Sierra Leone So Lovely

Sierra Leone So Lovely

Our flight is directly to Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone. We arrive safe and sound at Lungi International Airport. The airport is located in the coastal town of Lungi. We drive by bus for some 10, 15 minutes. Then descend the bus and wait for the ferry. A ferry because the Sierra Leone River separates the airport from Freetown. The ferry arrives and in half an hour we reach Freetown.

It’s late in the evening. Our driver, Abdul is there to bring us to our resort. It will be a ride to remember. Abdul drives fast and the road is only dimly lit. A few times traffic on our highway is blocked. Abdul (other drivers too) then drives to the other side of the highway, switches on great light and drives on, avoiding the oncoming traffic.

With our nerves barely intact we reach our destination, which is our resort located at the amazing Tokeh Beach. It’s midnight but luckily someone greets us and puts us in house 6. We go to sleep.

Despite the common name, this resort ( www.stayattheplace.com ) is really beautiful. A house furnished with everything you need – but the living is mostly outside of course. White-sand beach, nice sea, a small cozy restaurant, a swimming pool in front of our temporarily home. All that and then lots of nicely kept gardens between all houses. This attracts small beautifully colored birds.

Fishing is done in the old fashioned way. A few men bring the net by boat a mile in the sea. They drop the middle of the net. On the beach, on both sides of the net people draw it to the shore. It’s hard work. In the end a small load of fishes lands on the beach. Now the ladies take over. They divide the catch and carry it home in baskets. Great community spirit!

You could say fishing in this way is more natural. Compare this to the big Chinese fishing boats who are allowed to fish the coastal waters of Sierra Leone in an industrial way.

Strolling the beach and a small lake a little inward we see a Mud Fish. A fish that can ‘walk’ on the edge of the sea. That’s something you don’t see every day.

We booked a bird excursion today. The guide, who showed up a little late is called Shakoe. We walk a path next to the beach. He talks, while we spot the birds. In a tree there’s a colourful Woodland Kingfisher.

At the end of a long walk we encounter a family (related to Shakoe) who wants us to rent their boat. Well, some other time perhaps. On it goes. To the mountains. No more birds. But an interesting walk though. We see a lot of the nice landscape. But the walking and the heat take their toll. No worries! A few friends with mopeds are called in. They take us around. No helmets though…

We look at a cave. This cave will take you to Freetown (25 miles from here!), the guide tells us. Well that must be something. We don’t see any entrance. Temporarily blocked it seems. The bats we were supposed to see took a day off.

Before we have a look at a closed church, we encounter – coincidence! – Shakoe’s girlfriend. The boys take us to the resort on their mopeds. Glad to be home again. I give each guy a few dollars. Surprised they look at the notes from all sides. In the end they hand it to the guide who is probably the only one to have seen dollars before.

Abdul takes me to Freetown for a little sightseeing. Freetown is built in a mountain area. In august 2017 due to days of heavy rain mudslides occurred killing more than thousand people and devastating parts of the city. As we drive through Freetown we see the damage it did.

There’s not much to see. A lot of traffic. A crowded city. Few highlights. When you google ‘highlights of Freetown’ you get the highlights of Sierra Leone. The harbor is a busy place. It’s one of the biggest in West Africa.

In the afternoon a large sea turtle washes ashore. Alive but disoriented. Local people grab it. Will it end on the market? My wife comes back from a beach stroll. She doesn’t hesitate. This turtle landed on resort beach, she tells the locals. Besides that it’s officially protected, she adds. She grabs it, swims with the turtle towards open sea. At a safe distance she frees the turtle. On her own the turtle swims away.

The locals complain to the resort staff. But the staff member smiles and replies: ‘You heard the lady.’

Walking around the resort I spot the Copper Sunbird. Usually a rare sight – but not here, there are many of them around here.

Today we are told to stay close to the resort. Reason? Today is election day in Sierra Leone. And on these days tension rises. Especially at the end of the day when predictions arrive. In the house next to ours all day a man hides. An opposition member?

That evening on the restaurant terrace we meet a Belgian man named Pierre and his African wife. It turns out he works as a representative of the European Union. We have a nice conversation about the elections and the life in Sierra Leone. We tell him that we met a Belgian man in Djibouti a few months ago called Patrick who also worked for the European Union. Note: Djibouti is located on the other side of Africa (3700 miles apart). Surprise: this man knows Patrick, they are colleagues! He makes a selfie of us and sends it to Patrick. Moments later Patrick confirms, ‘I met them on the terrace of La Chaumiére in Djibouti city’. It’s a small world.

Coffee in the little village close by. The first time we drank coffee someplace it was 30.000 leones ($3). Now, at another small bar they charge 10.000 leones($1).

We talk to some local people. Sierra Leone has had its problems. The awful disease Ebola few years ago. The civil war during the turn of the century. In that war there were also tensions (and more) between Muslims and Christians. The people here explain that that these religion related problems only occurred in their capital Freetown. In the community here Muslims and Christians live mixed together. They respect each other religions and problems don’t exist.

The last evening a staff member, George comes to say goodbye. He tells us that his mother is very ill and he has to visit her. We suspect that he probably already wants a tip because we leave next day. But we were served by a lot of people so we will do that in our own way. To our surprise next morning at breakfast we are served by… George! He smiles, we smile. No more talk about the ill mother.

I ask the head waiter for an envelope so I can put in a large tip for all staff members. He takes his time. He returns with the biggest envelope I’ve ever seen.

This trip was made in 2018.

If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to leave a comment!

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