Sandstorm on safari

Nice to see lots of our bags in their natural environment at Olkiombo airstrip in the Mara. These were taken by our Edinburgh-based Customer Services Manager and Kenya fanatic, Rosanna Osborne on her recent visit here.

Landcruiser: front seat - Explorer (green), Deluxe Adventurer (tan & green), Odyssey (tan); back seat - Pioneer (green)
Airstrip: Rosanna's Dad carries – Champagne Cooler (old style), Deluxe Adventurer (tan); Safari Guide carries Odyssey (tan) & Deluxe Adventurer (green)

To the tannery

Paul, John (Senior Cutter) and I went on a buying trip to the tannery north of Nairobi where we source all our leather. Nairobi traffic and tannery opening hours conspired to have us stop for a quick bite in Limuru (John on left, Paul on right), and then on to the tannery. Each of our hides is hand selected at source and here you can see John and Paul checking camel hides for quality and consistency.

Production Planning

Had our weekly production planning meeting this morning at Jamhuri. In the picture (left to right) you can see Lavender (who looks after one-off projects and seat covers), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Kioko (Quality Control), Moshi (Stores) and Dickie (Factory Manager). Dickie is talking through some detail on a one-off adaptation of our Safari Cooler for a client: as well as our standard international range we have a reputation for producing excellent one-off bags and accessories for clients locally.>

Moshi

Fierce negotiator, natural entrepreneur, profound philosopher, and passionate supporter of Chelsea F.C., Methuselah Moshi, Moshi for short, was a driver here until it became obvious that he had much more to offer, so we promoted him to look after finished goods stores here at Lenana. It's Moshi's job to keep his hawk-like eye on all our bags from the moment they leave the factory, but he also tends to get involved in all manner of problem solving. I'll post some of Moshi's words of wisdom here soon.

Martha & Lavender

Martha & Lavender are the acceptable face of Sandstorm (they keep me locked up through the back).