Malaria cases on rise in Nairobi

Malaria cases on rise in Nairobi

When I lived in East Africa, malaria was virtually unheard of in Nairobi.  I lived in Arusha, Tanzania and we had no malaria there either due to the altitude.  Only during trips to lower areas did we even think about Malaria and the need for prophylactics.

In Zimbabwe, we didn't see malaria in the highveld.  We didn't worry about taking prophylactics in Harare or Gweru and only took precautions when traveling to lower altitudes.  Just before we left Zimbabwe, there were a few cases being reported in Harare among people who had not traveled to lower regions.  Also, the regular weekly dosage of the common anti-malaria drugs were being changed to every 5-6 days as people seemed to be contracting the disease around day 6 or 7 of the course.

In Moçambique, we always worried about malaria since it was at a lower altitude and always hot where we lived, in Nampula and Pemba.

This seems to be a clear indication that global warming is occurring and that it is a life threatening event.

Mozambique: Life in pictures

Brings back memories, though I don't miss travelling the roads. The one in the picture below is actually one of the better ones.

Mozambique: Life in pictures

Moçambique Trash City

Moçambique Trash City

For some, recycling is not a choice for saving the environment. It is a choice for survival itself.

Mozambique country profile

Thanks to the BBC for this:

Mozambique country profile

Rising sea levels: A tale of two cities

This is a serious issue. Even today many low-lying bairos (communities) in towns along the Moçambique coast are flooded when there is a very high tide. The many coastal islands are also in danger. For these people, this is not esoteric speculation, but life and death reality.

READ:

Rising sea levels: A tale of two cities

Pemba Bay

Pemba Bay is listed as the third largest natural bay in the world. It is located in northern Moçambique.

Looking down toward the bay from atop the peninsula.

A boat among the mangroves.

The town of Pemba is in the background.

A Chiure Homestead

This is the homestead of my friend, Pastor Rodrigues, in Chiure, Moçambique. The first picture shows his home and the following two show his children. It's been about 5 or 6 years since the pictures were taken, so I'm sure the children are much bigger now. That's the nature of children. They tend to grow up.

Caídas de Lúrio

In northern Moçambique in the Chiure District there is a picturesque waterfall on the Lúrio River known as the Caídas de Lúrio. It is practically inaccessible during the rainy season. I visited in the dry season when the water flow was low. Even with low water, it is a beautiful waterfall. I can only imagine what it is like when the water is high.

Enjoy these impressions of the Caídas de Lúrio.

Pemba Fishing Boat

A typical fishing boat on Pemba Bay. The town of Pemba, Moçambique is on the peninsula in the upper right of the picture.

(You need to click on the picture and view it full size to appreciate it.)

Pets - Birds

One of the things I miss from Zimbabwe and Moçambique are my birds. In Zimbabwe many people bred birds, so they were cheap and available. Food grains could be stocked up in bulk and mixed at home cheaply. Aviaries were not difficult to build and the weather allowed most birds to be happy outside year 'round. Now I'm in an environment where winter puts too much stress on tropical birds unless they have an indoors section to the aviary. That's beyond my budget. We're down to three budgies and one cockateil kept indoors in cages these days.


In Zimbabwe we had budgies, lots of lovebirds and cockateils. My lovebirds bred readily and I allowed the various kinds to mix freely. I had peach face, pastel blue, nyasa, fischers, various pied varieties as well as assorted mixtures. One pair produced some red babies, but there must have been a genetic weakness associated with the unusual colour since they never survived to maturity. A friend in Gweru was having a similar situation with red babies who didn't live long.

We had ordinary grey cockateils as well as lutino, pied and white varieties.


When we moved to Moçambique, Luke got a young brown headed parrot which was rather tame. He did bite frequently, so we named him Beaker. Unfortunately, while we were on an extended trip, the friends caring for Beaker didn't keep doors closed tightly enough and a neighbourhood cat got Beaker.


In Pemba, Moçambique, we had some green pigeons. They are quite interesting in that they eat fruit exclusively. We were good customers for the papaya sellers. It is said that they get all their moisture from the fruit and never drink. I don't know the accuracy of that, but I never saw any of ours drink from the water dish.


In Pemba we had a number of brown headed parrots in one of our aviaries. None became tame like Beaker.

We also brought some cockateils from Zimbabwe when we returned to Pemba from a visit there. We had a pearl (above) and a couple of greys.

In addition to the larger birds, we often had small birds such as red and blue waxbills, bronze manikins, cut-throat finches, jamison firefinches and others.

I miss seeing the babies emerge from the nesting boxes and discover the world.

Baobab

The baobab tree is probably the most famous and the favorite tree of Africa. The old story is that God got angry one time and uprooted a tree and then drove it into the ground upside down. The baobab resulted. The fruit contains a seed covered with a powder that can be used in cooking as tarter. Sucking the seeds as a snack is enjoyable as well as a thirst killer.

Hollow baobab trees have served as gun emplacements during war time, toilets for travelers, cisterns in dry times, sources of fiber for making clothing, bags, hats and other things.

There is even a baobab in Moçambique that is supposed to have David Livingstone's name carved inside by the Dr. himself. (I haven't seen it, only a photo.)

Usually the baobab is seen without its foliage. Here is one near the shore of Pemba Bay in Moçambique dressed in all its splendor.

Magic Picture

Here's a little tease. Click on the picture to view it full size. Then put your nose to the screen to defocus your vision. Pull your head back from the screen slowly WITHOUT FOCUSING ON THE PICTURE. A 3 dimensional shape should appear in the pattern.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Some years back this kind of picture puzzle was quite popular and many books of them were sold. I just recovered this one from an old hard drive. I made it while in Moçambique and it had been deleted. Now if I can find my old software to make more.

Overview of My Life in Moçambique

A Moçambique Sampler

Wimbi Beach, Moçambique Revisited

Here is an "artistic" look at Wimbi Beach and the reef.

Ujamaa

The Makonde are world famous wood carvers in Southern Tanzania and Northern Moçambique. They specialize in carving ebony. One of their most famous types of carvings shows the family relationships in a single wooden carving. They range from small in size like the one here, to whole logs over six feet tall.

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I am still trying to master the software that merges multiple photos into a 3-D object. Quite a bit of detail has been lost from this carving, but it does give a good idea of what an Ujamaa (family - Swahili) carving is.

Chiure Sunrise

(Click on image to view full size.)

Sunrise in Chiure area of Moçambique.

Pemba Ladies

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Made with Strata Live 3D[in]

Wimbi Beach

Wimbi Beach is located at the entrance to Pemba Bay in Pemba, Moçambique.

(Pardon the low quality photography.
A cheap disposable waterproof camera was used for these
and film was developed at a terrible photo processor in Malawi.)

It is the center of a growing tourist industry in Pemba.

After low tide, seaweed is cleared from the beach.

Low tide is a good time to find sea shells.

Along the palm lined beach are hotels and private and rental cottages.

My family used to try to visit the beach when low tide occurred around 6:00 AM
so we could avoid the heat while snorkeling.

Just a short way from shore is a reef which is great for snorkeling.

African Roads I've Been Down

Here are a few of the roads I frequently traveled in Moçambique and Malawi. Click the above photo to start the slide show. Click on photos in slide show to view description.

A friend in Moçambique recently sent me his Toyota's autobiography. You can read it here:

A TALE OF TWO TOYOTAS

He also developed a system for rating African roads. You can read it here:

Africa Road ratings