We decided to make the savanna a culture of place. Typically you hear an institutional voice, but here you can hear the voice of East Africans. In the teacher's house, for example, is a radio playing Swahili news, a woodstove and a thatch broom held together with strips of an inner tube. Gourds, woven market bags, a goat leash and a cane made from a branch fill the traditional Kikuyu house. A group of zoo employees flew to East Africa on their own time to collect some of the items on display.
All buildings are thatch-roofed, built by workers flown in from Kenya.
In the palaver hut where Monie will tell her stories, newspaper clippings are posted telling of current events affecting East Africa. One of these issues, which the zoo is highlighting, is conservation. Man gets mad, goes up to the tree, throws down palm nuts. Man gets furious. Gets his gun.