It has been a dry year here in Zomba District. I’ve heard that in some areas the price of maize is spiking to record levels and the harvest was very bad. Experts are forecasting that Lake Chilwa, source of one fifth of the country’s fish catch, will dry up this year. I don’t have the experience to say much about either of those facts, but I’ve observed one striking contrast to last year: the countryside is ablaze. On a nightly basis, you can spot walls of flame spreading in irregular circles on the sides of local hills . A few weeks ago a huge wildfire covered much of Chikowi Hill. Since then brush fires have been a regular feature of the night sky. Tonight, when I came home, I could see one burning its way across Chinamwali Hill. Light pollution from the neighbor’s house made getting a picture tough, but you can still make it out – the chain of three orange-red dots:
Here’s another one above Mulunguzi from about a month ago:
Are you safe? How do they put out the fires?
Oh yeah, I’m fine. And I have no idea how they put the fires out. We’ve speculated about roads and other firebreaks, be they intentional or not. I guess usually these fires burn themselves out, but it’s still not even the worst of the dry season, and it’s still pretty cold…