Blogs from Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa - page 2

So – Monday in Freetown! Mark and I headed out to seek out more accommodation for the international runners to stay in the night before they head home. In the evening we headed to the Hash – The Drinking Club with a Running Problem. Apparently there are Hash Harrier groups all over the world, and seeing as they are all keen runners, we thought they were a prime target for our marathon promotion. What an amazing experience! So there are runners and walkers, and for totally social reasons (yeah right!) I joined the walkers group so I could chat to people. Every week they start in a different location. The runners have trails left out for them and the walkers have a leader. Halfway around, someone has carefully planned a water stop (cold water!) and we ... read more

Ok, bear with me while you read this, I wrote the first part last week and thought I'd uploaded it... apparently not! So go back in time and imagine its this time last week.... Nearly Squashed a Biker Yesterday....! Apologies for the delay in getting in touch guys, I'm definitely still alive although I feel a bit dead as I've been running around like a headless chicken! Work has been crazy since my last post, here's what I've been up to... The mining camps tour went well, I've drummed up loads of interest in the marathon and even got lots of teams for the football tournament. After all my hard work, I got told the girls aren't allowed to enter a team because nobody would want to play us. Nice. Plus, its a marathon promotion event ... read more

The name Sierra Leone is originally Portuguese, meaning Lioness Mountains. Although I knew this and I knew that Freetown was on a peninsula I hadn’t expected to see the city rise out of the ocean in quite such a dramatic way. Our flight arrived at Lungi airport early in the morning and from there we travelled over to Freetown via boat allowing for good views of the green hills scattered with buildings. My first impression of Sierra Leone was that it reminded me a lot of Uganda. Red roads, vivid green trees, small stalls lining the streets selling anything and everything - just a little more chaotic. There are a few tarmac roads around the capitol but there are many more rough dirt roads scattered with potholes and completely uneven. Thankfully I travelled over with colleagues ... read more

Today I have been to the Tonkilili Iron ore mine, we left early for a 4 hour drive up through the country through mountains, hills and local villages. Sierra Leone is lush green with palm trees everywhere but tinged with orange dust, just like Ghana, it also has amazing scenery. We passed many villages with men building mud huts or making bricks, women washing clothes in streams or cooking and children carrying water or playing. I was snapping away with my camera and then “BANG” Charles (driver) had hit something he stopped and he said “I’m going back for that”, I will have that for my dinner, AND that ladies and gentlemen is why I take my own food to Sierra Leone! He had hit a hawk, it was an amazing bird, so huge and I ... read more

My Journey home started at 4pm Freetown time (5pm UK time) where I was taken to the port and bought a ticket for the ferry for Lunghi which is where the airport is based, whilst sitting waiting for the ferry an elderly gentleman came in and said "are you going to London?" of which I replied yes, he asked if I would post a letter for him - it had a UK stamp on it so I agreed, after he walked off the others in the room told me to open it as I dont know what is in the letter - and of course they are right, it really was stupid of me to agree to take the letter - I guess its just my trusting nature. Thankfully upon opening the letter it only contained ... read more