WEDDINGS, ROUNDABOUTS & THE GARDEN CITY

The roundabout in area 18 is favoured by newlyweds.

The average roundabout in any city in Europe or in America looks boring and practical, it is simply a way to ease the flow of traffic. Very rarely any thought is put into the structure itself, to make it a feature or a landmark. Not so in the City of Lilongwe.

In Lilongwe roundabouts are part of the landscape and some of them have a very practical purpose - they serve as a backdrop for wedding photos. Almost every Saturday it is possible to see wedding parties getting ready to take photos of the happy couple and relatives. The most popular roundabout is in area 18, in front of the Petroda building, which houses (amongst other offices) the European Union. Less used, but an equally good spot is the Capital hotel roundabout.

To get into the middle of the roundabout on a busy Saturday morning takes some courage - traffic is normally quite heavy and dashing across the road in your white wedding gown and high heals, followed by flowergirls and boys plus groom, relatives and the photographer requires some planning. The advantage is that the roundabout can be used for free for wedding photos, a massive saving not to be ignored. Passersby often congratulate the couple by honking their car horns and waving to the assembled wedding party, always a very festive sight. Since any passing lorries can be airbrushed from photos these days, who would ever know that the pic was taken on a roundabout?

The newly constructed Parliament and its immediate environment will transform the whole city centre when the landscaping is finalised.

When building of Lilongwe city started in 1969, landscaping was very much on the agenda. Lilongwe was to be a "Garden City". In the original master plan for Lilongwe, there was supposed to be parks and a lake with recreation grounds in the city centre. Compared to Blantyre, Lilongwe is still very green with roads lined with quick growing trees, but beautiful landscaped public parks have never really taken off as a permanent feature. The only place which ever came close to being a public park, was a small area opposite the Capital hotel where the Taiwanese built a pagoda and which, in theory, would have been a nice place for a stroll but in practise was not always a safe haven and thus best to be avoided.

In 1969 the population of Lilongwe was approximately 20 000 people, now it is over 950 000. The city is growing and fast: roads have been widened, we even have traffic lights now! We should also not to forget about the massive new conference center and a 5 star hotel which are currently being built in the city centre by the Chinese. There is supposed to be a large garden in connection with this development (the old pagoda is still there) and it will be interesting to see, if it becomes a reality. A place, where everyone can enjoy some peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings.

PASSION FOR ORCHIDS

The scent of this orchid is amazing, pure chocolate! The flowers will last only for a very short time, a week perhaps.

Did you know that vanilla is actually an orchid? I didn't - until last weekend, when I visited our friends Dermot and Heather who are both keen gardeners. Heather is fond of aloes and cactuses, whereas Dermot's speciality are orchids.

- You just have to come and see this particular orchid, it is excuisite! they said.

So we went to have a look at it and what a beauty it was. Cream white in colour with a pattern on the petals, fully opened, it looked very delicate indeed. But the real surprise was yet to come: it had a very strong scent of chocholate. It is difficult to imagine that an orchide could produce such a scent, but there it was, like an expensive perfume.

Dermot has been a passionate collector of orchids for years now. He is the most unlikely candidate to be one, working in a very male dominated environment and being totally at home surrounded by heavy machinery, engines, boats - you name it. The first time I heard about Dermot and the orchids, I was truly suprised. But since then I have learned that he is not the only man who is interested in orchids in Lilongwe - there are others who are equally enchanted by them.

Each bulb in this orchid represent one year's growth.

Like any true collector, Dermot wants to have everything. Every variety intrests him. Every shape, colour and size of the flower is important. And this is the suprising thing about orchids: the varieties, colour combinations and details are endless. The flowers might be tiny or very large or something in between. They could last some days to several weeks. The flowers might appear as in a traditional pot plant or they could break through any medium and flower underneath the pot or log of wood. Orchids growing in the wild are a different story altogether compared to their commercially produced sisters. There are approximately 20 000 species of orchids in the world and they can be found almost everywhere, with one exception, the Antarctica.

Malawi is famous for orchids. They are especially abundant this time of year, during the rainy season, in January/February. The north is the best place to see them, but Zomba Plateau in the south is also a prime orchid area. No doubt there are hidden corners of Malawi where nobody would expect to see orchids, yet there they are.

Dermot sees them everywhere and anytime. In his travels around the country he has spotted them on the roadside, on trees, on the ground.. He has a special orchid house at home where the plants are hanging in baskets or on logs of wood.
Sadly, orchids are under threat in Malawi - deforestation is destroying the natural habitat of these beautiful plants. By collecting orchids and talking about them, Dermot hopes that more people would become aware of the need to protect them and that orchids would survive another hundred years in this country.

The roots complement the main flowers.

PS. The best book I have read about orchids is Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen (published in 2000 by Methuen Publishing Ltd.) Well worth getting a copy - reads like a mystery novel!

