Malawi is in the tropical zone. For comparison, we’re at the same latitude (13° S) as central Brazil and northern Australia. And Lilongwe is about the same distance south of the equator as cities in Thailand, Honduras, and India are to the north of the equator.

We definitely don’t get the distinct summer-fall-winter-spring seasons like I (Matt) grew up with in Washington and Canada. But don’t think that means it’s the same all year-round. Here are a few Malawian seasons we’ve grown to expect every year.

The Dry Season
June to December

By the second half of the year, the rains are finished and the maize has turned brown for harvest. One color dominates the landscape: brown. Our neighbor’s roof will change from green to tan as a layer of dust coats everything.

Advantages of the dry season: harvest time is a happy time in Malawi. And many dirt roads in Malawi are only passable during the dry season!

The Smokey Season
May to September

During the dry season, the city gets very smokey. Wood fires are the main method of cooking in Malawi, but as the weather gets a bit colder (60°s), people also make small fires for warmth at night. Also, after the crops are harvested, the easiest way to clear the fields for next year is to burn them.

Our bedroom one morning

This isn’t our favorite time of year. All this smoke makes it difficult to do some things–like breathe. But it’s not all bad: the smokey air makes for spectacular sunsets, and it’s a sign that the rains are almost here!

…and sunrises…

The Rainy Season
December to April

 

It’s the rainy season now. And we love it!

Within a couple of weeks, the color palette of the whole country changes. From pale browns to vivid greens: everything is transformed.

This is especially significant in a country where millions of people grow their own food. The rains wash away (legitimate) fears of starvation, and represent the hope of God’s provision for yet another year.

The ditch under our driveway. This day, the water was going over too.

The rainy season brings its own challenges, though. Our roof can’t keep up with the biggest downpours. During heavy rains, you’ll find us distributing buckets throughout the house to catch water leaking through in new places. But we’re thankful to have a roof. I just saw a nearby police house which had its roof ripped off by the abrupt thunderstorm winds.

This IS the road.

Another power outage…

But this is my favorite time of year. There’s a tangible sense of gratitude for God’s provision of rain.  I love the dramatic clouds, the lightning storms, and the rich colors.

Another treat in the rainy season.

The Termite Season
December or January

You know those tall termite mounds you see in the movies about Africa? Yeah, we’ve got those. In town, the mounds don’t usually get very big (especially because the mud is sought after to make bricks). But termites like that are one of our most persistent garden pests. Usually, they do what you expect termites to do: creep. But for one or two nights every year, right after the early rains, the termites take to the sky.

Millions of them pour out of their underground lairs in a frenzy of termite colonization. They find ways into every room of every house, fluttering around until they’re trapped. Then they drop their wings off and move off on foot, finding a place to burrow. They’re like the insect version of the Green Berets. 

I remember the first morning that I saw a floor covered with thousands of tiny wings. I imagined an army of chameleons had snatched the insects out of the air during the night, leaving the wings behind. I’d never seen an insect drop its own wings off!

But that doesn’t mean termites don’t get eaten. In fact, Malawians treat ngumbi like manna from heaven, sautéing them, and eating them as a garnish. They taste a little like corn flakes. I especially recommend them with cajun seasoning.

We may not get snow at Christmas, but we’re thankful to live in a place with such interesting variety throughout the year. And just in case you’re still feeling sorry for us because we don’t get autumn colors, here’s a picture with some unexpected color from Mount Mulanje last September:

With the summer rains come the mosquitos, and, around here, with mosquitos comes malaria. Before we moved to Malawi, we didn’t know a lot about malaria, and kind of expected that every mosquito here would be carrying it. Not true. Only the female of a certain species of mosquito carries malaria. Still, we’ve adopted a policy of trying to avoid ALL mosquitos. Because it’s not like they show their “I carry Malaria” ID card before they bite you…

Here are a few things we do to fend off the mozzies:

Frequently used items, sitting next to our front door: mosquito repellent spray, mosquito repellant cream, and sunblock. Don’t leave home without it.

We have 2 types of windows in our house, and this type doesn’t have a screen of any sort. The mosquitos come out from dusk to dawn, so we simply keep these windows closed from about 5pm until we get up in the morning.

We can’t keep all the windows closed, though! It’s summer here in the southern hemisphere, and it’s HOT! But check out these awkward windows – you can’t put a screen on the outside because they open outward, and you can’t put a screen on the inside, because then you can’t work the handles to open them…

Solution: mosquito netting curtains. Three lengths of mosquito netting firmly attached to the wall, but with enough overlap that you can pull them aside to open the windows.

But no system is foolproof, and the mozzies can still get in sometimes. They come in the doors with us when we get home at night, or in the windows we didn’t close on time. So we also use these “mosquito coils”. Think Citronella candle in incense form.

And we found these great handmade coil holders at the pottery place in Dedza!

The last defense against mosquitos is the net over our bed. Most bed nets hang from a frame about 3 feet below the ceiling. We decided to make our own and attach it to the ceiling so that we could put a fan inside our net; because otherwise it feels like sleeping in a cheesecloth bag!

And this is Matt’s design and Rachel’s sewing ability on display – we made it with 2 cords to raise and lower the net. If we lived in a tree, we’d be just like Swiss Family Robinson.

Safe and mosquito-free!

Lastly, we take a weekly medication as a malaria prophylaxis. We don’t have a picture of us taking a pill, but you should see some of the weird dreams that medicine gives us!

While we try our best to protect the health that God has given us, ultimately, He’s the one who determines if we get malaria or not. Our greatest comfort is the knowledge that if we do get any kind of weird disease, God will give us the grace we need to endure it. That knowledge keeps us from living in fear, and helps us enjoy life here in Malawi!