No Such Thing As A Free Town

In Outamba-Kilimi they had some very basic accommodation in thatched huts with no electricity or water, but it was perfect for unwinding. I was the only person staying in the National Park and I spent my time kayaking to see the hippos, walking around in search of troops of monkeys or simply relaxing and swimming in the river. After a couple of nights I got bored of my own company though, and through a mixture of vehicles I could reach the Sierra Leonean capital of Freetown. This location was once a major port for slave trade, but later when the British abolished slavery it became a settlement for freed slaves, hence the name Freetown.

It’s funny how you can straight away get a good or a bad vibe about a place, but as soon as I stepped out of the cramped minibus I loved it. It was dirty, hot and chaotic, motorcycles, cars and tricycles whizzing in every direction but it was great and people were really friendly right from the start, helping this bewildered white man. I made my way to the local YMCA, and though it was clean and nice it wasn’t quite as much fun as The Village People had made it out to be plus it was a little bit pricey, so I decided to check out after two nights. Knowing that I would want to stay in this city for a while I managed to get quite a good deal through AirBnb, and rented a room for a week. One reason I needed to stay, was to once more arrange visas for onward travel, but really I just loved everything about the place. The crazy mix of archictecture, old colonial buildings stand side by side with modern ugly structures and adorable two or three story ramshackle cottages, a colourful patchwork of brick, wooden planks and corrugated tin, some houses seem to be defying gravity just by staying upright.

Then you have the location, based on series of lush green hills overlooking the ocean and it’sbeaches, even Lumley Beach which is located in the city is surprisingly clean and empty and if you venture just a few kilometres outside of town you have beautiful stretches of sand all to yourself. Most of all though my favourite feature is probably the people, Freetownians are very kind and helpful, also they don’t mind a drink which is always a positive in my book.

One day I visited the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, located just outside of the city, on one of the many hills, it is amazing how tranquil andquiet it is. I went on a tour and was just as fascinated by our closest relatives as all my previous encounters with them, they are just such wonderful creatures and this sanctuary does a great job rescuing them from deforestation and more shockingly the bush-meat trade. I have now been in Freetown for more than a week and will probably stay to get one more weekend before heading to new destinations.