Blogs from Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa - page 5

DAG 1 ”So have you been to Freetown before?” spurgte jeg herren der stod i køen ved siden af mig på vej ud af flyveren. ”Ohh, yes I have” svarede han med en britisk accent. Jeg spurgte ham om man skulle gå langt for at komme hen til helikopteren der transportere en ind til selve Freetown. ”Ohh, the two helicopters has been grounded. You see the motor broke down in one of them and the other occationaly spit fire, so’ll you have to take the ferry.” Aha, jeg havde hørt historier om hvordan ingen ellers tog den færge, og jeg forstod godt hvorfor da jeg stod på dækket af noget der lignede en kasseret færge der i sin tid sagtens kunne have sejlet mellem fastland og en eller anden lille ø i Danmark. Den var selvfølgelig ... read more

After paying a small bribe at the Pamalap-Kambia border and waving goodbye to the woman claiming to be the presidents daughter, we arrived in Freetown. A blood-red full moon shed light on Freetowns landmark - the imposing 500 year old cotton tree - as innumerable bats left their daylight refuge among the cotton trees gnarled branches. Once again we stayd in one of my aunts apartments, right in the city centre. Kerosene lanterns and candles compose the only streetlight in this city of no electricity - and ablaze the small popcorn/youghurt-vendours, the street-pharmacies with their phony Nigerian pharmaceuticals and the dealers in hard liqueur - selling it in plastic bags. The decrepit, wooden colonial houses climbing the steep hills that make up the city, along with the as-loud-as-it-gets mobile sound systems - booming out music throughout ... read more