So don’t you sit upon the
shoreline and say you’re satisfied.
Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance that tide.
-Garth Brooks-
Today we have a new family.
We have grown from 5 to 12 people
overnight. It will be a small adjustment
and for the next 21 days we were again on the move. I still find it hard to believe that I have
been gone for 7 weeks already. The time
for me has just flown by and they say time flies when you are having fun and I
am having a ball. I am also now getting
excited about going home for a week and then heading to Australia for 5
glorious weeks. I think with the emails
I got the last 2 days from Shelly and her telling me the girls are super
excited to see me (and I them) the reality is now settling in and I like
it. I will be in Australia NEXT
MONTH. It is also my birthday next month
and I have always been a countdowner to that as well, but until I am back and
spoiled rotten by Shelly and the girls (as we have always done) that won’t sink
in that I am a year older and I will be turning the BIG 4-0 next year. Katie asked me what I was going to do for my
40th next year, and I don’t know yet. It will all depend on my travel plans as I am
thinking of traversing Central Africa next year, so a lot of things will have
to be moved around those trip dates. But
I need to look into that a little further and a lot more homework required on
that. But for now, I am in Freetown and
we leave this morning with new people in tow and heading back to the peninsular
for 2 glorious nights back on the Sierra Leone beaches before getting stuck
back into overlanding once more. Even
though we are trying hard not to-we do let little comment fly on how tough we
had the last 3 weeks, the bush camps, the no water, no power until 7pm at
night, eating chicken and chips for nearly an entire 4 weeks, tuna lunches for
the last 3 weeks and tinned meat and pasta for dinners. We may have painted a grim picture, but we
are just pre-warning them of what is to come…..
I was still trying to chase up my
washing. I had been told it would be
back last night. I chased it after
dinner last night and he said he would find out and get it delivered last
night. He never showed. I asked before breakfast and he said come
back after breakfast-I did and it wasn’t ready.
By this stage we were leaving in 40 minutes and I can tell you now we
would not be leaving without my clothes.
He said I would have them before 9am and finally at 9.15am when we had
all checked out of our rooms and all my bags were downstairs, he called me over
and said it was ready. 15 minutes before
leaving!!!! I walked through to the back
where they do the washing (at least it wasn’t outsourced) and I had to go
through the neatly ironed piles to find my 20 items. When it came time to pay the price was 50,500
(10AUD) and that included the cost of the ironing. I had specifically said I didn’t want my stuff
ironed and because they had stuffed me around so much I refused to pay for the
ironing cost. I am not normally that
type of person, but I was at my tether today and I put my foot down. He mentioned that the washing had already
been paid for (Sam must have done it with the rooms) so he told me to not
worry. But what he didn’t understand is
that I would have to pay Sam back that money, so it did matter and based on
that he had the sense to not argue with me and I was refunded the 18,000
(3.60AUD) which doesn’t sound much at the end of the day, but it was the point
and I felt a little justified when we completed the transaction and shook
hands. But it was a little stressful as
I am not sure if Sam and Zoe would have waited for my washing, but the upside
was they were still waiting for theirs as well-so I was in a little bit of a
safety zone hoping they wouldn’t leave without their own washing!!!
I had condensed my 7 bags down to 4 and
my souvenir bag was a good 8kg heavier with me able to transfer last sections
purchases into it. It was cool to look
at what I had actually bought the last 7 weeks and also look again at the
clothes that I had made and I am still totally happy with everything I
have. I need to still get more presents
for the Miracle Babies and also the house mothers and I also need to get Zoe
and Tess something in the next few weeks.
I have been so focused on masks and material I haven’t really tried to
look for anything else. In saying that
there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity, as they are not so touristic, say as
their east African friends, and I am sure if I looked harder or asked around I
would find things, and I think this will have to be high on the list for this
section. Zoe had moved the tents up to
the roof of the truck, so that we had pretty much all the back locker for all
the bags, including my bulging bag of ‘stuff’.
