Happy New Year!!

All the best for 2010 everyone! I hope it is a good year and brings you all everything you hope for. A special thought to people everywhere who are less fortunate, may your lives be enriched and full.

More Travels in Africa

A Little Argus Reed Frog, Mozambique

A view overlooking Monkey Bay, Cape McClear, Lake Malawi

Exploring the hills overlooking Monkey Bay, Lake Malawi

A beautiful, dainty Nyala doe, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A lovely Bush Buck doe (Bush Buck is the common name) same family as the Nyala, above. Mozambique

A male Warthog foraging for food

Crownd Cranes in the Urema flood plains, Gorongosa, Mozambique

A group of baby Water Buck, Gorongosa, Mozambique

Apart from the malaria, everything else; the climate, the people, the big open spaces; paridise! and we lived there, I grew up in that bush. I obviously have something on my mind, pleasant thoughts I imagine. Now I live in one of the most built up areas of the UK, all in the name of a secure future? Who am I kidding, give me the uncertainty any day

The sunsets never get boring

My eldest son (right) and his friend from Australia with a Baobab tree in the back ground

Snorkelling in the crystal clear waters of Lake Malawi

 

Fishing at a dam near Chimoio Mozambique

The view from the lodge we stayed in on Benguerra Island, Mozambique

Pansy Island, Mozambique. So called because of the Pansy shells found there. This Island is only above water at low tide.

An Organic Approach to Farming

Mulching to conserve water which also provides an ideal habitat for life in the soil such as earth worms

A work hardened hand holds some of the pests infesting the crops of a woman's cooperative market garden in Mozambique. We helped introduce Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to control pests in an environmentally friendly way

A little Jumping Spider, a fierce predator of aphids and other small pests.

A small scale farmer in Mozambique uses 'Conservation Farming' practices, using a multi-cropping rotation. In this case a row of maize and three of beans. The beans help fix Nitrogen into the soil and in the next season maize will be planted where the beans were and visa versa

School children at a school in the Vinho area of Nhamatanda, Mozambique are shown the benefits of compost and how natural fertilization occurs

Our Wild Neighbours

An African Fish Eagle, Lake Malawi

Beauty in the smallest things, an inch worm, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A Black Headed Heron, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A herd of Impala antelope, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A young Lioness, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A harmless, but feisty little Herald Snake, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

A young Elephant bull warns us to stay our distance, Shire River, Malawi

My son and I back burning a fire set by poachers, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Travels in Africa

Our home for two years in Gorongosa National Park Mozambique

We also lived here for two years. Vila Ulongue Mozambique

Vila Ulongue Market

Cape Mclear Lake Malawi, fishing village scene in the morning

Chembe Eagles Nest Lodge looks out onto Lake Malawi, Monkey Bay

Murombodzi Falls, Mt Gorongosa, Mozambique

Bicycles for sale, Vila Nhamatanda, Mozambique

Flood plains near Lake Urema, Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

2009: Another year gone!

Who would have believed it? Christmas 2009 already and it seems only a week or so ago that I was spending my first Christmas in the UK. Not all of the snow has melted yet from the past few days so it is going to be a whitish one! The sun is forecast for the day though, not to say it'll be warm!

My three sons and my oldest, Mathews' girl friend Natalie pose with the snowman they built in the middle of the night a few days ago.

This picture taken from our front door, the snow completely changes the face of the world. Nice on a post card






Click the images to enlarge

What Are We Losing?

People, the world over, work because they have to make a living. Some are fortunate enough to travel and see other parts of the world, go on safari and appreciate the thing that is the worlds biggest tourist attraction; Mother Nature. Indeed, she has many wondrous and magnificent things to show us, and whilst on holiday, those who can afford the luxury, these wonderful things are seen, explained by tour/nature guides and appreciated. But this appreciation is sometimes only for the moment, and only individual aspects are highlighted and the 'big picture', how everything within an ecosystem works is not understood. These fleeting visits to enjoy the beauty of nature does not leave an impact on the visitors, the plight of ever receding natural habitats does not register as a problem. In short, most people do not understand what we can lose, and so one of the biggest and most daunting tasks the people who do understand this problem have, is to make people realise what is really happening, then there is an outside chance that something can be done simply because more people do something positive to help.

Changes

We used to go to this place on the shores of Lake Malawi quite often. A lovely, relaxing retreat

This tent was our home for two years in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Our good friend Carlos, holding a baby croc caught in the camp swimming pool in Gorongosa when the park flooded

One of Africa's many gems, a lilac breasted roller.

A warthog gives us a cursory glance then continues foraging for food

From the heat of Gorongosa to such cold as I have never experienced!! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

That's Life

Young people, the world over are all in a similar position. We are born, we develop personalities, some of that personality we are born with and some of it is from the influence of other people we know or read about and the things we see. We are all different and we all perceive things in individual ways. We develop passions, love and hate and fear. All animals, on one level or another must have emotion, it is what determines each and every character. But for humans, life is much more complex than the lives of any other animal species, we are unique, our thought processes are more advanced. When we leave school, we leave the sanctuary of our parents home, this is one of the many things we have in common with many other animal species. We have been taught what we need to know so that we can choose a career and become a productive member of whatever community we live in. But there is an increasing number of people who, from their mid 30's suddenly discover what they really love to do and because they are passionate about whatever this new-found thing is, they know they would have excelled doing it as a career. Is this growing phenomenon a result of us having access to so much information, so much stimuli? I don't think it's a bad thing, I think it is a temporary condition that will disappear as more young people, globally, are given access to the information that my generation didn't have such easy access to.

An interesting topic, perhaps? Or is it just pie in the sky?

Finding a Happy Medium

I am passionate about many things; the Southern African bush, wildlife, plants, photography, all the intricacies of organic farming etc etc, the list goes on. But whilst I am passionate about some things, I am careful not to become the over bearing know-it-all fanatic. Whilst watching a program on the telly tonight, a couple wanted to build a home whilst being considerate of the environment. They wanted to take a responsible approach. Fantastic! But the problem arose when their architect who obviously has a passion for 'eco-building' started using methods that had not been properly tried and tested and despite the 'limecrete' foundation not setting properly, she still couldn't understand why her clients were questioning the use of materials that have yet to be properly tested. Let's remember; they wanted a responsibly built, afordable eco-home and yet their architect, so totally focused on experimenting with materials, at her clients expense, was completely blind and deaf to the realities right in front of her!

We all need to think more like the couple in this story, and bear in mind that it is just such a practical yet responsible mindset that will move humankind toward an existence of harmony with their natural surroundings. It is the misguided fanatics who will get us deeper in trouble because they just do things without rational thought.

What he heck!!

What the heck am I becoming, every day I wake up at the same time (ish), I get in my car and drive the same route to work, get fully engrossed in my job (even though it is not one I like), get in the car and drive back home, have supper, watch tv, bath, read then go to bed. The kids even jokingly ask me, every day, "How was work Dad" and my reply is always the same; "The same as always". The big worry is that my imagination seems to have gone numb and I am blogging less and less, It's dark when I leave home, it's dark when I return, it's raining, it's cold, I work a half day Saturday so only have a few hours of day light on Saturday and maybe 8 on Sunday, but chances are it'll be raining and it is always cold, so the time left for me to see some of the out doors is minimal. I am not living my life right now, I am existing. Bummer, roll on summer!!