#6 Mukoka

Photos: Front of residence; Big tree and tree house with zip-line; Veranda; Living room; Foyer. Note: I have no control over how these photos drop in. Sorry!

One of my faithful readers suggested that I write about my house, not just the plumbing. The house is constructed of mud/concrete blocks. It is surrounded by a lawn and minimal shrubbery. The lot is approximately 150 feet deep by 200 feet wide and completely walled in. A pale blue metal door swings open for you top enter the property. The driveway leads straight to a small out building used by the sentinels for sleeping and also for storage of extra equipment. The car is kept to the right of that building. Behind the parking space is the compost pile, as well as a burning pile.

Between the car and the house is a set of clotheslines for my domestique (Dicky) to use. He has an automatic washer. The house is typical for a tropical area: one level, no basement, tile roof. A lovely covered veranda faces the east off the living room. You enter the house through the covered porch and are in the foyer. To the left is the kitchen. To the right is the living room. Straight through the foyer is a hallway. Three bedrooms and a bathroom are to your left. To the far right is the master bedroom, the bathroom and little office.

Behind the house is another smaller building where the domestique and sentinels can take a shower, etc.

I’m in a residential neighborhood, with mostly Congolese, and at least one family of Caucasions. Around the corner is the Queen’s Restaurant, and a little further is the Belgian Horse Jumping Club. Lots of little shops/stalls fill the main street. Across the main street is a water filtration company, the Regideso. Next to that is a military camp where soldiers and their families live.

I hope this gives you a little better picture of my life here. "Home is where the heart is, in dwellings great and small, but its many a stately mansion that isn't a home at all."