The hotel staff helped move all the bags to the truck and with Sam and
the guys onto the packing, us ladies left the men to it and only after about 10
minutes all the bags were in and we were ready to depart. I had cheekily snuck on the truck earlier,
just to drop off my camping bag, snack bag and handbag and picked the worst
seat in the truck to sit. It is the
worst seat because when the seats were put into Madge, for some reason the
second row on the right was not given much leg room and you can just squeeze in
there, so I thought for the first day I would take the yucky seat (which I sort
of don’t mind) and it is a seat where it would be insane to out 2 people, so it
could possibly be the only seat in the whole truck that will guarantee you a
single seat. Either way, that is where I
placed myself for the first day and with seat rotation high on Sam’s radar, we
will all move around and have our times in single and share seats. I thought it best I would go on last, that
way the seating would be sorted and I would know if there was someone next to
me. As it worked out, there wasn’t and
after we all had our seats and had settled in, I don’t think it was as bad as I
had anticipated, but then that could be an early call, but one that I should
make early in case it changes over the days.
We were locked and ready.
Based on the washing fiasco we left the
hotel 15 minutes late, but with a larger group, I think this was still good
timing and at the newbie meeting yesterday, none of them were really interested
in staying at the chimp place, which was a good thing as the ‘old timers’ would
have something to say if that was going to happen, but it didn’t even have to
be mentioned and we were going to head back to the beaches for the next 2 nights. Sam had rung and booked a place called Tito’s
Paradise and the old timers, were happy that we got to see another part of the
peninsular and beach and not going back to the same place at Bureh Beach, but
if we got to Tito’s and something wasn’t right then Bureh Beach would be our
backup plan, which by all accounts I wasn’t thinking we would have to use. There was nothing wrong with Bureh, we had a
great time there, and it was more seeing something different than
anything. Driving out of Freetown we had
to make the customary stop at a supermarket to pick up fresh things for lunch
and to stock up the trucks pantry, as this could be the last place where we
could do it. We stopped at a Lebanese
shop in Lumley, similar to the one we had gone to yesterday. This one seemed a little bigger and was also
a little more expensive than the one in the city, which I really hadn’t bought
a lot of snacks. I was so tired
yesterday, but with a fresh new day, a new outlook and the thought of an empty
snack bag was sad, so I had only 60,000 leones (12AUD) in my purse and decided
to spend the lot on snacks. I would
change more money with Sam or the Irving’s as they had a stash of local
currency that I could buy off them in Guinea francs, our next country. When you are travelling to 9 counties with 5
different currencies over 2.5 months, there becomes a bit of high finance
operating on the truck. Add into that
the local payment I need to pay, all in local and some euros that I bought off
Patrick (which I have now paid back) it is a juggling act with money. Even though the supermarket was expensive,
nothing takes the Ivory Coast supermarket and its prices and for 12 bucks I got
2 cans of coke, 2 packets of chips, bag of lollipops, bag of red licorice and a
roll off fruit Mentos and I left with change of 1,000 (.20c). Now that is a close shop. Sam was having a field day, as there was
EVERYTHING in the shop and after helping him bag and box it into the truck we
were on our way. Madge was also carrying
4 cartons of beer that had been obtained by a few of the gang! Talk about a beerfest!!!!! Alcoholics.
We had to travel back the same way we
had come a few days earlier on the quarry road that turned into the scary road
with not very wide bridges and mud pools.
