Sierra Leone Side-track

Hello all,

I first considered going to Sierra Leone when Brian started extolling its virtues as a virgin tourist territory with excellent wildlife spotting and stunning beaches. Later I changed my mind about mydesire to visit and when Marc decided definitively to go, it was with a few misgivings that I chose to come with. It is clear to me now that by going there I gave up something else but at the time the path merely appeared to be cloudy.

Leaving Guinea Conakry, police problems and a rather hassled time behind us, our spirits rose. Poulet Yassa at a Senegalese restaurant for dinner and an amusing time scoping out a beach front construction property as a possible campsite (the caretaker thought we wanted to buy it and told us to come back in a month!), we set out at night to avoid traffic jams and police stops. In the hills outside of Conakry we found a pretty setting for a campsite. Come the morning, we realised how close to the village we were and that this was their chilli growing patch. Many people came out to greet us including one man who had found a rock and wanted to know if we could tell him what it was. Clear quartz.

On the way to the boarder we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls where I took a refreshing swim, watching the droplets gleam like diamonds as they caught the sun to fall around me. The entry to Sierra Leone atanother remote boarder control (they didn't even have a customs) proved remarkably smooth. Clearly not used to overland drivers, there was little hassle about bribes and a general unawareness of whatformalities should be concluded.

The drive to Ottomba-Killumi N. P. took us through native bush and on a small ferry crossing, motorised and on chains to pull from one bank to the other with a capacity limit of only a couple of cars. Passing through a village, we met a guy who promised we could find chimpanzees here, exchanged money at a terrible rate, filled up our water containers at the local pump and were introduced to the village chief (annoyingly located next to the bread seller so you can't avoid him) who was looking for a donation.

The lodging area at the N.P. consisted of several wooden huts and a large grassy area for tents, located next to a river. In the background, there loomed a handful of ruined brick buildings, reminders of the war. These turned out to be common all over Sierra Leone and burnt out cars. The Rebels at play.

I felt uncomfortable there, edgy, which could be put down to a variety of different reasons. This feeling underlies my entire time in Sierra Leone so that whilst blue skies and a blazing sun is typical of mostdays, even now when I think back it's coloured stormy. Underlying vibrations still resonating from the war (I cried whilst reading SL's history to Marc in the car), the inescapable poverty, hope for futuremixed with futility, coming to terms with why Africa has so many problems, a breakdown in my relationship with Marc, a sense that I was off my path and abandonment by my spiritual guides left me off balance. I was not meant to be there but I do not regret what I learnt from being there.

We made a couple of hikes in the N.P. The first a half day one to a hippo pool, our only wildlife sightings being black Colubus monkeys which were actually quite cool to see bounding from tree to tree. No hippos. The next day we left at 8am for an all day trek to a waterfall. The going was hard with numerous river crossings. The mud too sticky to just walk through we had to find vines and tree branches to shimmy across to the other side. For much of the hike there was no trail and we were macheting through grasses ½ a meter taller than us. Slow going with constant back-tracking.

At 1pm Marc and I discussed how if we continued it would be difficult for us to return before dark. This worried me but if we were close it seemed a shame not to reach the falls after going so far. Our guidecould not give us accurate information partly because he did not know and partly because it depended on how lucky we were in finding the right way. This was a real bush walk. Every now and then we would find tracks in the mud, spoor or broken grass trails indicating elephants or hippos, but sadly despite some recent tracks, we never saw or heard any of them.

Half an hour later we could hear the rumble of the falls and it was with great elation that we finally arrived, only to discover a series of rapids and pools. No falls. Nevertheless it was wonderful to swimand wash off the plants and grasses aggravating the skin. A quick lunch and then we had to face the punishing 6 hour hike back again.

Drinking water running low, out of food and the sun fading away, we had been lost so many times already the hike back was taking longer than out. I had naively thought we could follow our tracks back but that was impossible. Occasionally I recognised an area we passed through and we had at least thankfully found the river. If we kept that on our right we would eventually make it back to camp. Marc gave a torch to the guide so we could push on but in the dark finding places to cross the rivers was incredibly difficult. The bush closed in around us and after walking in circles for 30mins, Marc and I sank to the ground to rest whilst our guide looked for a way.

It was a little scary. I knew we would make it back, even if we had to wait until daylight, but if we had to sleep in the bush, I also knew I would be eaten alive and was nervous about how I would copehaving to walk for hours without water. I wished I'd brought mosquito repellent, a torch and more water. Marc, carrying a load of camera equipment wished he'd swapped that for water purifying tablets. The incidence should have brought us closer together but as we lay on the ground, my head resting on his stomach for comfort, he felt so far away. Far cry from the support we instinctively gave each other on the Camino.

The guide found a way and we carried on. It took great willpower just to put one foot infront of the other. I was exhausted, but the thought of what would happen if we stayed out kept me going. We found a large flat rock and the guide extolled "we will never be lost again" as we lay on it looking at the rising moon. Fatal last words, shortly after we were lost again as we had to find our way around a finalriver, but then finally we were back at the canoe and paddling over the river to the camp. Later we realised it was about 11pm when we made it back. Downing water and ready to go to bed, I was amazed that Marc wanted to cook so stayed up to eat, thinking it probably wasn't such a bad idea.

