May 27 – Trip to River #2

Sunday morning after a good sleep in and some breakfast on the patio in front of our room we made our way by taxi (our first solo trip and some good negotiating by Conor) to the meeting point and off we went to River #2. Btw, I asked…there is no River #1. Who knows the story behind that.

The journey to the beach was about 1.5 hours and included some slick driving in a standard Range Rover with a slow leak in the rear tire on VERY bumpy roads. We passed the time chatting and singing along to Capital radio’s super cheesey tunes. As we drove past numerous villages we were greeted with smiling, waving people. Very friendly and the kids are so cute!

The beach itself was GORGEOUS! Apparently setting up the beach and the infrastructure was a Plan project to help the village to have gainful work and income. The beach has all the creature comforts (chairs, loungers, bathrooms and food/drinks). The water is warm and salty and the sun was shining. We had a great day and the group of ex-pats grew significantly including a couple of Americans who work on the defense team for one of the war criminals. I mention these guys because a student film-maker is making a documentary about them and the trial and the crew came to the beach to take film. They taped us through the afternoon including me throwing a disk around with one of the guys. I had some stellar moments including nailing the camera twice. It looks like I’ll need more practice before I try to find a team next year.

After the beach (during which I did NOT get sunburned!) we headed off to Franco’s a delightful restaurant near the beach and still on the river for dinner. I enjoyed my lobster and the company. A truly remarkable ending to a great day.
The ride home wasn’t nearly as harrowing as they managed to change the tire at the beach with the help of some locals. Then it was off early to bed for work on Monday. What an amazing weekend and from the way these folks talk there will never be a dull moment in Freetown!