Views of Kigali and Butaro countryside

 Rwandan countryside (through the car window as we are driving)

 I think these are gum trees (eucalyptus)

 Farming plots cover the hillside

 The plots look like a patchwork quilt in some places

 I like this blue door

 People working the hills

 Villager houses

 Waterfalls abound

 Collecting grasses, probably for weaving baskets or repairing thatch roofs

Lush forests

 This is in Butaro.  You can see a volcano in the background.  

Gorillas live on each of the 5 volcanoes that spread from Congo 

to Rwanda to Uganda, also known as the Virunga Rift Valley.

 Buying produce at the market in Kigali

 Mangos are super cheap.  Six for $1.50

 Our friend Alex and Cheryl's house in Rwinkwauvu, (very near to Kayonza, the location that
I'll be doing landscape designwork).  They have a 6 month old baby.  Their house is made
out of 100% rammed-earth (soil)...a new and sustainable technology over here.

 Alex is over-seeing a building project at the Rwinkwauvu Partners in Health hospital.

Their little Xavier playing with his tent.

 Big baby for 6-mos; he loves bananas.

 View of Kigali.  Its a bustling city.

 Nothing but houses built on hills.  The story is that at the beginning of settlement 

each of the brothers of the cheif's family got his very own hill, and that is why all of 

these hills became populated, through the offspring on each hillside.

 Exotic flowers in Butaro

Weeks 1-2: Dec 2nd-16th

Buying 1 book shelf takes 6 salesmen to close the deal.

Our car and driveway

 House entrance...we are going to make some improvements by creating 

a trellis and growing Ficus pumilla (creeping fig) up the brick

This cat sneaks into our house when we aren't looking.  

He really wants us to adopt him. I think he knows I'm pregnant, because he 

is constantly wanting to be around me, no matter how much i try to avoid him.

Bathroom

 Hallway with bookshelf we just purchased

kitchen table 

kitchen/dining 

more kitchen

Susie, 23 weeks pregnant.

The backyard. Will start my garden in upper left corner.

Our Bedroom 1

Our Bedroom 2

This would be the baby's bedroom

 Guest Bedroom, sheets are a little wrinkly

The guest bedroom is also used as my walk-in closet.

The cooking-kitchen is a separate building from the house 

and needs some work yet, but it is manageable.

This is an outdoor patio connecting the cooking-kitchen to the rest of the house.  

We will make it a nice outdoor eating area and bring in two free-standing fireplaces.