Sierra Leone to Liberia and Back

Hey friends and followers. I hope everyone is keeping well?
I'm now back in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I'm staying at the quaint hostel in the Aberdeen Area where I was before. It's fairly quiet as I type this latest travel update, whilst sitting on the balcony, overlooking the stone-strewn track that is meant to be some kind of road, but isn't!
I disappeared for a while, to Liberia, but also to Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary in east Sierra Leone.
To get to this tropical island in the middle of the Moa River, I first had to take a shared minibus (Boda-Boda) from the edge of Freetown to Bo, the country's second largest city and a university town – students everywhere.
I travel to Bo with a Dutch guy named Arne, who'd I'd met when in Freetown. He was fun, very tall and we argued a lot about various topics! It past the time. We stayed at Sahara Hotel in Bo. An inexpensive establishment, about US$11 per night for a private room with a fan, plus a towel and a bar of soap. Breakfast was included. I stayed there on another occasion.
Arne was also heading to Liberia. He departed for the border the next morning. I took a shared taxi to the town of Poturo, which took about 90 minutes or so, and then an hour-long motorbike taxi ride to the village of Kambama. Once at the village, a local guy took me across the Moa River to Tiwai Island in a simple canoe.
There are 8 traditional villages surrounding the island, all on the side of the river. Tiwai is tropical with a large rainforest, which is a protected wildlife reserve and sanctuary.
 Camping is available and also two simple guest houses: The former research lodge where I stayed and the Visitor Centre in the village. Meals are provided by the staff on the island for a fee. Breakfast is included in the price of a night's stay. Free, clean, drinking water is available on the island. It's possible to do several activities. I undertook a guided forest walk early the next morning and heard monkies calling to one another in a loud strange guttrall sound. Birds were also heard and frogs sang in the early morning. The noise the from made almost resembled a car alarm! The hour-long walk was fun. I had to step over several fallen logs and trees and tripped over  many rough stones and tree roots. The narrow trails twisted every way and I stumbled along behind my guide, constantly going up and down with every step. The forest closed in on all sides several times.
Later the same day, I had a canoe ride around part of the island. It was delightful: very peaceful, almost silent apart from the occasional splash from the canoe's oar. After an hour in splendid peace, the guide paddled me over to the mainland, helped me out, pulled me up the steep rocky slope to Kambama village and, after a 10 minute wait, I took a motorbike back to Putoru Town and went onto Bo. The next day I joined a shared taxi of 6 people including the driver, and  headed to Monrovia, capital and largest city of Liberia. The journey took roughly 6 hours, including time spent at both border crossings and several check-points. The shared taxi cost US$20 per person, one-way.
A Liberia tourist visa cost
US$100 and I arranged this in Freetown. I had to wait 7 working days to get the visa.
Upon arrival on the outskirts of Monrovia, I discovered it was a very noisy city! Music was booming from every bar and club, it being a Saturday evening. TV's seem to be blasting from every shop or restaurant. The roads were terrible: stones, rocks and pot-holes all over the roads! It was chaos, and that was just the taxi station! The motorbike ride into the city itself, was just as noisy and chaotic. The driver weaved in and out of other motorbikes, cars, trucks and all mannor of obsticles. I simply hung on! My destination was St. Teresa's Convent on Randal Street. This is, apparently, the cheapest place of accommodation in Morovia. All other guest houses and hotels are very expensive. Naturally, the motorbike driver couldn't find the location of the convent and had to ask several times. Eventually, it was found, but by this time, it was 9 in the evening. The staff at the convent weren't really expecting me, although one of my friends who was staying there, did mention I'd be coming.
St. Teresa's Convent is nice enough. Rooms are upstairs, with a kitchen on the ground floor. Free fresh water is available. Most rooms seem to be twins with 2 single beds. Bed sheets are provided, also a fan. There are 3 bathrooms with a sink, a toilet and a shower in each.
I plan to visit the 2 main churches in Monrovia, the Catholic Sacred Heart and the Prodistant Trinity, but the weather was so humid, I did almost nothing. The Dutch guy, Arne, who I'd travelled with before, told me about a newish restaurant down the street, called T Holy. Food was reasonably priced and they had free, good speed WiFi. So I based myself there for 3 days and researched. Eventually, I headed to Robertsport, 50 kilometres (32 miles) north of Monrovia. The shared taxi took about 4 hours to reach robertsport, again on farely bad roads. I stayed at the delightful and relaxing Philip's Guesthouse and was looked after splendidly by Philip and his young brother, Lisima. The guesthouse overlooks the main beach and on my first proper day in the peaceful town, Lasima and I headed down a grassy and rocky slope onto the soft sand. We walked about a kilometre in the warm air before finding a spot and sat on the gritty sand and chatted as I enjoyed the sound of the crashing surf.
Robertsport is a surfer's paradise. There are large waves and plenty of spots to ride them. Most of the locals surf. There are several things to do in and around the area: walk the long beach to a famous shipwreck, swim, surf, snorcle. Take a boat trip on nearby Piso Lake or go walking in the hills and mountains. It's a peaceful town. I spent most of my time lying in a hammack and listening to an audio book.
3 days later, I returned to Monrovia and its noise for one last night, before making a slow return back to Sierra Leone.
I fly back to the UK on 19th December.
Cheers, Tony :).

