After Daru, we go back to Kenema to spend two more days playing games with the kids at Patrick’s house, trying to send emails and battle the never present internet connection, and gather our supplies for our trip to the Turtle Islands.
The female hair styles in Sierra Leone include inventive and impressive braid designs, wigs, extensions, you name it! After a conversation with Isata at Patrick’s, it becomes clear that some girls (or maybe most, or all) re-do their hairstyle completely every week.
I burn my leg slightly on the exhaust pipe getting off a Honda bike and the driver offers to rub motor oil on it. I decline and still wonder whether others actually put motor oil on burns here.
Our first stop from Kenema is Mattru Jong, a location we know little about and are planning on just passing through. We are pleasantly surprised by this gem of a town. It is gorgeous with lots of plants and farms.
The market is cute and little, but holds everything we need, and the guesthouse where we stay, which was recommended by a woman with whom we traveled, was the best run guesthouse we’ve stayed at yet! Plus the fresh eggs and fried plantains for breakfast were delicious. (at this point you may be noticing that every entry mentions food heavily and you will have learned something about me).
The man who helps run the place has the deepest voice either Matt or I have ever heard, which almost makes us laugh every time we hear it.
When we go for a walk we are greeted warmly by…almost everyone. Then a large SUV pulls up and a man, who turns out to be the Paramount Chief of the area, drills us with questions and tells us that if we had come to him as soon as we arrived that he would have send a police officer to give us a tour of the town.
In the morning we walk to the docks and see the beautiful river, which is so delightful to see in the heat of the day, it is hard to describe. There are a few brightly colored wooden boats, and after buying our tickets, we place our bags in one of them and get ready for the 3 hour (really 6 hour) trip down the river.
The floor of the boat is covered in enormous bags of merchandise, bound for the weekend market at Yargoi. Lying on top of these bags, filled with sandals and other items, are women and children sleeping. Poking out through brush along the river bend, and tucked in behind the mangrove swamps, are small villages with thatched-roof huts. Boat journeys and journeys in general, are ideal places for conversing (and often arguing) about politics, religion, and cultural differences, or on this trip, educational theory.
We arrive in Bonthe on Sherbro Island, a totally forgotten town with a Whidbey-esque beach and one road running perpendicular to the beach that is the main street. There are lots of big dilapidated colonial buildings as well as buildings in ruins that are being overtaken by foliage. The hospital is by far the newest and largest building which is located at the end of the main street. All the other streets in Bonthe are laid out in a grid, connected by sandy paths where kids and adults walk very slowly towards their destination.
Along the beach, several types of boats rest on the sand when the tide is out, one of which is a large colorfully painted wooden boat--the kind we will take to the Turtle Islands.
At our guesthouse there is a pet monkey tied to a tree which seems incredibly cruel to me. It cuddles with the neighborhood puppies at night. (no joke)
We have a large rainstorm last night...thunder and lightning and loud thumping rain off of the metal roofs. It is the first real rain we have experienced on our trip so far and it has us worried about sleeping under a mosquito net completely exposed to the elements on the Turtle Islands.
For lunch we watch a young man climb up a coconut tree with ease and grace, knock several off, and then proceed to serve them to us. As we eat the delicious coconut we watch the water lap at the shore from our balcony.
The next day we find people willing to take us to the Turtle Islands on their wooden boat, so we make a quick trip to the market and buy food to bring with us--bread and cassava to snack on and potato leaves, spices, onions, and oil to bring for a local fisherman to cook for our dinners. But as it turns out, because there isn't enough fuel on the island for our trip, we need to wait until the boat with fuel comes to Bonthe that evening, so we end up leaving the next day early in the morning.
Turtle Islands:
We take off with our four-man crew and one woman who lives on the island. For the first two hours it is a smooth, sunscreen filled ride. We watch out for the small villages that are nestled in amongst the mangrove swamps on the banks. Then, a dark, ominous cloud catches up with us and we find ourselves battling the larger waves and rain as it pours in from the sides of the boat.
The crew is very flustered and panicked. They are yelling at the driver to steer correctly and we finally make it to shore where they anchor the boat to await the passing of the storm. Now, that may sound very exciting and dangerous, because when watching the crew, it did seem that way. However, the weather nor the waves were bad at all. It actually was the weather you would expect if going out in a boat in Seattle. It was certainly an adventure, though, and a very exciting trip to the islands.
After navigating through sand banks and extremely shallow waters, we land on Bakie Island! I'm thrilled to be in such a beautiful, unique, amazing place. We are immediately met by the island chief and many children who have come to greet us.
We are led to a camping spot on the beach, which is the most beautiful, isolated spot! In the next few hours, our only human sightings are of fisherman in dugout canoes far off in the distance. The water is very warm and looking out into the distance, it is amazing to think how far one would have to travel to reach land once again on the other side of the Atlantic.
At our camp spot there are maybe twenty hawks that fly right over us! They are so beautiful and large. At first it seems like they are trying to attack because they come as close as six or eight feet over our heads, circling. After a while of feeling a tad nervous about this incredible event, they fly off, as if nothing strange happened at all. It is also amazing to see the hundreds of thousands of small red crabs living in the tidal river between our camp spot and the village. Each of them dig out their holes and scurry back into them when we get close. With so many of them scurrying at the same time, it is almost as if the ground is moving underneath our feet.
The next few days are a little bit of a blur. Matt and I are both quite sick and stay in our tent, which we've used to create shade from the intense heat of the sun. We are both very glad that we felt healthy and were able to enjoy the first day on the island, because the rest of the time we are both very weak. It is funny to think about how it is probably the most beautiful place I will ever be sick in my entire life, though. :)
Our crew comes to visit/check-up on us a few times, bringing us food and splashing around in the ocean. They like to dig quickly into the sand and uncover the crabs that were hiding underground.
