"Of course the ferry is running": We don't have great luck with boats. Freetown to Monrovia through the jungle and some diamonds.

"I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have a choice as to whether we fulfill our destiny, but our fate is sealed." Paulo Coelho

We were in Freetown. Manu, Chris's brother, had just arrived and would join us for the next 6 weeks. Chris picked him up and we all went to the Liberian embassy to apply for the visa. It was Thursday, and the visa would take till the next Wednesday, so we headed to Bureh Beach, about 40km away from Freetown.

Before leaving on our beach holiday, we stopped at the chimpanzee rescue sanctuary, which was extremely well run and amazing to visit. While driving up to the sanctuary, we saw where the mountain side had collapsed in a huge landslide 3 weeks earlier. It killed about 1000 people. Terrifying and heartbreaking to even imagine.

The road to Bureh beach was good till the last 20km, and then became rocky, and we were basically driving in a stream. After some scrapes and bumps, we finally arrived and pitched our tents by the sea at a small guesthouse on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Green, forested mountains with misty clouds covering them, ran down into the ocean. Palm trees lined the beach, and two rivers flowed into the sea. There were very few people, we had the place basically to ourselves. It was wonderful. We played cards, watched movies, surfed, and relaxed.

Chimps in Freetown

Bureh Beach

Bureh Beach

Bureh Beach

After 4 nights of beach life, we headed back to Freetown, picked up our passports, and headed towards Kenema, in the East. Our plan was to go over the notoriously bad road from Kenema to Bo Waterside, the Liberian border.

Our first day driving, we stayed in a small village. You must ask permission from the town chief, and we were always welcomed to set up our tents, often in a nice covered area. The people of the village of Gola were gracious hosts, and an enjoyable evening was had by all.

Heading towards Kenema

Camping in Gola village

In the morning we headed out, passing the town of Bo, and then stopping off in a small village that we were told had many diamond mines. We were curious about the process, so we asked if we might see the mines. The chief of the village was very willing, and led us out into the fields. A small diamond mining operation consists of a small pond. The sand from the bottom is dug up into a pile, and people sift the ore looking for the stones. During the day, we saw 5 different operations. It looked exhausting, and we were told that most of the diamonds had been found, so small operations did not have much chance,  but this did very little to dissuade people from trying the luck. Hard work for sure, and often with no payout. People were very happy to speak with us though, and they even showed us a sample diamond that had been found the previous month, along with some gold.

Good roads for the most part in Sierra Leone

Diamond mine

Walking to the diamond mines

Diamond that had been found a few months before

We passed the night in the village of Blama, and made it to Kenema early the next day. We saw the begining of the bad road. We discussed with each other our options. There is a shorter road, that was supposed to be much better, but had a ferry. We had read that the ferry did not run in the rainy season, but we met many truck drivers, and police, who told us that the ferry was for sure running, and we were foolish to attempt the drive from Kenema to the Liberian border. So we backtracked for about 4 hours.

The road leaving Bo, heading towards the ferry was great, then turned to dirt, but still not bad. Finally we arrived at the very big, and fast flowing, Moa river. The ferry was running, but only the small one for people and motorbikes. Woof. Our luck with ferries has not been so good. So, we started back to Bo and passed the night camping inside a classroom at the school which the village chief was nice enough to give us for the evening. So cool!

Road to the Bo ferry

Moa river ferry, not running in rainy season

Camping in a school

We made the 4 hour drive back to Kenema, and resigned ourselves to our fate of the terrible road. We had read that it was nearly impassable in the rainy season, and if you attempted it, you would of course need a large 4x4. Well, we had two 4x4's! Not so big though.

We went only a short way on the road that first evening, and stayed in Korma village. That night we were invited to the initiation of young girls into the women's society. All the village came to watch the "Devil" dance. A costumed woman in a suit of I'm not sure what, with a carved wooden mask, danced wildly and asked the audience for money for the women's society. There were other characters as well, a police woman, and a fancy dressed, over the top teacher, dancing to the drums and entertaining the crowd. It was amazing to see.

Driving into the jungle

Korma village, devil night

Leaving Korma, the road got worse. We waded through mud and waist deep water all day, checking to see if our cars could make it. The Panda's did great, passing through water over the hood, and crawling over mud hills. The jungle was all around us, dense and hot. We reached a bridge made from palm tree logs. It was too wide for our small cars. Many locals helped us to move the logs closer together, but they were still very narrow. Everyone was nervous as we guided the cars across, but we made it through just fine. That evening we slept in the village of Jegwebe. The locals brought us cacao fruit to try, it was delicious. We saw cacao growing everywhere, as well as Kola nut. It seemed like everything was eatable in this forest.