WHERE LEOPARDS MOVE IN THE NIGHT

Southern Africa is so strongly associated with images of the Big Five and stories from the deepest bush, that it is suprising to encounter something totally different and beautiful when you least expect it. Nyika National Park in north of Malawi is one of these amazing places, where you look at the scenery - the valleys, mountains and forests - and it does not necessarily say "Africa" at all, until you see the silhouette of a Roan antelope in the distance.

I travelled to Nyika Plateu in October 2010. It is quite a long journey, as the distance from Lilongwe is at least 10 -12 hours driving, if done in one day (in Malawi distances are measured in hours travelled, not in kilometers, since the journey depends on the condition of the road). But I took the slow route and stayed one night at Chintheche Inn first (only 4 1/2 hours from Lilongwe along the Northern Lakeshore road). The journey continued early the next morning for the six hour stretch to Nyika and the final destination, Chelinda.

The North is not as densly populated as the South. After Rumphi, the last 120 km long dirt road was practically empty. It is not bad during the dry season, but it can offer an interesting challenge to any 4 x 4 driver during the rains, when mud is the main feature.

It is possible to fly up to Nyika, but I am glad I didn't: to see how dramatically the scenery changed from bush to forest and the -finally - to see the huge open valley from the road, was well worth the effort.

Nyika has a huge variety of plants and trees. January-February is said to be the best time for orchid spotting.

On arrival to Chelinda, we passed a pine tree forest. Very tall trees, 20 metres long at least, and pinecones everywhere. The temperature was several degrees cooler than Lilongwe, a welcome relief from the constanst dry season heat of +35 Celcius every day in the capital. Up in Nyika, the air also felt thinner - after all, Nyika Plateau is 2500 m above the sea level. At first I could not walk even a short distance without being short of breath, but this passed quite quickly.

I had a peculiar feeling when looking around the vast, massive, open space: whatever was important when leaving the Big City, was not important anymore. I also noticed something else. It was very quiet. So much so, that it was almost like being part of a sensory deprivation exercise. No sound at all, apart from very strong wind during the night and early next morning.

Gin and tonic tastes the best out in the open, just before the sunset...

Roan antelopes look rather majestic patrolling the valley.

On an evening game drive with Malawian guides Sam and Mike, we drove at a leisurely pace, stopping here and there - saw large herds of roan and eland antelopes and zebras before it was time for the sundowners. No elephants this time. However, there was something we all wanted to see, if possible: a leopard. Sam mentioned that he had seen one leopard with cubs near the airstrip. After sunset, we headed to that direction. We were quite close to the airstrip when we saw it - a beautiful leopard, totally relaxed (yawning actually!), hugging a tree stump. We watched it several minutes and it could not have cared less if we were there or not. We drove a bit further and another nocturnal animal was spotted trying to hide in the grass - a cerval cat.

Not the best of shots, but nevertheless, a leopard!

Back to Chelinda Lodge. I woke up around 4 am. The fire had gone out of the fireplace, it was dark, very quiet and - frankly - a bit spooky. I had a look out of the window of my room to the khonde and there was a very big owl sitting comfortably on the rail. It was too dark to see which owl it was, but I have never seen one so close.
It is difficult to explain, why Nyika should not be just another memory of yet another interesting place to visit in Malawi. But it is unique and different. So unlike any other place I have visited here. It is calling me to come back...

THE GINGER SHOW

Not for the spicy stew: this is the ornamental ginger. Very pretty to look at . It has been flowering in my garden for at least 3 weeks now.

This is the edible ginger - not sure about the scientific name of it -

but it produces groups of cone like flowers.

I was casually walking past the herb section of the garden, near the kitchen, when something stopped me and I had to take a closer look. The ornamental ginger had produced a beautiful, showy, pink flower, white in the middle. Underneath the main pink, were tiny yellow flowers. It's still going strong after several weeks. Interestingly, there is only one big flower hiding in the middle of big leaves. It is growing next to the edible ginger and a rosemary bush. I don't think that the ornamental ginger has flowered before, so this was a real serendipity.

I love the combination of ginger and garlic in food. Even though the edible ginger grows in the garden, and seems to multiply very easily, I have only tried to use it once or twice in cooking. It does not taste very nice raw, so I mostly buy the big, brown fresh ginger root from shops.

WHAT'S THAT NOISE?

This very enterprising guinea fowl flew over from the neighbourg's side of the fence. This bird made a terrible noise and it was very lucky not to be caught by the dogs. We managed to rescue it and return it to the other side of the fence.

One day I heard a sudden BANG! on the glass window of the main door and went out to investigate what might have caused such a noise. To my utter amazement, a beautiful woodland kingfisher had flown into the glass, getting quite a knock on the head. It was standing only half a meter from me, stunned, unable to fly away. This was the perfect opportunity to observe its red and black bill, turquoise-black wings and white underbelly. I was too concerned to leave the bird unobserved, since our cats would have easily had it for a tasty afternoon snack, so I could not reach for the camera (that was a real shame!). It took at least 10 minutes before the bird recovered and flew away. Since then at least one woodland kingfisher has become a frequent visitor in our the garden - quite recently it was competing for insects with a Hamercop: both birds were targeting the same insects in the pool, just after it had rained heavily.

