After having spent much time on the African continent, I developed a special relationship with the sun. In the mornings I really like the sun. It comes up around six and creates an amazing purple and yellow sky. During the day, I like the sun a bit less. It’s merciless. It’s inevitable. The sun is like a queen and there is not much you could do against her rules. In the evenings, she becomes more loving and shows off with her beautiful colours.
Akasuba is the Bemba word for sun. The local people have their own ways of dealing with this brutal beauty. One thing is very important in all the villages I’ve visited: the mango trees. “You want to sit in the house or under the mango trees?”
Right now we have the hottest season in Zambia. October is the worst…it makes everything slow, even the brain. And it burns the skin. Especially my white skin. After a boat ride to Mpulungu I look like a proper lobster. The pleasure of being a Musungu (white person) in Zambia. One of the very few disadvantages Musungus face in this country but that’s another story.
Life of a biologist - behind the scenes 