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Chimwadzulu Hill in Malawi, you can see the sunrise over the Great Rift Valley, the seam in the earth's skin that stretches almost 5000 kilometers north of here to end in the Dead Sea and the Jordan River valley in Syria. In a few million years, this hill will be on Africa's eastern coast, as the eastern side of the rift moves off to create a great island in the Indian Ocean.
The Great Rift Valley, mankind's cradle, is also the birthplace of an amazing number of gemstones, colorful crystals of minerals brought to the earth's surface through the grinding of the two continental plates that meet here.
This hill is no exception. Under the iron-rich red dirt of Chimwadzulu lies the ultimate red gemstone: ruby of exceptional quality. Before dawn lights the rift, the blackness of the sky and the green earth, and the precious rubies it holds bring to mind the tri-color flag of Malawi. Dawn and dusk come suddenly this close to the equator. Electric lights are rare and the stars seem close enough to touch.
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