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As this is a travel blog website I feel like I should take some time to talk about the occasions when I have been a tourist in Sierra Leone and not only the work that I am doing here. I was lucky enough to be able to take two weeks off work to travel around the country with my boyfriend who flew over to visit me. Sierra Leone has endless hidden treasures and massive potential for tourism in the future. Some places that we went to were difficult to reach but every where we went was well worth the effort to get there.
Our first stop was Banana Island which is south along the peninsula from Freetown. A private car organized by the hotel we were staying in offered to drive us there for $100 plus petrol money, thankfully I knew that we could get there by public transport so we declined and completed the journey for Le30,000 which is less that $10. Our journey was far from direct or comfortable but we got to see a much more interesting and honest view of Freetown and the area surrounding it. Along the way we passed through places with
names like Waterloo, Hastings and Kent obvious marks left behind by the British during the years when this country was a colony. Changing from one poda poda (mini bus) to another we walked through streets crowded with stalls selling anything and everything, bright colours, smells of food and the stink of rubbish bombarded our senses. When we reached the southern tip of the peninsula we were met by Greg the Greek who runs Daltons where we had booked to stay on Banana Island and we clambered aboard his boat for the crossing. It was such a bright clear day he asked if we minded if he did a spot of fishing on our journey over which of course we were more than happy for him to do.
Our accommodation for the evening was a lovely little hut right on the beach and the restaurant was completely open and built around the giant palm trees that grew there. One of the activities on offer was snorkelling and as I’ve never done it before I was keen to try. I always knew that there is a whole other world under the ocean but it was amazing to get a
window to watch it all through. I loved floating around the rocks lining the small cove trying to spot as many different fish as possible or following particular ones to see where they would go. Greg is also a scuba diving instructor so on our second day we had an introduction lesson. There was a lot more to learn and remember for scuba and it was such a weird feeling it took me the whole lesson to relax and enjoy it. I’m sure with practise I would be more comfortable with it but for a one off quick win I would choose snorkelling.
From Banana Island we worked our way back up the peninsula coastline stopping at beaches along the way. I’d heard from friends that Bureh beach was pretty and the guide said that it’s possible to surf there so we crammed ourselves into a taxi and got on our way. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find that there were actually some decent waves, not big, but enough for some gentle surfing. We dropped our stuff in the beach hut, rented boards (and snorkels) and headed out for a day in the water.
I’ll admit I’m not really any good at surfing so after a while I switched to exploring the coastline both along the beach and using my snorkel in the little coves. Sam however loves surfing and other than breaks for food and water he stayed out in the waves until the sun was down beyond the horizon.
To have a break from public transport we decided to make our way to the next beach by foot walking along the coastline. Thank fully it had rained in the early morning and it was still overcast when we set off which gave us some relief from the blistering heat of the sun. A river joins the sea at Bureh so our first task was to cross this; a local showed us a good point where the water was only knee deep which I was really grateful for as I knew from the previous day in the water that in places the river was both deep and strong. We were then faced with a long hike along the beach, it was great to see so much of the coastline but it was hard going as we kept sinking in the
soft sand and we were both carrying big bags which weighed us down. At one point along the journey the top of the beach gave way to a steep cliff....unfortunately this happened to coincide with high tide so we had to dash along through the waves. At one point a fallen tree blocked our path and we had to run down and round with the wave, needless to say we both got a bit wet but it was all good fun. Along the rest of the journey we passed through a sand mining village, a ‘voluntourism’ site called Tribe Wanted, and a forest covered headland, before eventually reaching our destination, Black Johnson beach.
Black Johnson it very remote and peaceful, the night that we stayed we were the only people there so we had the whole beach to ourselves. Every beach has a very individual character and style and this one was very much like a cast-away island. As the beach is in a deep cove set back from the main coastline you can’t see the outline of the rest of peninsula which gives a feeling of being on an island separate from everything. Although it’s stunning
there isn’t much to do at Black Johnson so we filled our day paddling in the sea, walking along the beach, and drinking local palm wine in the evening.
From the beach we had to walk back up though the forest to the main road where we hoped to find some public transport heading in the Freetown direction. Minutes after setting off the heavens opened and we were drenched to the skin in seconds. Still there was no where to shelter and we were already soaked so we carried on walking and reached the road shortly after. The only transport to pass us during the first 15 minutes or so were trucks or very full taxis, Sam is very impatient so he then decided that anything coming along he would try to stop to ask for a lift. Thank fully this decision paid off as the next vehicle was a private 4x4 with two guys heading for Freetown who were more than happy to drop us off at River No. 2 on their way.
River No. 2 is the closest beach to Freetown and as such is popular for day visits or a weekend
get-away from the big city. As it was mid week when we arrived the place was still peaceful but it again had a very different feel from our previous stops and felt much more like a package tourist deal. Still the sand was pure white, the water crystal clear so there was nothing to complain about and we explored the beach and swam in the sea and the lagoon created at the river mouth. Late in the afternoon we took a boat trip up river to a waterfall. The journey took us through a mangrove forest which was amazing to see close up as they are fascinating trees. We were also lucky enough to see some wildlife as we paddled along including palm nut vultures, king fishers and even a few monkeys. As the rainy season hadn’t really set in yet the water levels were still quite low and when we reached the waterfall we were able to get out and clamber up the rock to the top which provided us with a lovely view back down to the coastline and across the forest covered hills that surrounded us.
The following morning we made our way back
to Freetown to carry on our journey in a different area of the country. Our plans were to explore Freetown and then head north to see Makeni and to try to make it to Outamba-Kilimi National Park. To be continued.....
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
SURFING IN SIERRA LEONE
Wow