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A river flowed down from Mount Zomba and through a beautiful park on the edge of the city of Zomba. The tumbling water stirred up a mist which gave the impression we were in a rain forest even though the rest of the area was very dry.
The park also had several groves of bamboo and this stand was the highest and prettiest grove that we
found. Most of the bamboo in the groves were either a dull brown or yellowish green. This grove was almost
bright orange. Notice how much drier it is in this part of the park even though the river is still flowing nearby.
During the dry season the area between Mount Zomba and Lake Malawi gets very dry. This is the region where a very strange group of trees grow. They are called boabab trees and this was the largest boabab tree that we found in the area.
Not only are boabab trees the tallest plants in the area, they are also the widest. We tried to reach around the trunk of this large tree but as you can see, we couldn't reach around it. When the boabab trees go into hibernation the branches look like roots and the whole tree looks like it is growing up side down.
There were a lot of strange looking reptiles that lived in this region. The boys decided that they
needed a pet and adoped this horned chameleon. We all had a lot of fun catching insects to feed it and it
was interesting to watch a sticky tongue pop out.
When we finally reached the shore of Lake Malawi we found that the government had built a new motel on the lake for tourists. The buildings were interesting duplexes with traditional grass roofs. We did not need to worry about leakage because underneath was a layer of waterproof plastic.
The boys had a lot of fun playing in and around the lake. Although there are hippoes and crocodiles
and even a blood disease called bilharsia in Lake Malawi, this area of the lake was quite safe to use.
The most fun we had on the lake was paddling the dugout canoe that the motel had available for the guests to use. Imagine yourself in the middle of Africa paddling around in a traditional dugout canoe. Well we never imagined that we would be doing it ourselves.
Lake Malawi wasn't just for recreation. There was a lot of commercial usage made of the lake. The
ship, Ilana, was used for transporting people and freight up and down the shoreline. This ship was
brought in disassembled by railroad and re-assembled on the lake.
Not every port of call for the Ilana had a harbor. This area required the ship to stay off-shore and send the people and freight to the shore by smaller lifeboats. Even then everyone had to wade the last few yards on foot. Note the large rock formation in the background.
I had read that there was a large rock formation on the shore called "Turtle Rock" but I couldn't find anything that looked like a turtle. What a surprise I had when I walked a little ways away and saw the rock I was always near from a different perspective.
Another very important commercial use for Lake Malawi was fishing for food. The traditional dugout canoes along with fishing nets supply the people in the area with nourishment. These fisherman are selling their day's catch to others.
The sunrises and sunsets on Lake Malawi were fantastic. I thought that this picture on the lake with the palm tree outlining the beautiful colors in the sky was the perfect picture for using as a close. I hope that someday soon you also will have the privilege to visit this beautiful country of Malawi.
Did you see the animated applet pictures of Lake Malawi with the African music? If you didn't, go back again and click on the sunrise lake picture.
Other Malawian music is Aiwe, Alipo Malo, Aqa Nena, Dzika koma, Dziko Sabatalo, Kumwambako, Kwalendo, Maso wa Yesu, Ntawitu Sonsezo, Odena, Ona Ena, Poloka, Sabata Bwino, Tima wa Puma and Yesu Ambuye.
If you really enjoyed the animated lake applets, go to our Scripture Cards Page. We have a beautiful collection of applet pictures of mountains and lakes and the link to the Lake Applet Ring.
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