June 24 – 24 hours of our own beach!

This weekend was a different one that’s for sure. It started with live music on Friday when an ex-pat band played at Sportsbar. It was a fun evening and I am starting to be able to recognize most of the folks at the events we go to. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but I fell like part of a gang. Here’s the poster from the cover band. For those of you gals out there who will spot it…no Jem was not truly outrageous but a round-bellied man who was the lead singer.

Saturday morning I did my now regular long run up the beach. It has been raining every day so the beach was nicely packed down. I got my usual ‘hello Canadian girl’ due to me wearing my ‘not remotely fast enough for the Canadian Marathon Team’ t-shirt. It’s hard to think that that was my second last run. I have to remember to savour next weekend’s tour de beach.

Mid morning Laura and Manny (Emanuel her driver) came to get us and we headed off to a small beach near Tokeh that is owned and operated by the British High Commission in Freetown. As Laura is a BHC employee she was able to book the place for the weekend for our exclusive use. She mentioned that the High Commissioner had been up to the beach last weekend so we thought, how bad can it be? Well, it was interesting.

We spent 24 hours on a secluded beach just the five of us (L-R in photo: Quirien, Conor, me, Laura and Anna) and our three hosts (Simon, Frank and Ompah). We arrived about 1pm and were welcomed by a marvelous break in the rain. We had a clear blue day which resulted in a few sunburns, my first (and definitely last) on this trip. We sat on the beach and read, swam and chatted. Our hosts made us some fabulous fish, rice and sauce and we enjoyed it on the ‘patio’ of the concrete building. The building was a four room concrete shelter with a toilet and a shower hose. There was a fridge but no power so it was more of a well-sealed cupboard. We didn’t spend much time inside so we didn’t give it much thought.

BHC building on the beach

We had a fire on the beach that night and enjoyed the sky and the water. It was amazing to be on a beach all alone in this country and really reminded me of cottage country when you are lucky enough to have a lonely spot on a lake. We did manage to see a snake a couple of times. It was wicked! I won't put up the photo so my Mom doesn't get scared. If you want to see the snake video give me a shout!

Most of us slept outside on loungers under mosquito nets. It was not the most comfortable and a choir of frogs was more than happy to serenade us all night long but in the end, it was a fabulous experience! I think I may have slept for 30 minutes due to heat, sunburn and frogs but it was worth it.

Sunset on the BHC beach

Sunday was lazy and a bit wetter than Saturday. Having not thought about breakfast we finished off the cookies and water we brought and read our books until Manny came to gather us. The ride home was sleepy and silent. We went to our favourite restaurant ‘Bliss Bakery’ to celebrate Anna’s last weekend here as she leaves on Friday to go back to Plan UK in Camden. It was great and we were even given some of a family’s birthday cake to include us in their celebration. Yum!!

As of tomorrow Quirien and I are officially off cookies in an attempt to get back into shape for our journey’s home. Seeing as I have a little over a week left but at least it’s an effort to lose some of the weight I have gained here. 9 more days of work until my journey returns to the UK. J I’ll have to keep exploring this place. It will be hard to top this weekend that’s for sure.

Special hi to Matt (Jay’s brother) and Karen who celebrated their wedding this weekend! Congrats you two. Jay told me the wedding was a total blast. I had no doubt in my mind. Happy recovery!