Turtle Islands – some history, getting there and where we stayed

Two weeks off between jobs so the perfect time for a wee adventure to the Turtle Islands.  My fellow travellers on this journey were Thea, Nargis and Clare.  A big thank you straight away to Thea who did all the organising.

The Bradt guide describes the islands as “the stuff castaway movies are made of”.  They are an undeveloped archipelago in the Atlantic off the western shores of Sherbro Island (part of Bonthe District).  We took a trip organised by Dalton’s Banana Guesthouse.  We were picked up by our boat from Kent on the peninsula and it was then a 4.5 hour journey across the sea to Bakie seeing dolphins on our way. The boat had shade and with everything packed in we had the opportunity to lie back and have a wee sleep.

Clare relaxes as we head towards our destination

Our boat

One of the sandy islands in the distance  

Back in the day Bakie had a limited tourist infrastructure when a guesthouse was built that had flushing toilets, showers and electricity.  There were four rooms but they fell into disrepair.  Recently they have been refurbished so no electricity or running water but you can flush the toilet with sea water and water is provided for a bucket shower.  Perfect!

The guesthouse

We didn’t sleep in the rooms rather opting for the family tent Harry (from Dalton’s) had brought.  It was lovely as much airier and three of us fitted nicely onto one mattress while Nargis had a sleeping mat.  The cooking was done by Alhadji so we were very well looked after.  The food was delicious with freshly caught fish for dinner in the evenings with a variety of sauces. It was early to bed most evenings and we slept so well in the peace of the islands with no barking dogs to disturb our slumber.

Dinner

The islands don’t get too many visitors so there were often villagers sitting around the guesthouse watching us.  It was a little unnerving at first as they sat and stared but over the days we adjusted to it and at times forgot they were even there. The many children were very curious and adorable, though they were showing signs of malnutrition with swollen bellies and a ginger tinge to their hair and there were lots of runny noses.  Coastal communities often seem to be forgotten about as they are so remote but I hope these children will have access to the Free Health Care initiative which exists in Sierra Leone.

Those were the first impression more details of another island will follow…