Last 2 days - banana island or bust !!!

Well - set off around an hour ago to get to the beach at Kent .. which is where we are sitting right now .. Waiting for the boat to take us across to banana island ... Yes it is an island ... And the only access is by boat.. Bit of DUH moment there ...

The first 5 miles of road was a challenge until Touki Beach.. I can describe these roads as challenging .. The sort of challenging you see on tv programs about discovering lost tribes of the Amazon ...

But then hitting tarmac for the next 15 to 20 miles was almost like heaven .... Allowing for the fact that we zoomed past villages at an amazing 30 mph...

I don't remember the last time in Africa I was going so fast... It felt almost like 100 MPH as we had been going so slow due to traffic and the road conditions that my life was at 15 MPH maximum until then.

My cousins driver was coughing and spluttering all the way .. So it made it a pleasant trip .... I suspect he is ill and I hope it's not catching.... !!

The road past Kent goes to Waterloo - and this road is carefully monitored by armed military police to ensure nothing is smuggled around the country .. or at least nothing that has not been arranged to be smuggled around the country .. to make the drivers life easier on the way back I was very chatty to the check point chap .. and even took his photo .. there - good deed done for the day !!!

At last at Kent ... Ah yes ... First thing a brisk discussion with a guy from the village who wants to charge us 5000 leone to park the car... As we have no intention of parking the car I explained it in my best diplomatic voice and  multi-national lingo "piss off we are not paying " !!

So then down to park the car and offload our luggage .... It's a trek over some bush trail and rocks to the shore line where we are due to be collected by the banana island boat ... Along with medical supplies .. And some local passengers .. And a couple of guys doing a geological study ...
The landscape around Kent is just breath taking again - various miles of pure sandy beaches with a back drop of untouched jungle - I think to just see one is a stunning event - but this is now our 20th and whilst it causes a gasp every time .. we have gasped out a little by this point.

No there isn't .... you are quite right if you are thinking there is going to be no boarding jetty ... It's a wade into the sea and a clamber into the boat ... For everyone ... except lucky women who were carried onto the boat by one the Island guys .... chivalry is not dead ...

The boat took some 25 mins to arrive ... So a wander around watching the locals hand carve wood for their boats ... A quick look at the bucket of fish ... Then 23 mins of sitting around !

Finally we got to banana island which is an old creole colony with a dark slave trade background .. Relics of the 17'th century still hang around and graves of navy seamen sit in the cemetery ... Houses built with wood slated together still adorn the island ... And an old colonial church still stands here.. The beaches however are not what we have come to expect from other parts as they are subjected to littler that drifts in from Freetown ... But I am here to spend a couple of days seeing sights that were nearly inaccessible in my days here - and to get some fishing in .. That's tomorrows main task ...

The service here is straight back to the days of the 1940's .... And the food is excellent ... However cold beer is a little illusive ... Dodo illusive ...Warm beer however is readily available anytime (we are told).

I am promised chicken for dinner ... Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....Chicken .....CHICKEN !!! Ok I know I should not be so excited about it - but I am !!!!!! it's been 4 days since I have had any meat ... Now that's worth the trip !! I know what you are thinking .... Chicken V lobster .. You would eat lobster any day over chicken ... But this is day 4 of lobster ... twice a day - And it's too much ...

So it's a sit on the beach for Lunch (now ish) and dinner ... Which we have ordered for 8pm ... And some beer which I do hope is cold!!!

The rooms ? Well there are 6 beach huts here - very basic - cold water again ... But are nicely set up .. The missing element here is no AC and no fan no electric ... Just keep the mozzy screens closed and hope for some breeze I guess .....






After lunch went through the village to the big beach on one side of the island ... The beach was disappointing as it was littered with empty plastic bottle .. and an array of things you didn't want to examine too closely  - but hey it was 20 mins walk and we were going to have a dip...  the village Creole huts and church were amazing to see, and photo's a plenty of them .. its when the camera came out to photo someone clean underwear, tops and jeans drying on a stone that I though it best to point out the obvious .. perhaps this was not a tourist item to photograph ...

Got bitten to death .... You could hear the various biting insects shouting white meat ... white meat .. white meat ... white meat .. white meat ... white meat .. WHITE MEAT !!! I sort of understand their excitement as clearly they were waiting for 4 days for some meat also !!! And in the absence of chicken .. They made do with us!

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They were clearly using the stunning plants and bush to hid in ... as they were virtually undetectable - but there were at least plenty of banana trees around ... Banana Island then ???

Its going to be a sweaty night for bearguitarists for all the wrong reasons  .... !!!!


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