Franco's day 2 - the point of no return

So day 2 was about enough. Rooms not cleaned - sheets not changed - beds not made - towels not replaced - staff still not bothered about doing anything - and it was all coming to a head ....

That evening, a certain Scottish Meerkat, gave the head  (most senior) staff at Franco's a firm reminder of why William Wallace was so feared !!! 3 clear and non discussed commands placed at her door - In clear shot of the owners son and his new wife :-

Your staff are rude and complacent
Toilet rolls and towels needed
Clean room
No discussion !!!!!
"from that day to this .... would you give up every day for just one chance to tell them .. you can take our lives .... But you can't take ......OUR TOILET ROLL !!!!"

Let me explain about the new owners.
Franco built this place with his own hands - he ran the diving, fishing , and the entire place in fact... But lately (3 years by the state of things ) he had lost interest. Maybe he was ill ? Maybe he just lost heart after years of fighting for the place ... But it was in a state ... And finally 2 weeks ago his son and new wife had been brought over from England to take over and run the place. We were told this over an apology from the young wife who is clearly a front of house educated young European girl ... And that night she and the son had been finally given the go ahead to do whatever they wanted ... She had brought us a bottle of wine as an apology - noting that one of her biggest challenges was the staff ... And the decor - as the building itself - and ... Well it's a huge challenge - let's just keep the list short ...

Having found out that the place no longer did any of the trips, water sports, fishing , that had been advertised - and based on the Wallace encounter ... We had already made a call to move on a day early ... We told her this - and she understood our thoughts... But it must be hard to hear ... All the same ...

So tomorrow we are off to river number 2 beach - yes that's what Its called- river no 2 beach ...

back to the beach sunbeds  - some hard decisions about what to eat on the last night - a bottle of wine for lunch !!! and a call to organise pick up the following morning. 

Last meal at Franco's - lobster and barracuda - (that's red snapper and bottle of wine lunch  in the picture !!) some last wine - and a long chat with the new owners wife ... Pity to leave - but we can't stay around forever until the staff get their act together!

The previous day we had overheard a group of 4 as they tried to get a taxi or some form of transport from Franco's to a beach about 15 mins away. They were told "no taxi's" ... but why not talk to one of the local fishermen who can take you by boat ...

About an hour later we heard the debate about costs - they wanted 500,000 leone for the trip .. which is over  $100 ... They were an English group which may explain the costs... they had enough sense to say no ... and they were struggling ... I offered them my driver and car for petrol and a little something in costs ..
And here is the point  .. it would have been still profitable for the driver to come all the way from Freetown - to Franco's - Pick them up - take them down the road - and return all the way back to Freetown - than to have these costs - I reckon petrol would have been about 120,000 Leone - and I was going to charge them 200,000 Leone to give the driver something.

Luckily one of them had a sister in Freetown with her own driver - and after a few calls - she sent her own driver out.

NB - lobster here is no more expensive than any other dish ... It's fresh - BIG / Huge, as in stand toe to toe with a shark huge ... and tasty ... So you must eat loads of it as you would never equal this anywhere in Europe ..

I am not a lobster eater ... Bare guitarists more go for less mess and more content ... A huge steak (which is virtually unobtainable in Sierra Leone at the moment)  for example .. after all we need to get ready in case we have to hibernate !!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 4 time to head south

The Nearly finished New Road

We all know birds do it ... But it's also what bareguitarists do ... Head South in the winter  .. South to an area past lumley beach ... South on the new road that never existed in my day ... On the "nearly finished " new 4 lane road being built to link Kent - Sussex - and Freetown ..  I was heading to a place down in Sussex called Franco's ...

A hotel bar restaurant right on the beach in Sussex .. a few miles of golden sands not spoilt by any surrounding buildings ... An odd dwelling or two yes .... But a view to kill for....

Franco's, and the road South, were built after I had left Freetown - but the pure deserted sands and isolated beaches are what Lumley beach used to be in my day....

Aberdeen bridge

There is a new bridge across Aberdeen river inlet that (after some debate with my sister) it was decided did not exist in our day. This bridge links the main part of Freetown to the beach area Lumley beach. Before the bridge it would take an hour and a half to get to Lumley Beach from the town. Driving all the way inland before taking a "road" across open bush to the beach area. The bridge has changed the entire landscape. Now hotels and bars sit on Lumley beach - and it has become more of a town beach than the beach I had in my mind.

Apparently at one stage, it had become an area filled with local shack bars, and attracted some very dangerous people as a drunk person is a much easier target. The government decided that Lumley needed clearing up, so they did. In true African style they sent in a few hundred young men, backed up by a handful of armed police, with free licence to smash all the shack bars ... little debate happens in Africa when a decision is made like this. Now Lumley is cleaner, nicer, slightly safer, with a scattering of well built bars and beach clubs, but still not the beach it was. Anyway back to Franco's .....

