Village Life - Maisha ya kijiji

I was honored to be invited to visit one of my friend's home in an area 2 hours from Mombasa.  She's a primary school teacher who I met during the December school holiday. I had promised her I'd come, and the last weekend in March was the first one I had open.

I went with another friend, her cousin Mary, who's a nurse I work with. We were grateful to arrive, after the last mini-bus had plastic jugs beneath our feet reeking of kerosene and someone's roofing supplies and window tied above and behind us.

Sunset as we walked to the village from the main road.

Our hostess and her very curious neighbor

To market, to market ... yes, those are chickens tied on the bicycle

Love the market!  So much to take in.

Market scene ... liked the person carrying poles on her head and the baby tied on the woman's back.

Small dried fish (left) called omena are a staple source of protein for many.  Larger dried fish are in the bags on right.

School uniforms in Mombasa are usually custom made by a tailor, so I was surprised to see them sold at the market (top left)

Local homes - the lack of ventilation makes me think it must be a sauna inside at night.

We went home to make coconut cake.  I'm sitting on the "mbuzi" stool, literally means goat, which has a grater attached.

After grating, the coconut milk is squeezed out in a local sieve made of woven grass.The cake was baked on a charcoal stove inside a larger pan filled with hot sand.

Collecting water from the well - 20 Liters of water is a bit heavy!

Possibly the most intriguing bug I have ever seen- I reduced the photo resolution due to my internet connection, but its eyes have yellow & red vertical stripes. 

But what was most interesting was its profile ... exactly like a leaf!

Hope you each find something to marvel into today!