10/13/09: Malawi
Kenya: Very desert-y with patches of greenery
Uganda: A rainforest
Tanzania: A dust bowl
Malawi: Vermont?
These were my first impressions of the landscapes of each of the countries we’ve visited thus far. Before coming to Africa, I naively thought two things: hot and dry. However, the vast differences from country to country exemplify how much this continent has to offer.
Now we are in Malawi, where two qualities have really stood out to me during our hours spent on the truck. The first is Lake Malawi – easily the biggest lake I’ve ever seen (although internet would have to be cheaper for me to want to spend the time to verify this). We’ve spent about seven hours driving down its west coast, and probably have another six to go. What’s most impressive though is how it looks and feels like an ocean – the water blends in with the sky miles away in the horizon. It’s only when you get in it and taste the fresh water that you realize it’s just a huge lake.
The second prominent landscape feature has been the trees with fall colors. A lot of the road we’ve driven on thus far has been surrounded by reds and oranges and yellows of the fall leaves, even though it is spring here. If anyone has an explanation for why the trees shed their leaves in the spring here, I’d be interested to hear it.
So although I’ve never been to Vermont, this is somewhat how I picture it: with the Atlantic Ocean to one side and the fall leaves on the hillsides to the other. The only difference is that Malawi is really cool, while I still have no intention of visiting Vermont.
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Picture of the Day: A little taste of home… me not being able to dunk no matter how many times I try (although I got really close).
Since I’m accustomed to homework on the weekends these days, I completed the research for you on Lake Malawi for free. The lake is the third largest in Africa and eighth largest in the world. It is also the second deepest lake in Africa. while not the biggest, it’s claim to fame is that it contains more fish species than any other lake on earth because of its temperate water.
I’ll bet you will enjoy Vermont some day!
Love,
Mom
Nice pictures, I like these travel pix wayyy too much. Jealous. =). Keep having an awesome timeeee
for any fish aficionado (clever use of words, eh?), the coolest thing about lake malawi is that it’s one of the two major lakes home to african cichlids (a popular – and very vibrant – aquarium fish). i hope you saw some of these swimming about in the rocks – it would be a site to see (like freshwater reef snorkeling!). i’m also a little jealous that you’ve played more basketball in africa than i’ve got to play this year in america!
those pictures look like that kevin just pretended to dunk it and then you edited the picture, because his dunk is not in the right form AT ALL. no human being can dunk with that kind of body posture
Haha, I looked up lakes too! There seems to be a bit of debate on how to define “largest” but the list I found is by area and shows Lake Malawi as #10 – 3 of the Great Lakes are actually #2 (Superior), #5 (Huron), #6 (Michigan). Bottom line, you should add a stop in Wisconsin to your RTW trip. And I will show you Lakes Superior and Michigan! That said, the Great Lakes I mentioned have depths in feet of 1330, 750 and 923, respectively, in contrast to Lake Malawi’s whopping depth of 2280 feet!!!
I loved the contrast pics of Africa and the “day in the life of ZZ” (why wouldn’t Kevin let you keep a puppy?!) – keep the fun coming!!!
When you get to Vermont…you’ll find plenty of trees and leaves – but you’ll have a hard time finding the Atlantic Ocean!! Love your blog…have a great time!