Dr. Nat's Journal

Even though I was apprehensive in October about wet season arriving, now the rains are drawing to a close, I feel saddened by the thought of returning to a dry and dusty Katete.

When I arrived, the land was parched and the dust muted everything to a shade of brown. Now, the world looks so vibrant. The sky is a deep blue, the trees and vegetation vivid green, and there are colourful flowers blooming everywhere. It feels dreamlike…

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I spent my teenage years living in Asia, so mangoes are not something new to me. However, I’ve never had my own mango tree before. Now, with three large mango trees in my garden, I have more mangoes than I know what to do with.

In London, it costs upwards of £1.50 (13,000 ZMK / US$2.50) for a single mango. This would mean that if I wanted to have the same number of mangoes at my disposal in London as I do here, I would need to spend somewhere in the region of £750 – £1000.

Daily, scores of mangoes fall to my garden floor and start to rot. I can’t keep up! My fridge is full of mangoes, my hands have acquired a yellow tinge, and I have a callus from chopping so incessantly.

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To be a good wildlife photographer, you need to have a lot of patience. Patience for the animal to move into the position you want, or for the sun to get lower in the sky, or for the elusive creature to finally show itself.

To be the wife of a wildlife photographer, you need to have a lot more patience than that. Patience for the photographer to come home! Wildlife typically avoids humans. Therefore, wildlife and wildlife photographers are usually found in remote locations far from civilization. Spouses of wildlife photographers are often found alone at home!

I am currently home alone in Katete. Will is with the animals of South Luangwa.

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Doing shift work is tiring, with nights and weekends taken up traipsing around wards tending to the sick. However, one of the positives is that you really appreciate a weekend off when it comes around.

Last weekend was busy for me, with a 36-hour shift from Saturday morning to Sunday night. This weekend was also busy, but in a different way.

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