My Century

When I first started this blog I had no idea if I would have the resilience to keep posting.  To be honest it has been hard at times with lack of internet access, the time it takes to upload photos and coming up with posts I think people will be interested to read. However, this is the 100th post!

  

Thinking about how to mark this moment I reflected that this blog is maybe not all it seems.  This is the sanitised version.  The problem with a blog is that anyone can read it and with that in mind you have to temper what you write for fear of offending people – you really don’t know who may stumble across it. 

That is one element the other is that I always, in the words of Johnny Mercer, “accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative”.   That said there have not been too many negative moments but they are there.  So here is a list of ten things that have pulled me down in the last 15 months, in no particular order.

1. The periods with no running water
2. Weeks and weeks without power
3. Missing my “old” friends when times are tough
4. Missing weddings, 50^th birthday celebrations, first Holy Communions
5. Feeling I’m blogging into a big empty space when my email inbox is empty
6. Reading about theatre that I have missed
7. Loneliness
8. Uncertainty about what next
9. Not hearing back from companies about job applications I have submitted
10. Missing seeing my godchildren growing up – they change so fast

 Of course this is more than balanced by the wonderful people I know here but some days it’s tough living here.

Settled, finally

After my time as a travelling hobo I have finally settled into my new Freetown house.  It’s a lovely building on a very rough road but full of lovely charm.

lovely balcony where I spend lots of time reading

The house

Part of the charm is a lack of electricity.  We don’t have a generator so are at the whim of the National Power Authority (NPA).  A phrase you will hear often in Freetown at the moment is “Light don go” meaning there is no electricity.  The one I would prefer to hear much more often is “Light don kam”.  We’ve been without for over a week now but we did have 3 hours the other night when everything was plugged in to charge, water pumped from the storage tank to tank on roof and I popped on my water heater so I could enjoy a hot shower.

Oh the joys of living in Freetown.  Here are some pics of my new bedroom.

Another bed

lots of lovely wardrobe space

pictures of friends from home make the place feel like home

Bye Bye Aoife – another sad goodbye

When I arrived here with VSO I did not arrive alone. I came with 3 others on the same flight from Heathrow that Sunday morning – 15 months ago today.  They were Caroline, Deborah and Aoife.  Caroline and Deborah left last year but Aoife and I have hung around longer.

Today that changed as I am left as the last man standing.  Aoife was placed at a charity run hospital in Makeni where she was in charge of the lab.  She has done an amazing job – so much so that her year placement was extended by 3 months.  She has inspired her lab boys and how I love to hear the tales of life in the lab.

Despite our placements being some distance apart we have managed to become close friends as we started on this rollercoaster at the same time and were there to help each other through the ups and downs.  We have shared many a night on the balcony in Freetown setting the world to rights.

Today though she boarded the BA flight and is on her way back to Ireland.  She has not been home at all in the last 15 months (unlike softy me who has managed 3 trips).  Supermarkets and shops will be a shock – the choices will be overwhelming.  When I saw her off this morning she was looking forward to not sweating any more, a glass of cold white wine and some cheese.  Oh the simple things we take for granted.

All the very best for the future Aoife and I know our paths will cross often in the future.  Happy memories remain of the Sierra Leone marathons, the Olympics Opening Ceremony, days at the beach and nights in Makeni.

Beach Hopping with Banke – Black Johnson to Bureh

So there we were back where we started.  Tired, hot, sweaty and scratched we were not at our best.  There was no time to dwell on the hour and half in the forest so we forged ahead back up the track to the road.

Once we reached the road we remembered how few vehicles use it.  We walked and walked holding our hands out in vain each time a car parked.  One taxi in particular sticks in my mind – 2 in the front seat, 4 in the back and 2 sitting in the boots with the boot lid over their knees.  Not enough time to pull the camera out I’m afraid.

The long road ahead

So on we trudged beginning to believe that we may have to walk all the way to Bureh where we had a room booked for the night.  Then a result!  We heard a car, turned around, put out our thumbs and crossed our other fingers.  What?  A pick up was coming straight for us.  Would it stop?  It did and sitting in the back were our friends Jo and Meghan.  What a co-incidence and boy were we happy to see them.  We happily crawled in the back of the pick up and enjoyed the views.

Clambering into our chariot

Happy sitting down

Resting our tired feet

Milan was our saviour and here we are with him and his friend Abdul at the beach. 

