173 Tsavo Lane

Mlolongo is roughly a 45 minute drive south of Nairobi, and only about 15 minutes from the airport. We live in the Valleyview compound at the far end of town. It takes us about 10 minutes to get to the edge of town and another 10 to get to the middle of things.

Our compound is very nice compared to town. Every house has a gate and the streets are lined with bushes. Our front yard is small and has a garden. The first room in our house is a large living room with tiger print couches that look a lot more comfortable than they actually are. Off of the living room, there is an open area that leads to 3 bedrooms and the wash area. The sink for the toilet is in the middle of the open area, then there is a door to the toilet and another door right next to it for the shower. Two of the rooms have a pair of bunkbeds. My room has it's own washroom off of it. There is a third bedroom with a double bed. Also off of the living room is the kitchen which is a narrow galley kitchen leading to the back patio. The area in the back is small but charming. There are clotheslines and a large water tank and I can see right into the back neighbours' kitchens. I wave good morning to them when I'm out there having a coffee with the sunrise.

Salima - our house mama - in our room. I sleep on the top bunk behind her.
Our kitchen leading to the back patio... and that's Beatrice. Our cat... it's a him.

Now for some of the characters I'm staying here with...

Josh is the manager of it all. For those of you who don't know, I went to high school with him. He was here for 6 months then came back for a 2 year project, which he is now in the middle of.

Katie is a friend of Josh's and she is out here until the end of March.

Milanne, for those of you who don't know her, is a friend of mine and is here until the end of April.

Deb is Josh's mom's friend and is here until mid-March.

We also had Josh's cousin Rob and his friends Don and Judy, they are on safari as of this morning.

Andrew and Meghan are a couple from Halifax and they are arriving next week.

Salima is our house mama - she cooks dinner for us, cleans, and takes care of us :) She's great.

Beautiful and Benson are two Kenyans living here. Beautiful is a firecracker and loves to be a brat. She keeps us laughing. Benson is a quiet guy and Josh is helping him to get into boarding school.

And how could I forget Beatrice, the stray cat the house has adopted. He also has two kittens that hang out in the back. Yes, I said he.