Oct 28
Around 8am, we loaded up in our Nissan Patrol that we had hired from another Christian organisation. Slowly we traveled through the overcrowded east end of Freetown before finally clearing the suburbs and heading out on the open highway.
Since the end of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, considerable progress has been made in rebuilding the countries roads. It was beautiful tar road almost all the way to Bo, our final destination (the road used to be absolutely terrible).
This is an incredibly beautiful country with dense green jungle covering much of it as well as many hills and mountains. It is hard to believe that most of the areas we travelled through were the scenes of intense and bitter fighting through most of the latter parts of the 90s. Even more amazing is that people of this country have chosen to forgive those who perpetrated such terribly atrocities against them during the war. Though disarmed war criminals live among them, Sierra Leone has no problems with retribution taking place. I would say it is at least as safe as any western country.
The people are all very friendly. We are constantly being approached by people trying to sell their merchandise. I feel bad negotiating price and even worse if I don’t buy anything. These people have families that they are trying to feed and they all want to make some money from you.
One thing we noticed was that like the Africans, we take note on the rare occasion when we see a white person (there are very very few in this country). We stopped at the town of Moyamba Junction for lunch (African food) before continuing on the final leg of our trip to Bo- a town that is far less crowded, but still the second largest in Sierra Leone.
I’ve been quite excited to find that after almost 15 years I am still very fluent in Krio. We are staying in a small hotel with air conditioning and a swimming pool. We have been very grateful for both after stiflingly hot days.
Around 8am, we loaded up in our Nissan Patrol that we had hired from another Christian organisation. Slowly we traveled through the overcrowded east end of Freetown before finally clearing the suburbs and heading out on the open highway.
Since the end of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, considerable progress has been made in rebuilding the countries roads. It was beautiful tar road almost all the way to Bo, our final destination (the road used to be absolutely terrible).
This is an incredibly beautiful country with dense green jungle covering much of it as well as many hills and mountains. It is hard to believe that most of the areas we travelled through were the scenes of intense and bitter fighting through most of the latter parts of the 90s. Even more amazing is that people of this country have chosen to forgive those who perpetrated such terribly atrocities against them during the war. Though disarmed war criminals live among them, Sierra Leone has no problems with retribution taking place. I would say it is at least as safe as any western country.
The people are all very friendly. We are constantly being approached by people trying to sell their merchandise. I feel bad negotiating price and even worse if I don’t buy anything. These people have families that they are trying to feed and they all want to make some money from you.
One thing we noticed was that like the Africans, we take note on the rare occasion when we see a white person (there are very very few in this country). We stopped at the town of Moyamba Junction for lunch (African food) before continuing on the final leg of our trip to Bo- a town that is far less crowded, but still the second largest in Sierra Leone.
I’ve been quite excited to find that after almost 15 years I am still very fluent in Krio. We are staying in a small hotel with air conditioning and a swimming pool. We have been very grateful for both after stiflingly hot days.
R.W.
I'm so glad that you guys are having a good time! I noticed you have almost no comments, but rest assured, people are reading! I really enjoy hearing about all your adventures.
ReplyDeleteYou said you took notice of other white people just as much as the Africans. Thats how it was for some of us in Mexico. There was a group of us walking and suddenly we spotted another group of white people. As we walked, both groups stared at each other. They were the first white people I had seen in the city outside of our group. It's kind of a funny feeling, eh? You wonder why every stares at you all the time, until you find yourself doing the exact same thing.
LOL, it's exactly true :)
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