trunk, with a few young branches that
have popped up

Happy Easter! Pictures from Mangochi

Happy Easter to all! These pictures were taken
a couple of weeks ago in Mangochi, at the
southern tip of Lake Malawi.

Lake Malawi is the southernmost of the Rift Valley lakes and is
famous for its large variety of chichlids.


The hotel keeps a few in a pond. Look to the bottom
left of the picture above for a blue and black striped one.


I attended a two-day workshop that ICRAF hosted
to work through some of the practical
issues of collaboration and coordination between
government ministries, NGOs, and CG centers in
promoting agroforestry to enhance Malawi's food security.

For an underwater picture of fish in Lake Malawi :

http://www.vagabonding.com/gallery_app/view_photo.php?set_
albumName=malawi&id=DSC01998_lake_malawi_fish

Chitedze Agricultural Research Station

The research station has been operating quite some time
from what I understand. The size of these trees
seems to bear that out.

The tower at the main complex is to the right

of the trees, and you can see a man walking along
the road for a comparison.


The gardener who takes care of our area does
a nice job with the roses.

Still rainy season

It is raining every two or three days still. The maize should
do well this year. The maize (corn) is similar to what
we grow in the US, except that it is white corn and
goes to feed people.

The crows, however, are different. They have a ring of white
feathers around their neck and down their chest. They act the
same as US crows do, except that they love to bathe
in the hotel fountain.

I took my camera to work a couple of days ago. These are taken
about seven in the morning. The roads are full of people
going to work, kids going to school, etc. Most
people walk most places, the lucky few get to ride.

The guys at left are driving cattle to graze and
the guys at right have a bike-load of kindling
wood. Most people still cook with wood and
buy it a few sticks at a time.

It is cheaper than electrical hookups, plus Malawi
has a power station down for repairs, and is
not producing enough for demand, now.
Most of us have an hour a day without
electricity. It also plays havoc with computer
and cell phone connections.

New Malawi Pictures

I am in a hotel for a few days while househunting. It is very nice,
and the grounds are beautiful. We are in the rainy season,
and everything is lush and green.

ICRAF is located on Chitedze research station, just outside Lilongwe.
The grounds are also pretty, and we are surrounded by research
plots and mango trees.

Snow on Spring

Did I say that it could still snow?

Yes, spring can turn to winter in a day (and for a day)!

Snow on the forsythia.

I will travel to Malawi on Sunday, so postings will be scarce
for a few weeks(then there will be postings from Malawi).