The next day we ended up lazing most of it away as well as washing our clothes that had been trashed in hiking. Below my knees, my legs and feet were scratched and bitten all over and looked shocking. Marc and I had a nasty row and were giving each other space. Both of us began thinking, without the others knowledge, about going our separate ways. After living with each other 24/7 for the last 2.5 months, it seems we'd had enough of each other.

What stopped me from bolting were partially practicalities, Marc's car being easy to get around in and, realistically, we were in the middle of nowhere. Also because post Camino, this is my time to learn tolive with other people. In marriage you are going to have bust-ups and then you have to work it out and keep going. I hated the tension, the misunderstandings, the lack of communication and the feeling of disconnection but this were just with Marc, it'd be more intense with a husband. I have to learn to handle this. So I stayed put.

On leaving the N.P. we bumped into the teacher who had originally promised us chimps and he arranged for his brother, a hunter to go and look for them and then take us to see them. This revived our excitement and over toasted cheese sandwiches, a silent truce was accepted between us.

We searched for chimps but they proved elusive although the hunter had found two earlier. The next morning we tried again but walking through the undergrowth proved too noisy and whilst I did briefly spot a black hairy chimp like blob falling from a tree, and despite many recent signs of chimps eating, we gave them too much warning to keep ahead of us and out of sight.

Next stop the stunning, palm-fringed white beaches of Freetown. We ended up camping here for nearly two weeks at River No. 2. A beautiful beach set at an estuary in which crocodiles supposedlylived, against a mountain backdrop covered in native bush. Very peaceful.

Here we met several expats working in Freetown in all capacities, NGO's (non-governmental organisations), conservation, charities, the Court, British High Commission, a psychologist and private companies. It was very interesting to hear all the different viewpoints and together with some magazines Marc found on Africa (and drawing my own experiences all over Africa), it helped me to understand why Africa has the problems it has and the people have the attitude they do.

Marc was keen to establish contacts within the medical industry and looking to explore options for working here as a doctor. I realizing that Marc was not going to be leaving Freetown (way before he realized it himself) started making my own plans to reach Mali and enjoying my final beach time for a while. Apart from a lot of swimming and some trekking in the area, checking out bustling Freetown complete with witch doctors and bat-filled trees and the best fried chicken I have ever tasted, we were invited to a party at the British High Commission, good to see how the taxes are wasted abroad ; ) and visited a chimpanzee sanctuary, a very moving and educational experience.

All orphans with human interactions as pets, forced entertainers etc., they have learnt that they are stronger than humans which actually makes them dangerous because unsurprisingly after there interactions with humans, they do not like us much. A chimp can kill a human no problem. A wild chimp would never attack a human. They are actually very like us, 98%. Mature at 13 and live till 50. Watching them interact with each other is fascinating as they show emotions, will use tools and have complex society structures.

Babies stay in constant contact with their mothers until 5 years old (breast fed), but any chimps you have seen on e.g. TV are probably younger than that and have gone through severe psychological trauma. The dependence of a baby on its mother being complete, more intense and for longer than a human baby.

Whilst the sanctuary would love to release the chimps, they can't. Partially because there is no way to guarantee their safety in the wild and partially because if someone was to try and re-capture one ofthese chimps, he could be killed (which most conservations would consider to be rough justice and to an extent so do I). There are lots of programs to protect the remaining live chimps and it would bea terrible shame for this fascinating and beautiful primate to be sentenced to the history books. I could go on and on about the chimps as they really made an impression on me, but I will save it!

One day we visited the infamous Banana Islands by boat to go diving. The diving was all right. We saw a lot of large anchors and several canons (a first for me) as well as some beautiful fish, albeit insmall numbers. Unfortunately a tropical storm decided to drench us all the way back which made for a cold trip.

On our last night on the beach, I made mulled wine (in the Christmas spirit) with the rest of the disgusting boxed red wine we'd bought. It was a stunning sunset, colouring the whole sky red and orange, of which Marc set the camera to take a photo of the two of us. We had a version of baba ganoush for dinner – an aubergine and tomato dish that Marc is obsessed with, mostly because I think it's the only thing that he knows how to cook which luckily I like ; )

By now our friendship was as close as ever. Knowing that we were both going our separate ways had taken a lot of the pressure off, which was great because after everything we had been through and all the fun we did have together, it would have been a real shame to end on a sour note.

92 days we travelled together, 24/7 often with only the other for company across chartered and not so well chartered terrain. You say "tomato", I say "tomaeto" has nothing on how different we are, independent and stubborn. In many ways it was a miracle we lasted as long as we did! Through it all, one thing remains the same. It was the best time I've ever had on land and the way I travel will never be quite the same again.

Hope you are all well and happy and that you had a very Merry Christmas!!
Lots of love
Kathryn xx