Musamilla to Freetown - Day 223

Date: March 29th, 2010
Distance: 83km
Country: Sierra Leone
Song of the Day: Put it Behind You - Keane

Woke up not well rested at all. It was still too hot in my tent. Plus I kept waking up thinking a mosquito was biting me. When I would wake up in the night, I could see dozens of them hanging onto the netting waiting for their chance to get in. I hate mosquitoes.

I also had a bit of a stomach ache. First time that has happened in nearly 4 months in Africa. Maybe I finally picked up a bug. Still, I didn't feel like vomiting. Just didn't feel good. I ate a mango hoping that would help. Not really.

There was no bread in the village so I had to head off without a good solid breakfast. I did get to the next town and get some stuff to eat. From there it was just a miserable struggle all day. The only thing that seemed to make it better was caffinated softdrinks. I didn't feel much like eating, but I promised myself a cola every 25km. That seemed to work. Still, not the most fun I have had here.

After the town of Waterloo, the traffic also got heavier. A lot of it was made up of mini-buses. Near the capital, there appears to be a pretty even mixture between christians and muslims. A competition, it seems, is being played out in hand painted slogans on these mini-buses. Often, "God is Great", or "Allah is One". (I suppose these won out over the less popular "God is Nifty" and "Allah is my Homeboy".) These are often juxtiposed with stickers of Madonna, who I never thought of as a promoter of any religion. (I am talking about the pop star here, not the Virgin Mother.) Some of the slogans are a little more down to earth, like "No food for a lazy man". I thought the "No money, No friends" one was a bit harsh.

By the time I reached Freetown, I was feeling a bit better. The city itself really is quite strange and exotic. It is set between a couple of hills and the sea. The little shanties are built onto the highest and steepest slopes. In the center are some reasonably modern buildings. They are surrounded by a collection of simple concrete block houses, shanties, and old colonial buildings. Everywhere traffic and people are moving by. It is quite chaotic. It is beautiful in its own strange way.

While looking around for a guesthouse to stay at, I met up with a local cyclist. He said he would take me to a good safe place. Sadly this set off an hour and a half foray around the eastern part of the city. First we had to meet with a friend and get some advice. Then he took me to his place and invited me to stay with him. I appreciated the offer, but really just wanted my own room to stay in. All I wanted to do was take a nap.

Finally we got to a local hotel. My guide was pretty straight saying that I was a friend and needed to be taken care of. That seemed to work on the staff. They went right away. Got me new sheets. Fixed up the mosquito net. The works. Once I was taken care of, my guide left me. I took a shower, and yes, did get my nap.

My guide said he would be back later on to take me for dinner sometime around 8:00. By 8:45 he hadn't showed up, so I asked at the reception for a good place to eat and headed off on my own. Because of the stomach issues, I just wanted something simple. Spaghetti. It took me a few tries to find, but finally I got it. The place didn't have much left though. So I tried something else, panckakes. Nothing like the version back home. The pan-fried sweet bread was really good though. I had a few helping of that.

On my way back to the hotel my guide met me on the street. He was worried that something had happened to me. I am not sure why. I have been through 18 different countries. I can handle myself. Still we agreed to meet up the following day, and he could help me find the embassy for Mali.

-Dravis