smoking

Last week we had an interesting day out at a tobacco farm. The estate covers 40 hectares and although there is a strong anti-smoking lobby in the west, tobacco sales continue to increase. Most of the labour force are employed part-time so that they can tend their own crops on their small holdings. We watched the leaves being harvested and then saw them in various stages of being dried out. Our eldest was delighted to spot some sheep on the farm and they are also growing macadamia nuts which are ideally suited to the Malawi climate, although difficult to buy in Malawi as most are exported! On the walk back from the drying sheds our eldest and I got separated from the rest of the family and our waterproofs and got properly soaked as the rain began in earnest. We travelled back with the heater on in the car – that’s a first!