Month: September 2012

Garden When you are white and live here you are expected to hire a gardener.  We hired the brother of the gardener across the road.  We like him very much and no surprise we like his brother too.  So if you have a gardener who cuts the grass and waters the flowers and plants the…
Read more

Architecture Appropriate architecture uses local material where possible and meets the needs of the local people.  Nice appropriate housing here is made of a red brick that is locally made.  The ceilings are high for the heat and the places are usually one room wide for ventilation. The windows are metal. Courtyards are common.  People…
Read more

We have a Malawian singing dog named Mishak.  He is an outdoor dog.  He barks when folks come to the gate and wakes up the guards did I say wakes up?  I should say alerts the guard.  He sometime sings and the neighbor dogs sing too and they sound like coyotes in an old spaghetti…
Read more

I had a house in Africa, with 3 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths a car port for a car we do not have.  Most people in Malawi do not have cars or a cooker (stove) or concrete floors.  This house is a mansion by Malawian standards.  We spent the day moving in, hanging curtains and mosquito…
Read more

Jacarandas are large trees that are all abloom with purple flowers that line Kamuzu Boulevard near our new house.  They were falling off the trees on Mount Pleasant street, where we had been living, leaving a carpet of purple petals. Last week we went to the Jacaranda orphanage on the outskirts of town.  You may…
Read more

Leaping Lizards In the tropics there are lizards everywhere.  You will find them indoors and outside.  They tend to blend in to the background colors outside and you can see them when they move.  Mostly they are a tan color here this time of year.  We saw a big one with a blue head climbing…
Read more

  In Malawi football is soccer and it is big!  The guys here follow the local Malawi teams, the teams of Africa and the British Premier League.  Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool seem to have the largest following.  There is a big game this afternoon and another tomorrow.  The guys like to get together and watch. …
Read more

  The main food stable of Malawi is a corn flour that is cooked by boiling and resembles grits or polenta.  It is plain and served with something else to add flavor and nutrition.  It is a source of carbohydrates but does not provide all the needed amino acids or protein.  It tastes a little…
Read more

We spent an evening at a lovely villa on the Shire River.  It is a guaranteed place for viewing hippo.  We sat at picnic table drinking a coca cola and watched the hippo in the river.  They open their mouths and look quite menacing.  They are far away at the other side of the river…
Read more

The town next to Liwonde National Park is called Balaka. It must be the bicycle capital of Malawi.  There were bicycles everywhere.  When you get off the bus, guys offer to ride you on the back of their bike to wherever you want to go.   You know the way your parents told you not to…
Read more