Free in Freetown
We had an interesting day yesterday. I have complained a bit recently about Madventure’s minimalistic approach and inexperience but they did well yesterday, so credit where credit’s due. They hired a minibus, with a/c, with an African guide to take us around Freetown.
Freetown is the capital city of Sierra Leone and is the heart of the Western region, with around a million inhabitants. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the estuary of the Sierra Leone River. The city lies at the foot of the peninsula mountains and faces one of the best natural harbours on the west coast of Africa. The peninsula is home to some of the finest beaches in Africa – Lumley Beach, Lakka Beach, No. 2 River Beach and Toke Beach are some examples. We are staying at one of these beaches.
We left our campsite at 10am and, to our surprise, we had our armed convoy the whole way into Freetown, just like yesterday. I’m not sure why we did it but it was very useful. I think it had something to do with an arcane rule that states that all right-hand drive vehicles need to have a police escort. Others say that it’s an extra income stream for the police though this seems doubtful as profit margins are slim in overlanding.
The police here seem very different to the Gardaí at home. They are a police force instead of a police service, it seems. One of the policemen, a young, good looking but sulky looking and bad tempered man. He carried a vicious pliable whip about a metre in length. He was hanging precariously out of the back of the police van threatening anyone who came near. He whacked several tuktuks and cars with his whip. People looked frightened of him and his colleagues and moved immediately when the police waved them down. Sierra Leone seems to be a very authoritarian country.
Our first stop was the railway museum in Freetown. It wasn’t that big or that spectacular. It was a long shed containing about 10 engines and carriages and lots of information boards, maps and photos. I’m a sucker for railway and transport museums so I enjoyed it.
When we arrived, we were greeted by, I think, the local council chief or mayor. He was accompanied by the director of the museum and other officials. They gave us speeches of welcome and invited us in. The content was interesting enough but their interest in the history of railways in Sierra Leone was infectious as was their apparent love for their country and its institutions.
Sierra Leone’s public railway service was closed in 1974. A railway museum has been opened at Cline Town and is well worth a visit. Many of the original railway buildings and signs can still be seen in and around Freetown, particularly at Hill Station and Congo Cross. It used to be possible to walk along much of the track bed, starting near the Hill Station Club and dropping down the hill via Congo Cross into Freetown, but road construction has made the route hard to find.
Interestingly enough, Sierra Leonians seem to have a friendly attitude towards the English colonisation and occupation. They don’t seem to have rancour or bitterness, like we do, or did, in Ireland.
The next stop was at the national garden of liberation and the attached national museum. The garden was, as the name implies, an outdoor series of murals, bas relief sculpture and statues detailing the liberation struggle from English occupation and national reconciliation. They mentioned the civil war but didn’t say too much about it. Again, I understand that. For an overview of the civil war, see here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone_Civil_War
This was very interesting and as an Irishman very conversant with our own liberation struggle, this resonated deeply with me. I understood. It did go on a bit too long through and there was too much detail, at least for my overheated brainbox. One of the guides sang the National anthem
The museum itself was small but very interesting. We only had time to have a quick scoot around but I wished I could have stayed longer. They had an intertesting ethnographic section on traditional religion aka witch doctors, still very common here.
We then had a late lunch, fish in a peanut soup/sauce and rice.
Our next stop was to a crafts market. This was a large brick building with dozens of stalls selling handicraft and souvenirs and fabrics. I didn’t last 5 minutes there as the hasdle from traders was so strong. Instead, I left and had a walk around. I found an Anglican cathedral and although I’m a fairly militant atheist, I like old churches. It was like a little bit of England transplanted to Africa. The main difference was that they had fans instead of heaters.
I then met up with another tripmates who was also a refugee from the craft market and we went looking for a cold drink. A posse of young street kids spotted us and ran over. A few rubbed my arm to see if the white came off. Sweet.
The back on the minibus to drive back to our campsite through the heavy rush hour traffic. We got back two and a half hours later, tired but sarisfied
Here’s some factoids about Sierra Leone from WikiVoyage:
Sierra Leone is on the West Coast of Africa. The potential for tourism is vast, but largely unrealised, despite the end of the Civil War in 2002, and tour operators are looking closely at what the country has to offer. Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources. It has some of the best beaches in the world, a rich heritage, and some stunning scenery, but its greatest asset is its welcoming, friendly populace.
Sierra Leone was founded as a colony for freed slaves originating in the British Empire.
Sierra Leone achieved its independence from Britain in 1961. Since the end of its civil war in 2002, the government, with considerable international assistance, has made noticeable improvements in the country’s infrastructure which should help the tourism sector: most major trunk roads are tarred to a high standard and Bumbuna hydroelectric dam supplies electricity when water levels are high enough (completed in 2009). While the government sector still suffers from chronic shortage of resources, the private sector is booming.
In 2014, the outbreak of Ebola virus, which crossed the border from Guinea threatened to set back the improvements in the country’s economy and development. More than a year of development was lost whilst the country focused on the fight against the disease. The country is now considered to be completely clear of the virus.
Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, typified by warm temperatures and high humidity. Night time temperatures rarely drop below 24 °C and daytime temperatures reach 30 °C throughout the year. From October to March the weather is generally dry with many fine, hot, sunny days. From April to September is the rainy season. The rainfall increases to a peak in July and August and then decreases until rain has almost ceased by November.
Link: https://en.m.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Sierra_Leone
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