A-maize-ing Thoughts and Wild Things

Corn, corn everywhere, as far as the eye can see. Corn, or maize as they call it, is incredibly important in Malawi. It’s the crop that feeds people for breakfast, lunch and supper, and from what I can tell, corn is largely responsible for keeping the country’s economy afloat, that and Carlsberg beer. As it turns out, I knew very little about the importance of corn before I arrived in Malawi. My knowledge is expanding on the topic even more thanks to book I started reading called the Omnivores Dilemma, a history of the intriguing plant and the role it played in transforming the food system of North America. I’ll write about corn production before getting into the wild side of Africa, the topics are closely connected and unfortunately biodiversity suffers due to the expansion of human development. 

Both of these animals were probably thinking the same thing. 

"First I will be incredible still to avoid detection. SHIT! How did I 

get spotted while being so still? Time to run for that crack in the rocks!"

Last weekend, Thomas and I went out for a hike towards Bunda Mountain, our goal was to reach the peak. As a note to self, I would refrain from attempting anymore mid afternoon hikes in direct African sunlight, especially if you were drinking Malawi vodka the night before and in serious need of rehydration. Thomas and I miraculously made it to the top of the mountain without fainting, however I’ll need to redo the journey another time to fully appreciate the view from the top. We’ve been told that the peak of the mountain is a popular location for locals to pray. When we finally arrived at the peak we found goats, some scattered makeshift shelters built from stones and garbage bags, and a group of locals praying to their god. It would appear that the shelters provide refuge from the intense African elements, for the people who wish to pray on the mountain for extended periods of time.  Apparently, Bunda Mountain is set ablaze every couple years to appease the gods or a singular almighty god. I don’t know the exact story or reasoning behind this tradition, but superstitious beliefs are deeply rooted in Malawi culture.

A view of Bunda mountain, surprisingly the field directly in front of the

 picture was not planted with corn. The reeds and long grasses are usually 

used to build little huts and fencing. 

On our way home we came across two young farmers at the base of the mountain, Paul and Maxie. We greeted them and politely asked for the quickest directions home. They gladly showed us through their fields of maze, which had little paths leading in different directions. It reminded me of walking through the corn maze in Winnipeg; the plants grow so tall that you can easily get lost in a sea of corn. If you do get lost in Malawi at least you always have a source of food at your disposal during the rainy season. That is if things get desperate. Crime is considerably low in Malawi but certainly isn’t taken lightly. Mob justice is one reaction to theft in a community. I don’t want to experience any mob violence so I’ll just keep buying my own goods and won’t mistake a corncob as a free meal.

Hey would you look at that, some planted fields of corn and beans. 

I'm not sure which bean variety they grow, maybe soy beans or pigeon peas? 

Maxie and I started chatting about agriculture during our walk through the maize maze. This conversation gave me some valuable insight into the popularity of maize in Malawi. The value of maize comes from the crops productivity. Maxie said that his fields take approximately 90 days to grow from a kernel in the soil to a fully develop, cob bearing plant. This meant he could harvest from the same plot of land up to three times in a single year. If I understood Maxie correctly which I don't think I did hence the lazy edit, that would truly be impressive productivity.

The best selection of vegetables you can find at a single market stand. 

Notice the table of small dried fish in the background. 

Dried fish from lake Malawi are a favourite food item all across malawi.  

Maize is also attractive for several other reasons. In particular it can be stored without spoiling for an extended period of time. This keeps people fed throughout the harsh dry season in Malawi. The kernels can also be ground into maize meal for easy cooking and storage. One of the biggest advantages of maize is the huge amount of stored energy in each starchy kernel. There’s a big distinction between the sweet corn we normally eat in North America and the corn produced here in Malawi. I prefer our sweet and juicy corn at home, but the starchy corn would easily win the contest for highest energy content per cob of corn. Let’s just say one corn cob is equivalent to a single meal, it keeps me full for hours.

There are also many drawbacks for producing corn. The crop requires heavy fertilization and can lead to the degradation of soil health and pollution of local watersheds. The crop also requires lots of water and can be vulnerable to droughts during specific life stages. In an extreme environment like Sub Saharan Africa, corn is highly vulnerable to the variable drought and flood conditions that Malawi might endure. The country can produce surplus corn during a good year but have famine the next due to a widespread crop failure. It’s like putting all you’re eggs in one basket or however that expression goes.    

Monkeys are often seen stealing corn. People throw rocks and branches at

 them to try and deter them. I like them but locals just think of them as pests.

I’ve been here for over a month now and still haven’t seen any wildlife bigger than a monkey. The only large animals I’ve come across are domesticated goats, donkeys, dogs and cattle. This has been disappointing for me because: one: I’m a wildlife enthusiast, and two: African animals are so famous and symbolic of the continent. The “big five” is an old hunting term used to classify five popular African game animals including the lion, rhino, elephant, leopard and buffalo. Hunting may have an impact on the populations of these animals but from what I can tell it’s habitat loss, due to agriculture and deforestation that will forever reduce the population of exploited wild animals in unprotected areas. I hope to visit some of the national parks in the up coming months for a chance to see larger protected animals. In the mean time I’ll keep my eyes open for any surprising animal sightings during my walks around the guesthouse.