Trip to Banana, Sierra Leone

Hi deer friends, fans and followers. I'm well. Still in hot Freetown. I've just returned from 2 relaxing days on Banana Island, off the Sierra Leone coast. I stayed at a lovely, if slightly expensive, guest house named Dalton. Right on a small, gritty, private beach. Almost paradise! :). The local staff are lovely, kind, helpful and went out of their way to make my stay as easy as possible :). A private room with sink, toilet and basic shower, plus double bed with moskito net, small table and stool, plus an African-style basic couch, cost about US$32 per night. Meals are extra. A pretty good price for the view, sound of the Atlantic on the doorstep, a local village within walking distance, restaurant serving local food, gardens, lovely trees and hammacks to relax in.
It's a bit of a hike from Central Freetown, or, Aberdeen Neighbourhood, for that matter. Akeke for one person to Kent Beach, where motorised boats collect guests for the island, takes roughly an hour and can cost 400 Leones, roughly US$15, one-way. Although, 2-3 people can share a Keke (Tuk-Tuk). A motorbike from Aberdeen to Kent Beach is 150 Leones (US$6) each way and takes about 1.4 hours.
The motorboat to the island takes roughly 20 minutes and costs 400 Leones, About US$15, each way. Lifejackets are provided. There are various activities available: spear fishing, scuba diving, guided forest walks; lasting about 3 hours, a historic village walk. Or one can simply relax. Now back in Freetown, going to visit a few more sights and then plan to collect my visa on Wednesday and slowly head to Liberia.
Warmest wishes everyone. Cheers, Tony :).

Innosearch Message and Promotion

Hi dear friends and followers :). Some good and interesting news for those of you who like to travel and are blind-visually impaired.
InnoSearch, the US website company that uses AI to help visually impaired people shop more easily online, have  officially launched flights! You can take a look at
https://www.innosearch.ai/flights.
It should be now easier to search and compare flight prices over several sites. Go on, give it a go. I am. Many thanks. Have a great day/ evening.
Thank you, Tony :)

Trip Update.

Hi everyone, hope this finds you all well and keeping warm if in the UK, Europe or North America! I'm fine, swetting my bum off in hot and humid Senegal! I'm now in Ziguinchor, the southernmost biggish, city. Hoping to get my visa tomorrow for Guinea-Bissau! It's time to visit some islands and get away from the chaos for a bit! .
I crossed the Mauritania-Senegal River border about a week ago, with lots of help! Travelling from Nouakchott, Mauritania's coastal capital, onto Rosso, finding someone to help me to the Mauritania immigration post to get the exit stamp, then help me into a small, wooden, motorised canoe for the 5 minute trip across the River, took ages. Once on the other bank, it was a case of entering a large building, negotiating several barriers, having my photo taken at some official counter, my thumb prints taken, and finding a taxi to take me the short distance to the shared taxi stand for a 2-3 hour journey to St. Louis. I had help from a lovely English-speaking Mauritanian, who one of my friends aranged for me. The entire journey took roughly 12 hours. I stayed with a lovely Senegalese Couchsurfing family for 3 nights in a nice room with a comfy bed. Unfortunately, no WiFi, but I coped. My host, Elhadji and his lovely wife, Fatu looked after me best they could and I was fed each morning with a baggette filled with tasty food . Also a large hot cup of sweet coffee! . I eventually found Wifi in a place called Flamingos, a cool bar with a large tv to watch football. On my third day, Elhadji gave me a wonderful guided tour around the Isle of St. Louis and also part of Sor, the mainland. We walked over the famous Pont Faidherbe Bridge, which was rebuilt in 2011, and probably rebuilt again since. We even stepped inside the Cathedral, opened in 1828. A service was in session with women and children singing and playing instraments- delightful. The following day, I took a very early, crouded bus to Dakar, Senegals large and sprawling capital – full of traffic and people. I stayed with, yet, another nice family, who have 5 little children, what fun! Again, no WiFi access and, this time, almost no English! I was in a kind of suburb, far from the centre and far from any internet . I shared the bed with my host, Djibril, went to the toilet in a hole in the ground and took bucket showers – it was fun .
I met friends I made in Mauritania for dinner one night in a Lebanese restaurant. Fortunately, one of them had my phone number, so we were able to communicate. I went on an interesting city tour on my second afternoon with a really nice guy named Ousmanne. His website: www.senegalpremeumtour.com If anyone visits Dakar, check him out. We visited this enormous monument to Africans and I climbed 198 steps for good views and to feel and walk around the huge lump of concrete the 3 large copper statues stand atop. I could feel some of the letters and numbers on the commemoration plaque. Then we visited a couple of impressive mosques, including the Mosque of Divinity. I met the son of the man who had built the mosque, it was finished in 1997, I think. We also took photos outside the large cathedral and visited two markets, including Kermel. There was trafic everywhere and the journey was slow. I paid too much, but it was a good experience and Ousmmane's English was excellent. Ok, getting hungry, time to run. I'm staying at a nice place called Camping Casamance, it costs about UK £23 a night with breakfast. Warmest wishes to everyone. Cheers, Tony .