And then, as quickly as we embarked on our journey, we are returning again.
The female hair styles in Sierra Leone include inventive and impressive braid designs, wigs, extensions, you name it! After a conversation with Isata at Patrick’s, it becomes clear that some girls (or maybe most, or all) re-do their hairstyle completely every week.
I burn my leg slightly on the exhaust pipe getting off a Honda bike and the driver offers to rub motor oil on it. I decline and still wonder whether others actually put motor oil on burns here.
Our first stop from Kenema is Mattru Jong, a location we know little about and are planning on just passing through. We are pleasantly surprised by this gem of a town. It is gorgeous with lots of plants and farms.
The market is cute and little, but holds everything we need, and the guesthouse where we stay, which was recommended by a woman with whom we traveled, was the best run guesthouse we’ve stayed at yet! Plus the fresh eggs and fried plantains for breakfast were delicious. (at this point you may be noticing that every entry mentions food heavily and you will have learned something about me).
The man who helps run the place has the deepest voice either Matt or I have ever heard, which almost makes us laugh every time we hear it.
When we go for a walk we are greeted warmly by…almost everyone. Then a large SUV pulls up and a man, who turns out to be the Paramount Chief of the area, drills us with questions and tells us that if we had come to him as soon as we arrived that he would have send a police officer to give us a tour of the town.
In the morning we walk to the docks and see the beautiful river, which is so delightful to see in the heat of the day, it is hard to describe. There are a few brightly colored wooden boats, and after buying our tickets, we place our bags in one of them and get ready for the 3 hour (really 6 hour) trip down the river.
The floor of the boat is covered in enormous bags of merchandise, bound for the weekend market at Yargoi. Lying on top of these bags, filled with sandals and other items, are women and children sleeping. Poking out through brush along the river bend, and tucked in behind the mangrove swamps, are small villages with thatched-roof huts. Boat journeys and journeys in general, are ideal places for conversing (and often arguing) about politics, religion, and cultural differences, or on this trip, educational theory.
We arrive in Bonthe on Sherbro Island, a totally forgotten town with a Whidbey-esque beach and one road running perpendicular to the beach that is the main street. There are lots of big dilapidated colonial buildings as well as buildings in ruins that are being overtaken by foliage. The hospital is by far the newest and largest building which is located at the end of the main street. All the other streets in Bonthe are laid out in a grid, connected by sandy paths where kids and adults walk very slowly towards their destination.
Along the beach, several types of boats rest on the sand when the tide is out, one of which is a large colorfully painted wooden boat--the kind we will take to the Turtle Islands.
At our guesthouse there is a pet monkey tied to a tree which seems incredibly cruel to me. It cuddles with the neighborhood puppies at night. (no joke)
We have a large rainstorm last night...thunder and lightning and loud thumping rain off of the metal roofs. It is the first real rain we have experienced on our trip so far and it has us worried about sleeping under a mosquito net completely exposed to the elements on the Turtle Islands.
For lunch we watch a young man climb up a coconut tree with ease and grace, knock several off, and then proceed to serve them to us. As we eat the delicious coconut we watch the water lap at the shore from our balcony.
The next day we find people willing to take us to the Turtle Islands on their wooden boat, so we make a quick trip to the market and buy food to bring with us--bread and cassava to snack on and potato leaves, spices, onions, and oil to bring for a local fisherman to cook for our dinners. But as it turns out, because there isn't enough fuel on the island for our trip, we need to wait until the boat with fuel comes to Bonthe that evening, so we end up leaving the next day early in the morning.
Turtle Islands:
We take off with our four-man crew and one woman who lives on the island. For the first two hours it is a smooth, sunscreen filled ride. We watch out for the small villages that are nestled in amongst the mangrove swamps on the banks. Then, a dark, ominous cloud catches up with us and we find ourselves battling the larger waves and rain as it pours in from the sides of the boat.
After navigating through sand banks and extremely shallow waters, we land on Bakie Island! I'm thrilled to be in such a beautiful, unique, amazing place. We are immediately met by the island chief and many children who have come to greet us.
We are led to a camping spot on the beach, which is the most beautiful, isolated spot! In the next few hours, our only human sightings are of fisherman in dugout canoes far off in the distance. The water is very warm and looking out into the distance, it is amazing to think how far one would have to travel to reach land once again on the other side of the Atlantic.
At our camp spot there are maybe twenty hawks that fly right over us! They are so beautiful and large. At first it seems like they are trying to attack because they come as close as six or eight feet over our heads, circling. After a while of feeling a tad nervous about this incredible event, they fly off, as if nothing strange happened at all. It is also amazing to see the hundreds of thousands of small red crabs living in the tidal river between our camp spot and the village. Each of them dig out their holes and scurry back into them when we get close. With so many of them scurrying at the same time, it is almost as if the ground is moving underneath our feet.
The next few days are a little bit of a blur. Matt and I are both quite sick and stay in our tent, which we've used to create shade from the intense heat of the sun. We are both very glad that we felt healthy and were able to enjoy the first day on the island, because the rest of the time we are both very weak. It is funny to think about how it is probably the most beautiful place I will ever be sick in my entire life, though. :)
Our crew comes to visit/check-up on us a few times, bringing us food and splashing around in the ocean. They like to dig quickly into the sand and uncover the crabs that were hiding underground.
And then, as quickly as we embarked on our journey, we are returning again.
No comments:
Post a Comment