The day when Australians say "here we go, only 3 months until Spring".
I feel for you fellow Aussies back home because Winter is not really the most pleasant time of the year (yes Kim, I know you love it). Those low pressure systems that hang around for days bringing cold moist air from the south; the annoyance when a new front arrives every Friday, just in time to mess up the weekend; and the occasional big storm that downs trees and puts Newcastle on the map when 400 metre coal ships get washed up on the surf beach!
Way back in the dim, dark past we used to live in the Riverina. May was the start of our Winter. We would come home from school holidays to find the plane trees devoid of leaves. Frosts would descend upon the grass most mornings, and I did quite like walking to school with the crunch of ice beneath my feet. By September we were crying out for holidays so that we could go to the coast and thaw out.
This year is so incredibly different, and we will be lucky enough to miss out on Winter completely.
Our location in Western Kenya is one degree North of the Equator. You can't get much more tropical than that. The altitude of approximately 1700 metres tempers the heat so that most days rarely exceed 30 degrees Celsius. Nights are very pleasant for sleeping (if you can ignore the sound of mosquitoes buzzing around the mozzie net). We generally sleep comfortably with a sheet and one thin blanket.
Kamukuywe, like most of inland Kenya, has a lower rainfall than you may imagine. Most months are relatively dry except for the Long Rains from April to June and the short rains in October-November. Even then, days begin warm and sunny, with threatening clouds developing in the late afternoon, followed by a short, heavy downpour with accompanying thunder and lightning.
A very intelligent first form boy asked me last week why it didn't rain more often. We had been talking about conventional rainfall being produced by localised heating leading to the development of afternoon storms.
A fair amount of Googling has produced the answer.
During the Equinoxes, when the Equator is closest to the sun, the Intertropical Convergence Zone is centred over the Equator. Trade winds from both hemispheres dump exceptionally low pressure air on Kenya. Low pressure air is warm and unstable. It rises to produce rain clouds. At other times of the year localised heating is less likely to produce rain due to higher air pressures.
(Geography lesson finished).
Resultantly, Western Kenya is tremendously green at the moment. Constant sunshine, warm temperatures and frequent rainfall means that you can almost see the maize growing. Maize is by far the most popular crop here. It is eaten cooked with kidney beans and is also ground into a flour to produce the "astoundingly popular" porridge-loaf known as Ugali.
I will include a photograph here of the maize on the neighbour's farm. It is certainly "as high as an elephant's eye", and I reckon that Africans have the right to use that analogy. Why should people in Oklahoma compare the height of their corn to an African animal? (But I digress).
Currently in season are avocados (large ones for about 12 cents each), and large pineapples that are the sweetest, juiciest ones we have ever eaten. These sell for between $1.50 to $2.20. Bananas are ever-present and very cheap at 5 for 25 cents. Local fruit sellers have realised that the lane way outside the school is a good place to sell their produce. As a result, we don't have to walk far to get fresh supplies. Tomatoes, onions, capsicum and potatoes are also plentiful and cheap in the market place.
So, friends and acquaintances, we feel for you at this transitional time of the year. Stay warm and try to avoid winter colds and flu. I think I will just duck out for a quick swim and a sun-bake.
(N.B.1. this last comment was made in jest. When you are on malaria prophylaxis, you are more susceptible to sunburn, so we are fairly careful when outside in the direct sun).
(N.B.2. the following cartoon is also meant in jest ... honestly all you Queenslanders that I love so dearly).
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