life in Sierra Leone

Outside of Freetown there is virtually no internet so this will probably be our only post from Sierra Leone (we are here for another couple of weeks).

Sierra Leone is very green and very beautiful. It is also very humid. The rainy season has extended a good couple of weeks longer than normal already.

Freetown is surprisingly green considering how dirty and polluted it is and how many people are trying to live in such a small space.

The traffic in Freetown is ridiculous. Two and a half hours to travel six kilometres. Our favourite was trying to get on a poda poda (minibus) at the end of the working day. Thousands of people streaming down to the start of the route and every time a vehicle appeared a huge surge of people would push forward and clamber through any opening to get on, there was a boy's legs dangling from each window as well as 30 people at a time trying to get through the door. This was before anyone had managed to get off. This doesn't mean the city isn't fun, quite the opposite, just a bit of a challenge.

People in Sierra Leone like to argue. If something isn't right people shout. Then everyone nearby joins in. The great thing about it is that as soon as the shouting stops everyone carries on as if nothing has happened. Even after the police wrongly knocked a man off his bike and handcuffed him. The best fight witnessed so far was when a man ran up to the window of our poda poda and claimed the driver hadn't given him his change. The occupants of the bus erupted (as much as possible when there are 20 adults sat in a tiny van) all screaming in unison, as the man had never been on the minibus. Then the bus stopped, people got out, passers-by joined in, everyone screamed. Ten minutes later it turns out the man was wrong and we all carry on as if nothing has happened.

We spent a night at a chimpanzee sanctuary. The chimpanzees were excellent. they farted a lot while eating. later they ate some of their poo. They hug each other a lot. We like them.

We went to the Turtle Islands. Distance wise not too far from Freetown but due to difficulties of transport, infrastructure and fuel costs a very remote part of the world. Stunning islands on the edge of the Atlantic. Amazing. Unfortunately due to a camera incident there will proabbly never be photos but if there had been they would have shown perfect palm-tree lined sandy beaches dotted with small thatched villages. One of the few places in the world that looks exactly like the make-believe portrayal of such places.

In other news we will be home in December. Just in time for Christmas. Yippee!