With our drivers

First things first we ordered lunch and then headed into the water – bliss.  Banke headed off for a surf lesson.  Me?  I had not energy for that so lay taking in the views and taking group photos to remember the day.

Banke and her board

Gorgeous

Sunset

 

I love this view

The girls enjoy the beach

 We had a hut booked at Levi's and we crawled to bed at 8.30pm after a great couple of days.

Beach Hopping with Banke – York to John Obey

Scrambling over the rocks it took us around 2 hours to reach York.  This is a fishing village with a pretty small beach.  We met a couple of fishermen there mending their nets who confirmed what we thought – no more scrambling as to get to Black Johnson we would have to take to the road again.

Fishing boats under repair at York

Mending the nets

We set off up the long hill to the main road where we planned to catch a taxi to Black Johnson.  It turns out not many cars go along the peninsula road and even less taxis.  Finally one came past.  It already had 4 passengers but that’s no problem we can easily squeeze two in the front seat and 4 in the back.  So all crammed in together off we went.  At one point it looked like the driver was planning to squeeze in a seventh but luckily he thought better of it.  Ten minutes later we were deposited at the top of the track for the 15 minute downhill walk to the beach.

This is truly a stunning beach and on reflection we should have started at Big Water to walk the full length of it.  We had a much need soft drink and admired the views before setting out towards John Obey.

Another view to remember

the flora

We had been told that there was an old slave route between these two beaches and were directed to the start.  There were now three of us as Black Leo, a lovely wee dog, joined us.  Boy were we glad he did!  So off we delved into the forest .  An hour, they said, and you’ll be there.  The path was quite hard to make out but we made good progress for about 15 minutes.  Then?  Disaster – a fallen down tree blocked our way.  Most people would have turned back but not us two intrepid travellers, no we thought we could find a way round.  Bad idea.

Black Leo showing us the way

An hour and a half later after being scraped by bushes, tripping over creepers and worst of all attacked by ants we were back where we started.  The funniest moment was when we stepped on the ants at the entrance to one, of many, small coves.  Funny as we threw down our belongings to strip off our clothes to brush off the wee buggers.  We gave up on the forest at that point and clambered over many rocks to finally see the sight we had left behind. Black Leo with us all the way looking a trifle perplexed at what we were up to.

Back here again!

Worth seeing twice though

At this point if we could have been beamed back to Freetown we both would happily have gone but no we carried on….

Beach Hopping with Banke – Tokeh to York

After a restful night’s sleep under a fan, with the reassuring sound of the waves hitting the shore, we awoke ready to move on.  We had a relaxed breakfast chatting to fellow guests and eventually hit the beach at 9am heading towards the fishing village of York.

Within minutes of leaving Tokeh Sands we passed the swanky new Swit Salone development of The Place at Tokeh.  This is looking forward to what the tourist industry in Sierra Leone can become with enough investment and foresight.  There are about 30 individual chalet type rooms with air conditioning, TV and high speed wifi.  The complex has a pool (despite being 30 feet from the ocean), 3 different restaurants and plans for a spa – very ambitious.  And very expensive - $300per night at weekends.  It will be interesting to see how it fares. No pictures I’m afraid as the security guard following us through the property told us “No Snapping”.  Friendly!

On we walked past fishermen mending nets, children playing in the sand and dogs sleeping off the excesses of the night before.  Another river to cross this morning, River No.1, no boat required only pulling our shorts us up and wading.  

We cut up into the forest again for a bit descending into a magical cove where we found remnants of Salone’s previous encounter with tourism.

Another breathtaking view

A marvellous view of the Banana Islands

 

In the years before the war there were two resorts at Tokeh.  Visitors would be helicoptered to the beach, the helipad is still there, and taken to the hotels or villas nestled along the coast line.  Oh to have a time machine to experience that.  What exists today are terracotta tiled patios, shells of buildings where you can still feel what the rooms would have been like with tiled bathrooms, electricity and running water. Banke and I ooed and aaed our way around as we explored.

This would have been a lovely holiday destination

Imagine having all this to yourself

And this view on walking down to beach

Let's have a look!

A bed once

A functioning bathroom once

We had to move on thought as we were hoping to reach John Obey this morning, so we walked on over the rocks to come to York where we would have to go back to the road.

Off we go!