My Good Eye:
Masai gift shops teeter precariously on the edge of the escarpment along the road that descends into the Rift Valley
My Good Eye:
Entering the Rift Valley from Nairobi seen from the escarpment
My Good Eye:
Linda "negotiates" a price in a gift shop on the escarpment leading down into the Rift Valley
My Good Eye:
"White Masai" gift shop & clean toilets
My Good Eye:
West of Narobi just down the escarpment and into the Rift Valley is a busy little transport hub of a town stretched along the highway - vendors were grilling ears of corn over charcoal so were stopped and bought some through the window.
My Good Eye:
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My Good Eye:
a candelabra tree
My Good Eye:
some school children run out to greet us along our dusty way to the Saning'o residence
My Good Eye:
Linda made this video as school children, thrilled to see a carload of muzungas driving past their isolated rural school, ran along her side of Muthee's SUV on our long drive out to the Saning'o farm.
My Good Eye:
an early "oh shit!" moment on our drive out to the Saning'o residence - we drove an hour over an increasingly perilous landscape (sort-of-a dirt bound version of the search for Kurtz in "Heart Of Darkness")
My Good Eye:
to say that the 25 kilometer dirt road leading out to the Saning'o residence is rough would be a huge understatement - it is fraught with challenges- lots of rocks and boulders, deep sand, heavy erosion, seven or more dry river beds to cross - all kicking
My Good Eye:
dust, dust, dust and more dust
My Good Eye:
everywhere you look around Richard & Faith's property you see water storage devices
My Good Eye:
rather magnificent architecture- organically grown and mostly constructed of materials gathered at the site - with a generous addition of Mombasa brand East African Portland cement.
My Good Eye:
giant steps to bring sand and cement up to the level of the current construction
My Good Eye:
Richard grew up in a Masai family on hills not too distant from his new house and you can readily see the Masai building techniques being modified and applied to bring this much more sophisticated and modern house into being
My Good Eye:
Richard's house affords sweeping panoramic views in every direction
My Good Eye:
yes, they live in a house under construction, but there are ample finished portions to live gracefully in and the remaining construction is advancing rapidly
My Good Eye:
the metal in these windows was fabricated locally to Richard's specifications - more to keep monkeys out rather than to fend off any cold
My Good Eye:
the rear of the Saning'o home
My Good Eye:
support for the giant temporary steps used to bring materials up to the construction happening on the top floor
My Good Eye:
the whole Saning'o residence is constructed of blocks hand-made in forms from riverbed sand
My Good Eye:
newly made blocks and the wooden form used to create them - sand and grit from the nearby riverbed are mixed with East African Portland Cement from the Mombasa Cement Company
My Good Eye:
Linda and Faith in Faith's kitchen
My Good Eye:
the deepest and lowest water impoundment pond - part of a three- pond spillway that captures rain water during each of the two wet seasons from which water is pumped into many tanks, cisterns and reservoirs around the property - water is gold - key to exi
My Good Eye:
Richard & Faith's house viewed from the cistern
My Good Eye:
Faith feds potato skins to a three-legged cow named Maria - the lowest portion of her leg was injured when one of their cattle tenders hit it with a stick and the lower part had to be amputated.
My Good Eye:
The goats come home into the protection of their pen and away from the predation of the constant threat from hyenas.
My Good Eye:
Tempi feeds her favorite cow
My Good Eye:
The Saning'o herd of cattle return to the fold for the evening
