Mud/stick construction is the prevalent style in the area. A properly constructed home is both cool in the hotter rainy season and warm in the colder dry season. If a good thatched roof is maintained, construction of this type can last a good 10 years or more. If the roof is allowed to deteriorate, the house often collapses in one season.
Initially, studs are buried, defining the outside and interior walls of the house. Ideally, dense insect resistant woods from the savannah are used. Next, split bamboo is lashed on using binding made from a swamp vine.
Palm frond midribs are lashed onto a stick roof to support the waterproof thatching.
First, a permanent under-thatch is carefully tied down. On top of this, a thick top-dressing of long savanah grass will be laid and augmented or replaced annually as is appropriate.
Fine red clay is mixed with water to the consistency of thick concrete....
....and packed into the split bamboo lattice. Once dry, this forms a durable and well insulated wall. Conscientious builders will come back and smooth the wall with a thin slurry of clay and finally paint with whitewash to create a surface virtually indistinguishable from a formed concrete wall.
A house of this type is easily constructed with all locally available materials and can be completed in one season.
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