The next day was long and tough. Huge mud hills and a very deep river crossing. Eventually we arrived at Zimi, dirty, tired, and ready to be done, but we were still 40km from the border. Everyone told us the road became worse after Zimi. We needed a break. We wandered the streets of the jungle town, ate rice and fish, and drank coffee. We refuled from plastic bottles and bought camping supplies. Nobody was in a hurry to leave.

Cacao for breakfast

Jungle roads heading towards Zimi

Muddy roads

Village life

Panda in Zimi

Resupplying in Zimi

Finally we drove out of the town to find 20km of really smooth dirt roads! We slept in a small village of which I have forgotten the name, but not their kindness. Soon after arriving, a Liberian girl named Hannah, told us our baths were ready. We were taken to a shower area surrounded with tall plants and given a bucket of hot water to wash with! It was the nicest gesture we had received in a long time, and it felt so good to be clean again. We spent the evening talking with the village members. It was a great night.

Hannah in our last night village stay

The last 7km were the hardest, as any epic finish should be. Deep and wide stream crossings. We had to pay a village to drive our cars between their homes as the ruts in the main road were too deep for our cars. We waded through countless puddles to check the depth. My feet were cut and bruised from the gravel and rocks. Finally, we came around a corner to the last obstacle. A huge mud pit greeted us, with giant ruts, and a Land Cruiser already badly stuck in one section. It looked impossible, but we scouted a route anyways...it wasn't good, but we had to try. We watched a huge truck go through and just barely make it out. Many  people said they would help push when we got stuck. TJ lined up, and dropped into the ruts. When the car got stuck, everyone violently rocked it, and somehow, the tires gripped, and the Panda climbed out on the other side! Chris did the same thing, and soon, we were both through. We had made it!

We drove the last 3km of bumpy roads and arrived in the border town of Gendema, battered, tired, sweaty, and amazed at the last 3 days of incredible scenery and hospitality. We were pretty sure that if we could cross this terrible road, we could pretty much do anything. We drove on towards the border, and began our crossing into Liberia.

Conakry to Freetown, Fonyo, and the start of village life.

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late." Ralph Waldo Emerson

We had arrived in Conakry on a Thursday night. Our goal was a Sierra Leone visa, however, the embassy was closed on Friday morning due to the muslim feast. We were stuck till Monday. On the upside, we had the chance to explore Conakry!

We quickly changed hotels from the expensive one we had on  Thursday night, to the Catholic mission, right in the heart of Conakry. The mission has a large piece of property in the city, and has a few simple rooms to let out to travelers. It had secure parking, comfy beds, showers, and breakfast included. All we could ask for.

Conakry was quiet. Mostly this was due to people traveling for the feast we think. The streets were full of potholes, and trash was everywhere. It seemed like many people had just abandoned the city, but we found it to be quite enjoyable. We spend the weekend exploring downtown and taking care of odds and ends. We went to a concert, Levi Bobo, one evening, and found the venue crowded with locals who danced and showered the band members with cash. We spent an afternoon at a 4 star hotel where we bought a drink to be able to use their wifi. All and all, it was a very relaxing time and soon it was time to move on.

One of the more interesting cars we saw in Conakry

Obama bar in Conakry

Conakry traffic

Catholic mission

On Monday we were able to get the Sierra Leone visa quickly, and started out of town towards the southern border. We made a meeting point in another city as we knew we would get separated. Traffic was bad, and the police were out in force, looking for any excuse to give tickets, whether or fabricated reasons. We were stopped four times, but talked our way out of paying anything, as we had all the correct items in our car, and the correct paperwork. After battling  the traffic for hours, we finally arrived at the meeting point, and found Chris and Jess. They had similar experiences, having to go to 3 separate police stations with angry cops, only to finally find out that foreign cars do not, in fact, need to have a vignette sticker for road tax. Woof, Guinea police were tiering. We regrouped, and headed for the Sierra Leone border.

