Karonga

We found the most mature Faidherbia/maize
parkland in Karonga district.

Here you can see all ages of trees.

Some of the trees we saw were so old they were
broken down and hollow.

They were a lot of work to measure, but the
temperatures were lower than in Mwanza.

We did some work with axes on the trunks of the larger
trees, but I really didn't spend much time at that. I was
waiting to get back another piece of equipment.

Mixed bag

The pictures are a mixed bag this week.

See the license plate? The white plates mean
that I have diplomatic privileges (ha! ha!). The police
can give me a fine if I do something wrong,
but mostly, they don't bother to check us.
Minibuses get stopped and checked constantly.
Less nuisance with these plates.

I am airing blankets because I have some visitors
arriving Tuesday.

My neighbors all have satellite TV. I have something
better, I have satellite internet!



It must be spring, the mango in our yard is blooming!

Bwanje Valley 3

Measuring every inch of these trees is quite
a job. It takes a day to do one.

The thorns on these trees were larger than those before.

Packing the samples to take back to be dried.

Bwanje Valley 2

Well, Bwanje Valley is beautiful,

and it was not as hot there as in Mwanza.

Some of the trees were still blooming,

and all were making pods. This tree used to be called
"apple-ring acacia" because the pods looked
like an apple peel.

Bwanje Valley

Next we moved to the Bwanje valley. Actually, we slept in
Balaka. Our hotel had a small bar in the yard, with covered
seating area around the trunk of a tree.

Look closely at the building to the right and
you can see the tree branches
growing out of the roof!


Some of the trees there were
really upright,

And some were big, beautiful globes.

Look under this one, and you can see people
standing...it was really big.

Mwanza and Chitedze

Some of the trees we cut in Mwanza were tall,
even lying on the ground!

At Chitedze Research Station, it is the season for burning.
No, the station does not burn its grass fallow intentionally,
but small boys hunting mice set fires.
Yes, hunting mice...to boil and dry, and sell
on the side of the road as snacks!
The birds were hunting insects driven by the fire.

The cool weather has encouraged the roses
to set another round of blooms.

More in Mwanza

The Faidherbia trees are full of thorns,
and we ripped up half a dozen pairs of welding
gloves working on them.

We took soil samples, too. This tree is supposed
to be a really good builder of soil fertility.

One teacher brought his whole
class over to see what we were doing.