It might have been a box-office hit, but Leo di Caprio’s Blood Diamonds cut a deep scar on Sierra Leone’s international reputation. The savage civil war ended 10 years ago and the country is still associated with unethical diamond mining and child soldiers.As a result, tourists have stayed away – last year the country had […]
Suba Ranka picked up his cutlass, wiped the blood with his fingers and smiled. He had killed again. Only this time, the victim was a goat. He meticulously picked his nose and looked around. He was getting really good at this; chasing goats and chickens around the barre and killing them one after another. Last […]
I remember walking into my old friend’s living room in the Grassfield area of Lumley way back in 1990. Like many homes then on a Sunday afternoon, you could hear the BBC radio station blasting from a far distance. As I walked in and sat down next to my old friend – I called him […]
When I mentioned to people in Freetown, and even Sierra Leoenans in London that I had been to Bonthe, the first reaction is ‘You nor dae frade de wata?’. I cannot understand this fear of the sea from a people who were mostly born within the sound of the waves of the sea. There must […]
In three years, I’ve probably passed through Lungi 18 times. On 17 occasions, I ventured no further than the airport, helipad, hovercraft launch, or ferry terminal. Once, I spent six hours in the Lungi Airport Hotel before my 5 a.m. Royal Air Maroc flight. Never did I consider exploring beyond that. But now I know: […]
A natural rope hammock, high on the wooden porch of a treehouse eco-lodge, overlooking a lush green valley and the mountains beyond… A morning mist blanketing the tropical forest terrain…The sounds of birds and insects, and the occasional call of a chimpanzee…Fresh air without the slightest trace of exhaust fumes or burning garbage or the […]