That evening, we slept in what we thought was an overgrown, unused field. In the morning, we were woken up by someone tapping on our tents. We came out to find about 30 villagers standing on the dirt road, staring at us. The chief of the village spoke to us through an interpreter, who spoke to us in French. They said that where we had camped was an in use, community field, and we had trampled on a portion of their crop, fonyo, a rice type of grain. We apologized profusely, and the chief said it was OK, as we didn't realize it was a crop, and said we were free to go. Oops! We would be much more cautious in the future.

15km before the border, the potholed road became a beautiful highway. We left Guinea, and were stamped into Sierra Leone. West African borders are either really easy, or unnecessarily complex. This was the latter. Lots of checks, asking for money, more checks, stamps, etc. We made it through eventually and had to pay nothing other than the road tax sticker for our cars. We already had our passavant (temporary import permit), that we got from the embassy in Conakry. We were on our way!

The countryside opened and wide vistas greeted us, Sierra Leone has cut down most of their forests. The road was good and fast, having been recently built by the Chinese. We needed a place to camp before arriving in Freetown, as it was getting late, but we only found villages and planted fields. We asked in a village, and they took us to the chief. He was a very nice man, and spoke with the elders. They allowed us to camp on the primary school grounds. We thanked them and set up camp.

Beautiful views, and roads, in Sierra Leone

Crossing rivers in Sierra Leone

Nearing FreeTown

We were left alone while we cooked, as ordered by the the chief, but afterwards, most of the village came over to visit. We were in the village of Makande. The main activity, as in most of Sierra Leone, was agriculture. People and kids were very nice, and we spent the night making new friends and laughing. The morning was a similar experience, and many people came to say goodbye when we  left. It was a very positive time, and the kindness of strangers is hard to fathom sometimes.

Pandas in Makande village

Makande village

Camping on school grounds

Makande village

Onwards to Freetown! A beautiful city, built on the edge of a large mountain, running right down into the sea. I was a bit nervous, having only heard about the poverty, ebola, and the recent landslide and floods that killed over 600 people. As with most things, my fear was unfounded. Apart from the traffic, which was horrible, Freetown was my favorite capital yet! Streets wound up and down hills. Old wooden and tin houses were everywhere. Colorful markets spilled into the streets. After about 3 hours of traffic, we finally arrived at Saint Edwards Primary Teacher Training School. They gave us a very nice and cheap room, and we set out to find dinner. We were quite excited to finally arrive here, as Manu, Chris's brother, was flying in the next morning to join us for the next 6 weeks! Soon we would be 5 in our little cars.

Freetown

The famous Cotton tree of Freetown

Freetown markets

Traffic in Freetown

Guinea: roof sheep, roof riders, and hood meat. Adventures in the mountains of Guinea to Conakry.

"In chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order." Carl Jung

We had ignored the locals advice about the road to Guinea being impossible to cross, and because of this, we found ourselves on a 160km backtrack through Guinea-Bissau, on our way from the South, up to the North East border with Guinea, near Gabu.

The drive was fast, and again beautiful. We passed countless villages and rice paddies. The roads in Guinea-Bissau, for the most part, are great, so you can make very good time if you need to. The bridges are very impressive as well. Tall arches cross wide rivers and wetlands. The bridges themselves are good, but the roads imedeietly before and after them are somehow terrible, full of potholes, and there is usually a toll booth collecting a small fee. After the ferry fiascos in Gambia, we were more than happy to pay a small amount for a bridge, in any condition. By the evening we had made it past Gabu, and pulled off on a small road to camp.

The road became quite rough after Gabu, mostly mud with large potholes and puddles, so it took a long while to reach the border with Guinea. Leaving Guinea-Bissau was easy. The road between the two borders was in terrible condition, and we actually needed four wheel drive to get over some large rocks in the path. The Guinea officials were very nice, if not slow, with one guard falling asleep during the passport stamping process. Our carnets were filled out by a very knowledgeable customs official, and we continued the slow, rough road, the last 42km to Koundara, our first port of call in Guinea. Slow roads took the rest of the day, but when we reached Koundara, an amazing new paved road greeted us. So smooth! We camped about 16km out of the city under clear skies.

Great roads in the beginning

Beautiful Guinea highway

Chris's wheel bearing didn't enjoy the bad roads and finally decided to go bad. He disassembled it that evening, but was missing one socket he had forgotten to bring. We decided to pick it up in the morning back in Koundara. Jess and I went back the next day, and after some searching, ended up just buying an adaptor from a mechanic's personal tool kit. We returned and soon the blue Panda was as good as new.