As it hadn’t rained in the last few days, there wasn’t as much mud and
you wouldn’t believe as we approached Number 2 Rivers turn, a car came from
behind us and I was about to get my wave on and then realized it was
chairman!!! Imagine, what would the odds
be? He asked if we were heading back to
his place and with a shake of the head it was all we could manage as his car
took off!!! It was hilarious.On the
drive Sam got up and introduced Madge from the inside. It is now a spiel I have heard twice now,
this was the third and it is funny how nearly word for word the talk is. When it is something that you do at the start
of each tour, you have a routine and stories to go with everything and in my
old line of work as a travel agent I did the same thing. It works, people understand it and I must say
I did pick up some new information the second time I heard it, but the third
time didn’t reveal anything I didn’t know after 7 weeks. Welcome to Madge, for the 1st time
for the newbies, the second time for the old timers (not in age) and the third
time for the ‘geriatric’ (me). We had to
stop along the way at a place just down the road from Number 2, and it was
Cockle Bay where Sian and Cathy had stayed, as Cathy had left a shirt behind
from the previous day. The guy was meant
to meet us at the turn off, but as it was nearly lunch time and the newbies had
to have their orientation of the outside of the truck, we decided to head into
the place, which was located down a small track about 1km off the main road and
we parked up and lunch was prepared by Ellie, Rich and Suzanne while they met
the rest of Madge.
After lunch of fresh bread (not rolls)
fancy ham and real cheese bought from the deli at the supermarket, we were
really getting a good start to the trip.
The ham was amazing and we hadn’t had the ‘real’ thing since leaving
Accra 4 weeks ago. Ahhhhhh fresh meat
and real cheese, not cream cheese or Happy Cow cheese. It was a real treat. All the lashings and a beautiful first stop
was going to make the newbies think of us as complainers when we have been
telling them how tough we have been doing the last 3 weeks. Seriously, this was all luxury, but then
remember, that is how the last section also started! Its early days, early days indeed. 1pm had us back on the road and also the
start of the tricky drive we had done previously. I was asleep much of the last drive, as that
was my ‘I need a break’ day so I was looking at it all through new eyes today
and it was very nerve wracking in places.
The bridges that we crossed didn’t have any rails but their safety was
assured as they were apparently were constructed in the colonial days over 100
years ago. So we bounced, weaved,
skidded and slipped our way back to the main peninsular road 1.5 hours later we
hit tarmac and then 15 minutes later we found the turn off to Tito’s
Paradise. This was also a small track
which had looked like it had recently been cleared of overhanging trees, as
there was a lot of tree branches by the side of the road, which was good, but
then they had also chopped down some trees and the stumps had not been removed
and even though they had cleared a lot of the branches we still made slow
progress as the track was narrow in some parts and also had foliage hitting the
truck. We made it to what seemed the carpark,
Sam was under the impression that we could drive all the way, but the track
past the ‘carpark’ was far too narrow to even attempt. Sam and a few of the others went to
investigate down the track and speak to Tito himself. Well they came back and it was all off and we
were going to head back to Bureh Beach.
Ian had gone and after seeing the tents that had rips in the mozzie
nets, Tito wanting to charge more than originally agreed and the walk with all
our stuff to the property was all too hard and Tito’s care factor was
apparently zero, he took the ‘oldies’ vote as a no and knowing that we all
think the same, I knew it must have been pretty bad for him to agree to the
move, especially since we all wanted to do a new place if we could.
So after Sam did a 25 point turn in the
‘carpark’ we traversed the same way back down the track, back onto the main
peninsular road and after making a phone call to our mate Dan to make sure
there was availability at Rakis Beach House, we had a further 15 minute drive,
a security check point and our arrival back to paradise and where we had been 5
days earlier. Our welcome was much
different from the last time, with the staff outside waving hello and we were
even allowed to park the truck out the front of the hotel! Boy how things can change in less than a
week. Maybe they have realized that
Dragoman is going to come back and based on that treat them accordingly. Either way it was a great reception and by
the time that the motor had been turned off my ‘beach boys’ were back and when
I got off the truck they were all there ready with hugs. Awwwwwwwwwwwwww. They really are great kids and what a heart
joy moment to see them again. It was a Saturday,
so we were all lucky that it wasn’t a weekday and a school day as we wouldn’t
have probably seen them then.
