African Hut and Canoe
A fisherman's canoe pulled up on the beach in front of his hut, in the island of Principe.
Both the canoe and the hut are hand-made of entirely natural materials, for there is nothing else to be had in this place. The people have no money to be importing things; they live off the land and the sea, and their clothes are their only expense. The canoe is a typical African dug-out, made from a hollowed out tree trunk. The hut is woven from coconut palm fronds. It is difficult to believe that it could be sufficiently water-tight to keep out the torrential rain which falls upon this island every afternoon.
1995