These are two snail species. The one on the left is really common and I thought it was large until I found the giant sucker on the right (I don't believe giant sucker is a common name or scientific name for the species).

Biodiversity may not be as high as it has been historically, but to me the diversity of smaller animals is still exceptional. A new insect, bird or reptile will catch my eye every time I leave the guesthouse. Some animals are more common than others but I always stop to take a closer look at birds perched on a tree branch or to stalk a frightened lizard. The locals always laugh when they see me taking pictures of butterflies or snails. Everything that I find fascinating and new has always been a part of their environment. Still, the vibrant colours and strange morphologies of the animals are truly spectacular.

A drop in the bucket for bird diversity in Malawi. 

Birds, in particular, are plentiful in Malawi. Apart from the rooster calls in the morning I can hear hundreds of unique chirps and chimes throughout the day. Most of the birds are small but they display spectacular colouration. Many of the bird species are currently visiting Malawi for the productive rainy season. The migratory birds will fly back to North Africa when the rains end.

Thomas bought a field identification guide for the birds of South Africa. The book comes into use when we try to identify randomly encountered species of birds during our hikes. My camera doesn’t take highly resolved pictures from a distance, which means I have to be really sneaky to get close enough to a bird for a clear picture. My stealth ability needs some work, so in the meantime Thomas is taking good pictures with his high quality point and shoot camera. He said I could use the pictures in my blog posts, thanks Thomas. I can’t speak for Thomas but I think searching out birds is great excuse for leaving the house once in a while.

Many animals in Malawi have evolved to be inconspicuous in their natural 

environments. The guest house wall is not the leaf insect's natural environment. 

My search for the elusive Chameleon continues. I have a strange fascination with chameleons. It must be their quirky characteristics, the protruding eyes that rotate independently, the camouflage skin, and an irregularly slow walk that makes me want to know more about this mysterious animal. I always look in the bushes during my walks between home and work with the hope of finding a chameleon, still without luck. Most people tell me that they’re easiest to find when they're crossing a road. In any case I have five more months to find one of these reptiles. I would prefer to find one alive, not dead as road kill. Maybe I can post a bounty for a live chameleon to the first kid who can find me a chameleon alive. I can only imagine a schoolyard full of kids lining up to receive their 500 kwacha reward for each having found their own chameleon. 

Two different lizard species. I think the one in the tree is my common house gecko 

but it could be an entirely different species than the ones I have as roommates. 

Not a chameleon but there are three or four distinct lizard species that I frequently see from day to day. One lizard has a characteristic vibrant blue tail. Another is slightly larger than the blue tailed lizard but sports a less distinct orange tail. The third lizard type has a sand coloured body and grows to the same size as the blue tailed lizard. The fourth and most common lizard is the gecko species that I find living inside the guesthouse. Lizards are a new and welcomed change to my environment. Large cockroaches on the other hand took a couple weeks to get comfortable living with.

The millipedes can be huge. I would guess the one in the picture is 20 cm long.

Another segmented arthropod with an abundance of walking appendages.

Insects aren’t my favourite but they are abundant here. It’s also hard to deny that some of them are really cool. I try to take pictures of the ones that have strange morphologies, colours or other interesting characteristics. One that I find most interesting, which isn’t actually an insect at all, is the millipede (Belongs to the class Diplopoda). The millipedes are completely novel to my environment. They can grow to huge sizes and I’m still not entirely sure what they eat or where they spend most of their time. My MacBook pro dictionary tells me that they’re herbivores that shun light and live in the soil, under stones and under logs. I should really start actually searching under stones here in Malawi. It was one of my favourite techniques for finding amphibians and other critters back at home and in fact is the inspiration for the name of my blog. The reason I haven’t started searching under stones is probably due to fears of increasing my chances of a venomous snakebite.

Malawi is full of surprises. Ever wonder where pet hedgehogs originated from?

This prey mantis was posing so nicely on a contrasting pink leaf. It was so
exciting to see onefor the first time in the wild. I think it was
going to attack my finger if I got any closer.

Bites and stings can occur even if you’re being careful; a wasp finally stung me today. It made the fatal error of acting like its insect relative; I mistook the wasp as a common housefly. It landed on my arm like a regular fly so I made a slight movement to make it fly away. Unfortunately for the wasp, and myself, it was not a fly. When I moved my arm it got squished against my elbow and the chair. It decided to release it’s toxic stinger into my elbow as its last mortal action. The little thing packed a painful punch but the sting subsided in a couple minutes. Not ten minutes later did Thomas get stung in exactly the same way as I described above. Poor wasps.

The hugely famous savannah game animals often overshadow the smaller organisms found throughout different regions of Africa. Finding these small animals has been incredibly fun for me as I try to identify specific species and come up with ideas to explain their behaviour and morphological adaptations. I hope you enjoy the pictures I take of the little buggers and credit to Thomas for the letting me use his bird pictures.  

Next time I will write about my first visit to lake Malawi, the story about how I perforated my eardrum. It’s will also be due time that I write about the aquaculture work that I'm participating in for my placement at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

-Shaun