Flying With VIP

Oct 25


Image 1 - On the flight from London Heathrow to Sierra Leone

Image 2 - About to take the water taxi across the bay from Lungi Airport to the capital city Freetown

It’s hot out here! But let me begin with our flight. We had wonderfully clear skies, which allowed me to see the Sahara desert for the very first time: lots of red sand- flatter than Manitoba. After we landed in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the plane had to make an extra stop for a single VIP to disembark on a red carpet and a row of saluting people- we had flown to Africa with the President of Sierra Leone!!

The sun had set when we arrived, so I couldn’t anticipate all the pot holes (in Canada they would be called sink holes) we had to dodge around and go through with the shuttle van. This was on the way to the boat that would take us from the airport (which is on Lungi Island) to Freetown. From the landing, we took two taxi’s to our hostel… I would love to compare this taxi trip to the legendary ones in New York!

The evening has been very humid- thankfully the city has almost 24hr electricity, and the hostel’s generator makes up for the power failures, which means the fan in our room will probably stay on all night! No blanket’s needed, and I believe pyjama’s could be optional. Hopefully the parade of people singing through the streets at midnight won’t be making music all night!

S.W.