Recent Malawi And Kenya.

During 2011 Malawi has issued several new sets of stamps, all locally relevant and interesting in subject matter. A set of five stamps printed in ordinary sheets in lithography by Enschede along with a miniature sheet which combines all the values was issued which depicted the "Big Five" - the great animals to be seen by tourists on safari in the country - the lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and water buffalo. The date of issue was 11 March 2011. A set of five stamps was also issued for Christmas 2011. These stamps were also printed by Enschede and again a miniature sheet was also released which combined the values from the ordinary sheets. I do not know the date of issue at present.

A further issue from 2011 was dedicated to the theme of eradication of the tsetse fly and trypanosomiasis (the name of the disease is horribly misspelt on the miniature sheet - "trypasonomiasis" - but correctly spelt on the stamps themselves). The set comprises four values with a unifying miniature sheet but the stamps from ordinary sheets are easily distinguished from those of the miniature sheet because they have white borders while the stamps from the sheet have coloured borders. I do not know the date of issue of this set at present.

The first issue of 2011 was released on 18 January and comprised two stamps and a combining miniature sheet which commemorated the 35th anniversary of the partnership of Malawi with The European Union. Elsewhere in Africa, Kenya has made a rather surprising issue which appears to comprise 4 sheetlets, each containing 25 different stamps. They seem to have been released some time in 2011 and feature various insects, the New York Agency which handles Kenya's stamps has described one sheetlet's theme as being "beetles", another as "butterflies", the third as "insects" and the other as "wasps". This is a rather surprising set given Kenya's usual conservatism in the issuing of new stamps - 100 stamps in one set is something very few of the most excessive countries have managed to achieve!