In spite of much of it being dogged by bad weather (and I mean BAD weather) the trip to Malawi and Zambia was excellent. We had a very small group - six of us plus the driver and his wife and baby son and the cook - and we travelled around in the back of a Land Rover over some of the worst roads in the world. It was all marvelous. We were there at Christmas and the New Year - my favourite time of year for travelling and our game drives, especially in Zambia were filled with
the kind of wildlife that you normally only see in David Attenborough documentaries. Best of all are the sunsets. Nowhere in the world are the sunsets as good as in Africa.
I make no apology for the preponderance of wildlife photographs on this page. That is after all what the trip was about. There is also very little text as none is needed. After all if you can't tell a photograph of an elephant when you see one you need to see either a zoologist or an optician.
The kilns are part of a dead industry. Formerly used to produce charcoal for fuel and creosote as a by product the Government has closed them down as uneconomical. That should be a familiar story to anyone who ever worked in the British coal industry.
Just for a change a sunset in glorious black and white. Glorious isn't it.
This object, which stands taller than a full grown man is a termite mound. The landscape is full of them.
Quite possibly the scariest Santa in the world. The kids at the Christmas Party on Zomba had to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept their presents from him - and who can blame them ?