Roads and Fields

During the rainy season, which is just ending, the roads get pretty messy and rutted.
Where ever you go there are people walking and riding bikes.

There are some good views along the way.

To get to town I have to pedal about 2 1/2 hours on roads like these.

The kids like to play in the water.

Fields

Tobacco is a big crop in Malawi - the largest source of export income. The plants on the left are tobacco after most of the leaves have been removed. They are harvested from the bottom up as they start to turn yellow and hung in sheds to dry. When dry they are pressed into a bale wrapped in burlap and taken to the auction floor to be sold.

The crop on the right is peanuts - called groundnuts here.

The staple food of Malawi is Maize or corn. The soil is very depleted so if you don't use fertilzer you get something like the left side of this picture. If you apply fertilizer you get a crop like the right side.

More peanuts.

Some lowlands with mountains. My area is about 4,000 feet above sea level.

One day I was surprised to find a small field of rice along the road. It's common in some other parts of Malawi.