Walking around the garden with binoculars is one of the most relaxing things to do. I am not very knowledgeable about birds, but would love to know more. The best time to look out for birds is very early in the morning, around sunrise, and late in the afternoon, just before sunset. The other good time is after a heavy rain or even during the rain (if it is just a light shower).

This year I have seen 2 Meyer's parrots - new to our garden. Other usual visitors include Heuglin's robins, glossy starlings, hoopoes, drongos, red bishops, blackeyed bulbuls, sunbirds and mousebirds. There are also a number of different types of owls in the area. Once I saw one sitting on top of the flagpole, looking down very majestically. In Malawi owls are not universally loved, they are thought to bring bad luck to the occupants of the house.

There are many more bird species in the garden than mentioned above and it is somewhat frustrating trying to find out what they are - but I am making progress. The birdbook and binoculars are now always close by: I am living in hope that one day I will be able to name them all...

RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN, PLEASE!

Sometimes a thundering sound proceeds the rain - you can hear it long before the first drops hit the ground. It sounds like a fast approaching underground train.

Roses love the rainy season, this was taken in April 2009.

Over the years the garden has formed its own character. In places, it is quite formal. But there are also wild patches where a jungle forms very quickly, if it is not constantly weeded.

This is noticeable especially now, during the rainy season. As soon as the sky opens, everything becomes alive. Suddenly, tired and dry looking grass bursts with the deepest green colour, dead looking trees, shrubs and bushes decide to live again.

It used to be pretty much a rule here in Lilongwe, that the rains would start in mid-November. We would then have a heavy downpour almost every afternoon until end of February and then gradually, less and less until the rain would stop altogether at the end of April/beginning of May. But this pattern has changed in the last five years or so. We can now expect to have the first real rain in early December.

The rain, or lack of it, causes a great deal of anxiety in Malawi: there is either too much/too little/it's only in certain areas or it has stopped and there is a threat of a drought or crops being destroyed. On the other hand, riverbanks burst and houses collapse because of heavy rains. The rains are also very localised: it can rain buckets quite close to the house, and not a drop where you are standing. Usually one rainy season is enough to get a domestic garden going. Two seasons and it will be well established. This was certainly true with our garden.

You might think that this would be the ideal time to plant flowers and vegetables, since there is plenty of water (if you are lucky) and the soil would be nice and soft. But no - according to experts, all planting should be done before the rains start. If you start digging now, you might destroy the soil structure.

I have also never been very succesfull with vegetables in January-February. Usually, there is just some lettuce, perhaps the odd eggplant and green pepper growing. Fresh herbs are another story - plenty of those (right now lemongrass, mint, parsley, rosemary).

In a couple of weeks time it will be time to start preparing the vegetable garden. This year, I am also planning to establish a container garden and I have a perfect spot in mind: just behind the kitchen...

IN THE BEGINNING

This is from September 2003: bricks, mud, sand, cement...the garden but a distant dream

I have not always been a keen gardener. As a matter of fact, I was postively uninterested for years. However, when we moved to Malawi as a newly married couple, the house we moved into had a relatively large garden. As is customary here, we employed a Malawian gardener and I was perfectly happy to let him dig the beds and plant the seeds I managed to get from shops. As far as I was concerned, he was the expert and I had nothing much to contribute. I did wonder, at times, why did we need so much Chinese cabbage or why only some of the veggies ever ended up in our kitchen, but this was not a big issue for me.

The turning point came, when we moved into our own house. Suddenly, this was a different matter altogether, since the garden had to be created from scratch. Luckily, a friend, who is a seasoned gardener herself, agreed to design one for us. The plot was basically a mudfield and I had difficulties in trying to imagine, what it will look like with various trees and flowers. My friend, who came to discuss the plans, might as well have spoken a foreign language I did not understand - I was just happy that she had a vision. For example, there is no such thing as creating the grass simply by rolling a ready made pieces of grass on the ground, bought from the nearest garden centre. No way. In Malawi, grass is planted with runners - each and every runner has to be planted separately. This is - of course - a very time consuming and labour intensive process. In our case it took at least a month, if not longer, to have the grass planted.
Two rainy seasons late - and voila! Here was the garden.

Then one day I was walking in the garden and it actually started bothering me that I knew nothing about the flowers and trees growing there. I started to consult gardening books and websites, I talked to friends and visited the garden centre nearby to learn more.
And then it happened: I got the bug.
Since that day, a new totally new world has opened up for me. A curiously secret world, where I meet a different tribe: people, who are passionate about gardening, both expats and Malawians.
I feel that there is a story to be told - after all, gardening in Africa is very different compared to Europe or America. Also, beautiful and enjoyable things are meant to be shared - so, let the adventure begin!