Liberia to Sierra Leone

Six weeks gone and six new countries visited. The first leg of the trip is now over after arriving in Freetown yesterday afternoon. A day to regroup and say goodbye to those that are leaving us and meet the new passengers joining us on the next leg from Freetown to Dakar.

We’ve had some fabulous beach time in both Liberia and Sierra Leone which boast some of the best beaches in the world. Palm trees, golden sand, crystal clear warm seas and very few people - in fact, it is very easy to find stretches of coast line that you can have entirely to yourself. The Sierra Leone beaches are particularly spectacular with forest covered mountains meeting the ocean (the name Sierra Leone meaning Lion Mountains). These countries are both hidden gems which will surely one day have tourist industries. After their turbulent pasts, they were both starting to get back on their feet before ebola struck. It has been fascinating particularly to visit Sierra Leone, a country that I always think of as prefixed by the words “war torn”. Whilst most West African countries have had civil wars, Sierra Leone’s was particularly brutal in terms of the nature of the fighting, its child soldiers, the methods of killing, and an estimated one in three women and girls raped. It is shocking and hard to comprehend what these people have lived through. In a small village on the banks of the Moa River, a young man who took us on a walking tour of Tiwai Island described how, as a child, their entire village was burnt and the many times they had to run and hide in the forest to escape the fighting. Three of his siblings were killed during the civil war.

Tiwai Island is a conservation area that is home to 11 different species of primate and numerous birds, as well as the very elusive and nocturnal pygmy hippos. Suffice to say, we were not fortunate enough to find any of those, but we did see Red Colobus monkeys, Diana monkeys, Campbell’s monkeys and the Sooty Mangabey monkeys (who even knew that there was a monkey known as the Sooty Mangabey?!). It was a special experience to take an early morning walk through the forest to the sounds of the monkeys and the birds in the trees above.

The roads in Sierra Leone have been the worst yet. I feel as if I have spent several days of my life driving along single vehicle width dirt roads bordered by dense jungle on either side, although in fact it was probably only two days. The “main road” from the border with Liberia was particularly slow usually only covering about 10km (6 miles) per hour. So yes, it is entirely possible to run faster than that, however the heat, the dust and the humidity might slow you down! Sierra Leone has a rainy season and what the locals call the baking season. We are currently in the baking season which is probably just as well because the roads would all be completely impassable during the rains. Seemingly, there is no happy medium between torrential damaging rains and insufferable heat here… Will be making the most of my air conditioned hotel room today as we head out of Freetown tomorrow to cross the border into Guinea.. which means guaranteed sitting around at the border for several hours in the blazing heat for no apparent reason..the joys of travelling in West Africa!