Unusually High Resolution in Middle of Niger

Very bizarre, even in US cities the highest resolutions still leave cars and things of similar sizes distinct yet blurry, but here in the middle of Niger is a collection of high-res photos, basically in the middle of nowhere, that are of the highest resolution I've seen in all of google maps. You can see such things as people very clearly, washbasins for the clothes, even the little pieces of grain used to make their thatch houses. Amazing.