Week 9, Sierra Leone and Liberia

December, 20th:

Free day, since our visas are still processed in the embassies of Liberia and Ivory Coast.

Made long walks along the beach.

Ran into this young guy Jimmy, who was shoveling sand for a new house to be build in the local town. I had already met him the night before at the bonfire...

I asked him if i could see the house they were constructing and i got a complete tour through the village. Saw it all: the football field, the church, the school ... so nice. 

Bought us some energy drink (sweetest ever) and continued my walks.

New boat, being baptized 

Little "private" beach i found

Later that afternoon i met Jimmy again and he invited me for tea at his house ... man, what a hospitality!

Came back at the campsite at 5. Told my stories to my fellow travelers, dinnered, 1 last beer, an ST episode and a good night sleep.

December, 21st:

Rose at 7, breakfasted at 8.30, celebrated Wolfgang's birthday (He became 81 !!). 

Took my laptop the the terrace of the campsite and updating blog now!!!

Filled the day with walks along the beach ...

All the boats had funny names

Met Jim's family for the last time that afternoon. It was an emotional goodbye, knowing that we would  never meet again ...

Went to bed early, since we had to raise early, because our police escort would be there by 9 and we had to be prepared to leave immediately ...

December, 22nd:

... or so we thought ... they turned up at 10, so we had plenty of time to do nothing...

We went for a long day over good roads at first, but the last 40 k's were horrible again.

Our police escort for that day

Anyway, we arrived late in the evening, at an eco place, where we hopped on a ferry to an island, named Tiwai, where we would spend 2 nights. 

Rajsrhee and I sipping a beer on the island
(must have been the next day since we arrived in the dark) 

December, 23rd:

Small excursions could be made, bit i did only one, since .... i had cook-group that day. A special cook-group it was because we had to hop over to the mainland, do the cooking up there and then bring the food back to the island. Hard work, but we managed... it even turned out into a successful fish curry. No pictures unfortunately.

The beer afterwards tasted good, so did the night of sleep.

December, 24th:

At 6.15 we took the boat back to the main land and left for the border of Libaria ... 

But first say goodbye to the locals who had helped us so much ...

We had 40 km's of dirt tracks and then good roads ... all went smooth when crossing the border... until the sim-card people needed their new sim-cards ... that took over an hour ... grrr ...

Anyway on the way to Roberts Port, where we would spend 3 nights at the beach ...

Nice place, but ridiculously expensive ...

Andy and I celebrated xmas eve with Andy, a nice bottle of wine, and some beautiful choir singing on the beach ...

December, 25th:

A day at the beach, sunburn, a nice xmas diner sums it all up...

Wain, lightening up the BBQ

Swimming and making fun with the kids completed it ...

At night we drank ... a lot ... well, too much to be honest ...

Still sober... up until ...

Don't ask what the blue stuff was. It was horrible.

Drew, desperately trying to finish some obscure liquor ...

Germany and the UK had fallen asleep ... 

December, 26th:

Hung over, but another day at the beach, where we (Andy and I, Stephan stepped in later) found some local shops we the prices were less than half of the expensive place ... so, we went there to fight the hang over ... 

Yes Andy, i know it's the wrong picture, but it covers the idea ...

Slept very irregular .... either sunburn and or a sun stroke, but i became sick during the night ...