Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the long absence. I've been in the US for a very good holiday.

Here is a waterspout (I think) that I photographed near Lilongwe recently.

I returned to Malawi through Paris this time, and given the
confusion in the Netherlands, I'm glad that I did. Charles de Gaulle
Terminal F is neat, with it's transparent roof.

Happy New Year!

Liwonde (2)

The waterbucks are not too wild.

What people mostly go to see are the hippos. One place I stayed
had a hippo come out of the river and graze on the
lawn after dark. During the day they mostly stay in the river.

Sometimes they are interested in the tour boats,

and sometimes they aren't.

Liwonde National Park

I know that some of you think that I must never work. Actually,
I just take fewer pictures of work, because I'm...well...working.

This is the Shire River south of Lake Malawi, where there
is a dam to regulate the flow of water. It is wide and slow
and home to birds and hippopotomi, and crocodiles, though
I didn't see any of the crocs.

The surrounding country is low and dry and hot, and home
to many baobab trees. They are the ones with the thick
trunk at the right and the left.

Lots of marsh birds, too.

Road Trip to Makanjira (2)

We even weighed the twigs and leaves.

Here are some Faidherbia trees left in farmers fields
so that their leaves become fertilizer for the crops.

Makanjira could become quite the tourist haven if
they paved the last hour of the road. It can be very pretty.

We hope that this contributes to measuring of trees
for carbon in farmer's fields, so that they can be paid for
raising these trees.

Road Trip to Makanjira

I was part of a team of researchers that took a trip to
Makanjira, Malawi in October to measure the amount of
carbon in Faidherbia albida trees. The trees above, at our
research site, are Faidherbia and are bigger than the rest
because they were on the edge of the plot.

We measured the diameter of the trunk,

And the height,


then felled 45 of them for close measurement.
We cleaned off the small branches and measured
the circumference and length of the trunk and
all of the major branches.

More next week...

Wildebeasts and Lions!

The guide said that wildebeasts could travel 70 miles in a day.

These were watching a male lion. Now I know why they call
him 'King of beasts'. This one walked like he
owned the whole county.

The female lions were relaxing closer to the gate.

The guide said that we were lucky, that usually the lions
stayed out of sight.

Antelopes!

I think that the ones with racing stripes are impala and
that the large ones are hartebeast, but I'm not certain.

This is the mother and baby,

And this, I think, is the father...