The road south towards Labe was great. We had decided to drive through the mountains to reach Conakry, via Labe, Dalaba, and Mamou. We had heard the scenery was beautiful.

We could see mountains in the distance. As hard as it was for to be believe, Guinea was even more beautiful than Guinea-Bissau. The green was just as intense, but now there was rolling hills and dramatic table top mesas with steep cliffs.

Mountains!

Entering Guinea

Near Koundara

The good road continued til about 45km before Labe, and just after a small village, the pavement disappeared, a muddy, bumpy, red dirt track in it's place. We pushed on. The taxis in the mountains deserve a special mention. They are old Peaugeuts station wagons that could hold 4 in the back, and two up front with the driver. They had huge springs put on them, and were lifted, giving them amazing clearance. Inside, there was often 6-7 people in the back, 4-5 up front, and 1-2 in the hatchback. They were loaded with an incredible amount of cargo on the roof. Couches, fridges, beds, food, and motorcycles. The roof cargo was often bigger than the car itself, swaying back and forth wildly as they tore up the road. On top of the cargo was usually 1-3 people and a goat or sheep. Chickens were tied upside down by their feet in bunches of 3-4, hanging off the back window. They would fly over the rocks and holes in the road, honking as they went. It was a sight to see.

The road turned steeper with large rocks in the way. Our cars slowly climbed over them, and we passed through dense forest and a mountain pass. A large truck was stuck, blocking the road, but soon was pulled free by another truck, and we continued. It took us about an hour to go 10km. The map showed another town in 17km. It was getting late, and we did not have much water or food, so we drove on. Finally, after rounding a bend in the road, the paved highway suddenly returned! A large group of children were there and began applauding us, as if they been watching our attempt of the mountain road, and were happy of our safe arrival. We drove to the village, re-supplied, and camped just outside of town.

Mountain pass

Village after the pass

Truck stuck on the mountain road

Sunset after the mountain road

The next day was spent driving towards Dalaba and Mamou towns. The good road continued after the mountain pass till Mamou, then became horrible, some of the worst we had seen so far. Huge, car eating potholes would appear, then short pieces of good road followed, only to decay rapidly again. While driving, a few cars passed with something odd on the hood of the car. "Did that taxi have raw beef just sitting on the hood?" I asked. No, couldn't be, but again and again cars passed us with large piles of beef layed on the hood, or just placed on the roof, with no protection. We came up with theories, maybe they have no bags to transport it, so this was the least messy option? When we asked a driver stopped in traffic, he said, "It is good, the meat is in the sun", and drove on. It was very, very odd.

Hood meat

Roof meat

We drove all day, and only made about 160km. It began to get dark, the traffic of trucks and taxis, combined with bad roads, was exhausting. We found a small side road that led us to a field where we camped for the night.

More bad roads followed in the morning as we made for Conakry. In the afternoon, we finally hit the 4 lane divided highway to the capital. Strangely, large markets appear around us and traffic would stop, vendors selling us fruit and air fresheners out the window. "Did we take a wrong turn?" I asked TJ. We were still on the highway. Conakry is poorly designed for modern day traffic. It is built on a peninsula, about 36km long of dense city, surrounded on 3 sides by water. Most of the government buildings are at the very tip of the peninsula, and there is only one main road in and out of the city. Traffic is unbelievably bad. We found out later, (by being stopped by the police, another very common occurence in Guinea), that on weekends, traffic flows normal. On weekdays, from 7am to 10am, both lanes of the highway are one way into the city, and during the morning rush hours, there is basically no way to quickly leave town, other than small, badly damaged, secondary streets. There is of course, no signs communicating these rules to drivers, hence we more than once found ourselves turning onto roads we had previously driven on, heading directly into oncoming traffic. Exciting!

Outskirts of Conakry

Eventually we took a smaller road, and after hours in traffic, arrived in the part of the city near the Sierra Leone embassy, which we needed to visit for our visa. It was Thursday evening. We found a hotel and crashed for the night.

We were up early the next day to head to the embassy. Upon arrival, a man named 8'oclock, informed us that the embassy was closed due to the Muslim feast. This would explain all the hood meat we saw up in the mountains...I think...as animals are slaughtered to commemorate God providing a ram to Abraham as a sacrifice instead of his son. So we needed to wait til Monday to get our visa. We drove to the catholic mission, and found a cheap, yet very nice room for our time in the city. Maybe someday we will learn not to try for the visa on a Friday, but thus far, it appears not.