After Sam went into check about rooms
and costs, he came back and gave us the option of having a room at an
additional $5 per person or we could camp and not have to pay a thing. Now I have always been an upgrader on this
trip, with Duckie and then with the others on the second leg, but Helen was
undecided, as camping on a Sierra Leone beach appealed and I have to say I
agreed. Where else would we get a chance
to camp in paradise and not be hassled too much? After asking to see the facilities for the
campers, which really were non-existent, the hotel said that they would give us
a room with a toilet and shower for the campers to use. That sealed the deal for H and I and we
decided to camp along with Sian, Cathy, Karl and Ollie with the others heading
into rooms. Ian and Suzanne got my old
room and Spencer the spider was still there, not in the bathroom but in the
closet area and Ian said he looked a bit meaner that Splat the Spider that we
had killer, so he decided to kill that guy as well, which was the same guy I
put up with for 2 nights in the same room as me!!!! The camping on the beach had nothing to do
with cost for us rather than the experience and we were on a Sierra Leone beach
after all. So with Sam throwing down 2
tent’s from the roof (Sian and Cathy had their own) we were shown 2 spots that
were safe to camp (from the rising tide) and we chose an area under a massive
tree that would help protect us if it should rain. So Sam did a tent demonstration for the
newbies (using ours-awesome) and 20 minutes later everyone had their tents up
and we were officially labeled ‘Camp Drago’ with some tables and chairs put in
the middle of the 3 tents, it was a really cool set up!!!!
People then peeled off from there. We had swimmers, Cathy hired a surf board,
and the rest of us just chillaxed around the sun loungers and watched another
beautiful sunset over the water. The
beach boys were also around and we all got to chat to them and just spend some
time with them. I let them take pictures
with my camera, which they could hang around their necks and they played with
that for the next hour until I had to take it back off them as the light was
nearly gone and the pictures were just blurs and blobs, which didn’t seem to
worry them. They said their goodbyes as
we moved inside to wait for our dinner that had been preordered and there were
no shocks when there was only chicken and chips again on the menu, oh and a
choice of rice if people wanted, but a promise of fish tomorrow with a catch
due in early in the morning. I was fine
with chicken, they cooked a good one here and the meal was only 45 minutes late
this time, which considering the group had doubled wasn’t a bad feat at
all. After dinner I went to use the
campers room for a shower to find the toilet doesn’t flush and the ‘shower’
consisted of 2 spurts of water coming out of the shower head. But there was a bucket full of water for the
toilet and water is water and I was still able to wash off most of the sand
with what I had. The bathroom didn’t
have a door, the bathroom light didn’t work and the bedroom door wouldn’t
close, so all round it was a dodgy room, but it is funny what is acceptable
when you have no other option. Well I
say that, but Rich and Ellie had offered their room and also Sam and Zoe for
washing and bathroom, but you really don’t want to impede on their rooms and
certainly not for a number 2!!!!
9.30pm and it was past my bedtime after
my shower. So with goodnights from all
13 peeps, I headed to the tent for my beach sleep in Sierra Leone. It was pretty dark out there and luckily I
did have my head torch and after trying to rid my feet of all the sand that had
stuck to them from the hotel to the tent, zipping up my tent and ready to lie down,
I realized that a peg must have come out as the A frame of the tent was sagging
inside and the walls were touching me when I was laying down. Now that wasn’t going to be half
annoying! I tried standing my camping
bag up (it was empty so useless) and anything else that meant I would not have
to get back out onto the sand, that now seemed to be spread all through the
tent, and nothing worked, so I was going to suck it up tonight and look at it
all in the morning. I am not sure if it
is just my tent, Senegal’ that has the droopiness. Duckie and I got away with it most nights and
the last section I was on my own so I could just sleep in the middle of the
tent, I was going to rectify it this section.
Tomorrow.In the meantime Helen had also retired and after chatting for a
while and saying our goodnights it as time to get some sleep as the waves
crashed on the beach 30m away from us.
Paradise twice and we are not complaining!!!
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