Beached As

After several different modes of transport I made it from Freetown to Kent, where a boat was waiting to take me to Banana Island. This was a very small island just off the peninsular coast, which was a nice break from the hectic Freetownian life. I spent two days relaxing, walking through the dense jungle and viewing some old relics from colonial and slave trading times. The beaches however weren’t quite up to my spoilt high standards from Sierra Leone and being on an island I felt almost trapped at the guesthouse which didn’t want you leaving their grounds without paying for tours or their accompaniment, so I decided to head back to the mainland and made it to Bureh Beach.

This was more my cup of tea, perfect yellow sand beaches against the backdrop of the green mountains, blue waters with waves attracting a surfing crowd all set next to a small laid back village. Over the weekend, it was flooded with NGO workers from around the country, which created a bit of a party but was once again relaxed when they headed back to their jobs. I could have really stayed here for a lot longer, but I also feel I need to keep moving as there are still many places I want to visit on this trip. So once more I packed my bags and got some uncomfortable rides to Sierra Leone’s second largest city, Bo.

Bo seemingly doesn’t have too much to offer, a large town full of honking motorcycle madness, but it is where I am currently resting. After not feeling great for a while, I finally decided to visit a clinic in Bo and see if there was anything wrong with me. Of course there was as the test results showed I had been reacquainted with my old African friend Typhoid. The Egyptian Doctor, used the words heavy and severe to explain how obvious the results were, then hooked me up to some intravenous drips and prescribed enough pills to kill a small hippo. It’s hard to know how long I’ve had Typhoid, as pretty much every meal I’ve had in Africa is a potential culprit, but going on my bad luck in Guinea I have a sneaky suspicion I may have contracted it there. Tomorrow morning I will go back to the clinic and then hopefully be allowed to keep travelling, taking antibiotics for the next two weeks and also avoiding spicy or fatty food, a task that may prove difficult as everything here is full of chili peppers and dripping with palm oil.

In Footwear Related News: The life of my Freetownian flip flops was short-lived as I misplaced them at a beach party in Bureh, perhaps subconsciously on purpose as I really didn’t like them and they had already given me blisters. A new pair has been purchased in Bo, which I already like better so we will see how long they last.