One of the craziest things of this crazy country is the lake flies. The first time you see them, you think it is the smoke coming from the chimney of a big ferry. Then you realise there are no big ferries in the lake. It must be smoke from some big fires in Mozambique? No, the black clouds rising from the lake are actually flies. Millions of millions of flies, rising to the sky in a celebration of life and reproduction. They have lived as larvae deep in the lake their whole life, which is about to culminate in a day or two of swarming before they drop dead to the ground. The phenomenon can be seen from June and a few months time every year, almost every day.
Fascinating from a distance, but some times the swarms will drift in over land. The flies will be everywhere, they fill your eyes, mouth, nose, ears... And they smell. Strong smell of fish, I've never even thought insects could have an odour.
Fortunately, Malawians have found a use for the flies. People will run around with plastic bags, mosquito nets or whatever can be used to accumulate the flies, or even sweeping them up as they are found dead on the ground. The flies are then used to make a sort of buns, I'm not quite sure how they are prepared, but after a fly invasion the black fly buns will be seen on the market.
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