Vizara Rubber Planation

 

When we went to Nkhata Bay for a few days with Father Phillip, he drove us to see the Vizara Rubber Plantation which was something I had wanted to see but never managed on past visits.  A car is essential.  I was not disappointed.  The planation covers a vast area of the land.  Plots are numbered and it is easy to distinguish the young tree sections from the mature ones.  It was great to stop and walk through the trees.  We loved it because it was very cool under the canopy of the tall trees, despite the temperature being recorded as 39 degrees Celsius.  Dry leaves were crunching underfoot, reminding me of autumn time at home.  We saw close up where the sap is tapped; black lateral markings are on the trunk and there’s a small plastic tub at the lower part of the trunk to collect the sap.  Although this is not the time to collect the sap, Tom scored a tree trunk and we saw the white liquid sap drip out.  The smell of it reminded us of the P.V.A. used at school.  In one plastic tub, the sap had solidified.

  

 

 

 

We drove through part of the plantation to the factory.  Although the factory was not operational, we were fortunate to be given a tour.  At this time of the year all the work has been completed and now the machines are overhauled.  It was interesting to have the process explained to us how the sap collecting eventually end up being a large block of rubber. The rubber is exported to South Africa to be remoulded to make tyres. 150 people work at the factory and there are seasonal workers out in the plantation.  The workers and their families live on the plantation; we saw the thatched houses, shops, chemist and a small building designated for nursery children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Near the workers’ village there were rice fields.  Some adults and children were collecting the rice.  Many people also work at the wood factory nearby which makes pallets and crates for transporting the rubber blocks.

 

At the end of the day, Tom and I bought a couple of rubber balls from the boys selling at the roadside.  We got a good bargain at 500kw per ball; the balls bounce high.  However, what a smell in the car……reminded me of my inexpensive wellies.