Bye bye beach, hello mountains

Bureh beach is an amazing place, if I had to compare it to other beautiful places in Africa, it would certainly be in my top 3. The relaxed atmosphere makes it stand out from other places, most of the day the van would be wide open, without me having to worry about theft and no pushy sellers of souvenirs were to be seen. Cold beers were served right up to the van and ladies selling cookies, eggs or even more would just present themselves.

Alima and some school children

Cookie lady came by every day

All were very happy with their own picture

My new guard dogs

Life was slow during the week, with the white expaxts only showing up in the weekend, but 2 backpackers from Norway arrived and together we made a daytrip to Banana Island.

Fruit bats at Banana Island

Ever seen a banana this color?

At one of the party weekends Gary met a Spanish guy building schools up North in Kabala and as he was looking for a project to support he made arrangements to go and visit these projects. For me, spending 9 days in a row on a beach was plenty, and as I was going the same way back into Guinnea, I joined him towards Kabala. Being up in the mountains I looked forward to a bit cooler temperatures too. We said goodbye to the lovely people of the Rakis hotel and the surf club and were happy to find the road in good condition, with only the last part slowing us down because of roadworks.
Coco, as the Spanish guy was called, turned out to be a great guy, already for 2 years in Sierra Leone, he build 4 schools together with the locals. As these little villages are only accesible with motorbikes, Coco repaired his little honda 125 for me to ride, so the next day we could drive out in the jungle with 3 bikes.

Coco

Gary on the way up to the villages

 It turned out to be quiet an adventure, after some more repairs in the morning, we only left at 11 so we needed to hurry to complete this 100 km round trip to 3 villages. But even before we made it to the first one, I had a flat tyre, one that prooved difficult to fix, both Gary and Coco busted their knuckels getting the tire off the rim. Coco had a pretty deep gash in his finger and to make matters worse, we pinched the tube getting the tire back on. So the 2 remaining bikes drove to the next village while I waited for them to return.

Lit a fire to keep the flies away

In a good hour they came back with the wheel fixed and so we made it to the village of Kadanka. We also managed to reach the next one through some amazing little roads riding up and down big mountains, but luckily we skipped the last one and were already on the way back when Coco's bike lost the retainer of the front sprocket. Just before dark we made it back on 2 bikes to Kabala to end the adventure with cold beers and nice food in the 'Choices' bar.
After that I had a bit of a rest day while Gary and Coco went for more and the next day I was to drive North into Guinea.

Beach time

Fishermen on Tokeh beach

Last week has been spend relaxing on the beaches of the Freetown peninsula. After Laka beach, were Jason put up with us for free for 4 days, we stopped at Nr2 river beach and Tokeh. But the most amazing place surely is Bureh beach, where the boys of the 'Bureh Beach Surf Club' welcomed us and Gary finally got back on his board again.

The pink fruit is called apples and taste like apples too

 I made a good deal with the owner of the next door hotel 'Rakis Beach Side Resort' to let me use the bathroom and showers and I am parked in a quiet spot almost right on the beach. There is no hassle from anyone and the place is secure, so at night I sleep with all the doors open, looking at the stars and hoping for a breeze. Dough even if there is a breeze, the temperatures doesn't drop below 27°c. Days usually get a steady 32°c, but it's the humidity that gets to you, both Gary and I are struggeling with a bit of a cold, coughing with a runny nose and a headache, weird. I'm planning on one more weekend and on monday it's back to work, well, back on the road, for the 3 month trip back home.

www.bugsonmyboard.org

Sierra Leone

So there I was in Conacky parked next to a Total gas station near the Sierra Leonian embassy. From 9 in the morning I sat in the embassy, and when I filled in the application they said I would need a hotel reservation. So within 30 minutes I came back with a reservation I printed myself and they were pleased with that, however the visa would be isued in 72 hours. As I didn't fancy spending 3 days next to a dump, I pushed a bit to get it the same day. After explaning that I'm sleeping in my car on the street and an elebarate private interview with the ambassador they told me to come back in the afternoon. It was walking back at 3 the same afternoon that I spotted a motorbike with a surfboard strapped to it, that could only be one guy, Garry. I know Garry from a tread on the HUBB and met him already  in Morocco, so it was nice to see him again. He was going to put his tent at the gasstation as I went to pick up the visa and laisser passer, which for Sierra Leone is also printed at the embassy. Next day we drove up to the border in good spirits, but when we were finaly in, it was 4 hours later and both of us were at boiling point, especially the last hour long discussion about our 'carte brune' insurance not being valid was too much. I ended up bribing and paying my way into Sierra Leone, but at least we were on perfect asfalt roads. After a mechanical hickup (the gear change lever came loose), we found a perfect spot by a river to camp.

The next day we drove straight through Freetown in search of the famous beaches and there I was, at my final destination and on the perfect location. We ended up at Jason's 'Hard Rock' hotel in Laka beach, and I must say, it comes very close to what I envisioned when I dreamed about driving a van to Freetown 6 months ago. Just look at the picture....

Broken down just over the border

Garry and me