Dakar guide's website:

www.senegalpremeumtour.com

senegalpremeumtour.com

Mauritania Trip Report

Mauritania is a large, mostly desert-like country in northwest Africa, that parallel's the North Atlantic coast on its western side.
It's bordered by Morocco and, unrecognised, Western Sahara to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mali to the east and Senegal to the south, across the Senegal River.
 The majority of Mauritania's vast land is covered by the Sahara in the north and centre, with a small area of semi-arable land in the south, along the Senegal River.
The population is small, approximately just over 5 million, with the vast majority being Muslim. People in the south are more ethnically African and belong to several tribes, most notably Fula.
Nouakchott is the capital and largest city, located on the Atlantic coast.
The currency is the Mauritanian Ougiya. US$1 = roughly 39 MU, 1 Euro is about 52 MU and UK£1 = approximately 55 MU.
A bottle of water costs 10 MU, a traditional head scarf called a Hawli, is about 300 MU and a beef burger with chips/fries, can cost roughly 100 MU or so.
The people of Mauritania are mostly friendly, kind and helpful. Although there's not too much English spoken outside of Nouakchott. The national languages are Arabic and French, with some ethnic languages spoken in the south.
Foreigners can fly into Nouakchott from Tunis, Casablanca, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Paris or  Istanbul.
The Visa on arrival for Europeans and most others is 55 Euros for 30 days.

Mauritania can be travelled independently to some extent. Public transport mainly consists of Sept-place (7 seater cars, with upto 7-8 passengers) and some buses.
Trips between Nouakchott, half way along the coast, and Nouadhibou in the north, is fairly easy and takes roughly 6 hours. Buses travel to-from Nouakchott-Rosso on the border with Senegal and take roughly 3-4 hours .
People can also go to Atar in the Adrar Desert from Nouakchott by shared car or bus and also take a sept-place from Nouakchott to Nema in the east, near the border with Mali, but it's a long way and can take over 12 hours.
Shared taxis and some buses also go to towns in the south, like Kaedi, Mauritania's third largest city, and to Boghe, nown for its traditional round houses. These are two places I visited with a guide.
However, attempting to visit the UNESCO sites of Ouadaine, Chinguetti, Tichitt  and Oualata or Azougui (Azoueiga) oasis, is almost impossible and impractible without a guide and a 4 by 4 vehicle. Doing this alone is very expensive.

I joined a group of 10 people for a 7-day guided tour, run and organised by T'Ore Mauritania. A fantastic young company run by locals. The all-inclusive tour cost approx. US$17,00 per person. Flights are extra. The cost included all meals and drinks, all accommodation in mostly 3-4* hotels, plus 1 night camping in the desert. Travel in air condition 4 by 4 vehicle, all tickets for museums and historical sites, plus lots of bottled water, snacks, andthe ride on the famous Iron Ore train –  the highlight of the trip.

The Iron Ore train, reputed to be the world's longest at over 2.5 kilometres long takes iron ore from the minds in Souerad in the east to Nouadhibou in the west and goes back again, empty. The train, with 126 waggans can be ridden in both directions. Although riding the train when it's full of ore is more of an experience! People ride for free and sit and/or lie on the ore in open waggans for at least 18 hours and sometimes longer. The train I rode depart around 5 in the evening and arrived in Nouadhibou around 11 in the morning the next day.
Alghout the train travels quit slowly, it move from side to side and jurks a lot, the wamgans sometimes together and making a clanking noise. Stars can often been seen once it goes dark, but can get cold at night and towards dawn, as the train nears the coast. It got hot after about 9 in the morning and was very hot by 10 am. Sleeping on the ore is hard and uncomfortable. Wearing a Hawli; a Mauritanian scarf that is warn over the head and face and wrapped around is recommended, as it helps to keep out some of the dust. I'd also suggest buying and wearing a Bubu, a traditional male Mauritanian long blue dress to cover one's clothes. It has long slits down each side and alsohas long sleeves. A thin mattus is recommended to make the journey more barible! I travelled in mid October and it didn't feel that cold during the night. There was a cool wind towards dawn. I imagine riding the train in December or January could be much colder in the night. Everyone wore goggles, which was a good idea as it kept the black fine dust from irritating the eyes.
Plenty of water was provided during the trip and we brought snacks to keep us going. The biggest challenge was going to the toilet on the moving train! Many of the guys simply peed over the side, I tried this, but it went everywhere! I think the 4 ladies found it more difficult. I know one of them peed in a bottle!
The entire trip was an adventure. From sleeping in a tent in the desert and hiking up a 45 metre to see the sunset, to exploring the narrow passages and streetsof historic Ouadane. We had our own chief and the food was delicious. Tables with cloth covers, cutlery and silverware was provided at each meal and it felt like we were royality! The guides gave us good informative info each morning and evening and we always knew what was happening each day.
A fantastic trip with wonderful people.