Towards the end of November the rains start to arrive. There is a flurry of activity over the country as people prepare the fields for sowing. Many have already started.
Nature has amazing ways of announcing the last few weeks before the rains. Of course it is hot, but there are plenty more larger spiders, small scorpions (found one in the kitchen sink yesterday morning), snakes (nearly walked on one in the garden three nights ago), and ants. The flame or flamboyant trees are now in full bloom across the landscape. All this means the rains are close. And they can’t come too soon as it would be great to escape this heat! Well, to be honest, the rains can come too soon, and many villagers have to take chances on exactly when to sow the maize seedlings. If they sow even just a few weeks too soon, and the rains stop for a couple of weeks; they can lose everything.
Linthipe Valley dawn
It’s an incredibly important time of year. With government subsidies of fertiliser, good rains and lots of hard work the harvests have been good in the this area over the past years. We hope and pray it will be the same this year.
Jenn and I are off now for a Saturday drive south to the Dedza hills, to try find the hidden Chongoni Rock Art Area. Hope we can find these two thousand year old rock paintings in the caves and hills, and see why there were recently inscribed the area as Malawi’s second UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Summer rains are coming
Towards the end of November the rains start to arrive. There is a flurry of activity over the country as people prepare the fields for sowing. Many have already started.
Nature has amazing ways of announcing the last few weeks before the rains. Of course it is hot, but there are plenty more larger spiders, small scorpions (found one in the kitchen sink yesterday morning), snakes (nearly walked on one in the garden three nights ago), and ants. The flame or flamboyant trees are now in full bloom across the landscape. All this means the rains are close. And they can’t come too soon as it would be great to escape this heat! Well, to be honest, the rains can come too soon, and many villagers have to take chances on exactly when to sow the maize seedlings. If they sow even just a few weeks too soon, and the rains stop for a couple of weeks; they can lose everything.
Linthipe Valley dawn
It’s an incredibly important time of year. With government subsidies of fertiliser, good rains and lots of hard work the harvests have been good in the this area over the past years. We hope and pray it will be the same this year.
Jenn and I are off now for a Saturday drive south to the Dedza hills, to try find the hidden Chongoni Rock Art Area. Hope we can find these two thousand year old rock paintings in the caves and hills, and see why there were recently inscribed the area as Malawi’s second UNESCO World Heritage Site.