Weekend No.1

In the tourism literature for Sierra Leone beaches play a major role with reference to the “taste of paradise” Bounty advert of the 1980s.   The reason?  It was filmed on River No.2 Beach located on the Western Peninsula south of Freetown.  Shallow crystal clear waters, turquoise hues, palm trees and perfect water for swimming - a true tropical paradise.

By a complete fluke – or great planning as I would care to believe – the end of my first week coincided with a beach party at Bureh Beach organised by another VSO volunteer.  No small affair this as there were over 100 people with food (dinner and breakfast), music and camping provided for the bargain price of 100,000 Leones (£16).  Bureh is one of the few beaches along the peninsula where there are good bursts of waves for surfing.  It was heavenly as you can see.

Bureh Beach



The drive down is best attempted in a 4-wheel drive as the road out of Freetown is rough and bumpy with small bridges.  Ninety minutes of this, I thought, will be interesting but suddenly the dirt was replaced by a smooth paved road.  Once again here you must always be ready for the unexpected.  I was lucky to have bagged a lift with people from the Aberdeen Women’s Centre which was super as the Centre is five minutes from the hotel.  We made various pit stops along the way for food and beer arriving at the beach around 3pm.  Time to find a spot for my hammock before the masses arrived.  The girl done good I think….

My first hammock

Hammock securely attached to the palm trees a dip in the beautiful water was a must.  Not the freezing experience of the Moray Firth of my youth but soft refreshingly cool waves lapping over my shoulders with the occasional larger breaker to submerge me fleetingly.  What a way to end the week.

The party cranked up as the sound system pumped out music which in the most part was new to me.  You know me – there’s not much music on Radio 4!  The food was delicious and thanks to a seasoned expat a glass of red washed it down.  Glass may be pushing it as it was fashioned from a 1.5 litre plastic water bottle.  I really do need a penknife.  It was on the list but seemed to have been forgotten in the confusion of my final days.  After dancing and chatting until 12.30am I sloped off to my hammock.  I had ordered a mosquito hammock on next day delivery but it had failed to arrive so I tried to improvise with a lightweight hammock and separate net.  Not a great success but with some adaptation I may be able to patent something!  Sleeping was wonderful as the breeze came in off the Atlantic and gently rocked me to a deep sleep despite the music still pounding until 5am. 

At the end of the day as I stood for this photo


On the beach - isn't it beautiful?

the words on this fishing boat summed up how I was feeling.

The first week has ended with  another about to begin. What shall that bring?