Francos beach

Francos beach

The place is a sea water natural lagoon filled with sea water and a sand bank in the middle - tidal yes - and the currents can be a little strong on certain tides - but step out of the restaurant onto their own private beach ... A short walk / swim across the lagoon and you are straight onto a secluded beach of about 4 miles of golden sands with not a soul in sight ....

The inlet by the Hotel

Of course you have to watch the tide slightly here - and the beauty of a beach with no-one for miles is a plus and a minus... The obvious minus being the fact that this part of the coast line has some pretty heavy under-currents ..

It took about 2 hours to drive from the centre of Freetown to Sussex - but it was only about 30 mins drive along the road from lumley... No town traffic helps !! And of course a minor detour to the G-Spot bar fly bar as we pass it on Lumley cross road !!

Here and in beautiful surroundings - we are shown to our room ... It's pretty hard to describe .. But take a road side b&b of the 70's and you are close ... Mustard coloured Walls and a wood ceiling which would have been skimmed by plaster in more recent times ... A large but bare room with hot and cold leaking water in the bathroom... Well I am sure the image in your head is more flattering to the actual real image of the place ... But don't forget this was an area constantly ravaged by rebels during the war... Stories of Franco and his son having to head out to sea every night to avoid being shot or worse by the rebels ... Him and many others.. Only returning in the day time not knowing if the place has been burnt down or if in fact the rebels still sat in wait for people to return .... We can't imagine the thoughts that went along with this part of Sierra leone history ...

So you can understand the slow march to progress for a place like
Franco 's - family kingdom - and in fact all these places in and around Freetown. But the staff at Franco's were a big let down .. and there is little excuse for this.

You can forgive what takes time to recover from - but staff who don't care about delivering a service to customers is not acceptable .... Tolerated as we settled into the place ... We were not going to have to chase cleaners to do their job - waiters to do their job - and eventually the lid blew ... In day 2 of our 4 day planned stay at franco's...

However - one thing that cannot be missed - the food at franco's is divine !!!!!!!! So a must stop for at least one night for food and to check out this beautiful place on the mouth of a lagoon, and obviously the unbelievable decor ... But for 4 nights !!! I don't think so ... So day 2 needs a serious decision ...

making decisions is not the strongest point of bareguitarists on holiday !!!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Trauma at the Tacugama Chimpanzee sanctuary

Being ecological tourists - we must see the sights that are "must see" - based on this - a decision has been made to spend a day and a night at one of the Eco lodges in the Tacugama Chimpanzee sanctuary. Not just a night - not just any night - a night in one of the more expansive tree huts ... a treat which is designed to inspire the romantic mind, to be breath taking in its sights sounds and feel.

You must take a packed dinner - whilst one can be cooked and brought in - I hear the echo of a voice in my ears that said - "wouldn't it be so much more better to cook our own" ... and with some supplies from a shop  on route the plan is laid.



The "friendly driver" had mentioned that the merc would not make it up the last road to the sanctuary .. my cousin was outraged by this suggestion and our solution of hiring a 4x4 to go to the sanctuary for the day .. it was like the driver had suggested his children were incapable ... anyway long drive into the bush where the sanctuary sits on 400 acres of reserved jungle - and an attempt or two to get up the last hill ... of course at the bottom of this hill sits a warning sign .. " this hill is only for 4 x 4 use - do not attempt it in a normal car ..." so we did and failed about half way up ... and nearly wrote the car off in reverse down a huge ditch trying to get it back to the bottom.

In short - Mr "friendly" was correct - and  we had to hand walk the baggage up what is a serious 200 Yards of hill track.

So that knocked the first thought of romance out of any ones head !!!

Our hut not ready yet - we sit and wait in a nice area for 2 other huts - and book to go on the 4 pm tour around the sanctuary. In the goodie box (shopping on route)  were some partly cold beers - so cracked one open - and then another ... and finally the hut is ready.

A bit of a trek to the "special" eco hut ... but its just stunning. a kitchen toilet and shower down stairs - a bed room upstairs - with its own tree balcony and stunning views of part of 400 acres of jungle reserve. But noticed no fan - no Air conditioning - no plug sockets - but hey - its the jungle then !!

Drop the stuff, then onto the tour. It was such a good thing to see the chimps, the hand painted signs for things like how chimps talk, and act, and the history of the sanctuary. Then over to see the chimps being re-conditioned from their smoking habits, their drinking habits, their human captivity hang ups whatever they are, and the ones who have now being released back into the reserve but still come back twice a day for some free food.

I wont bore you with facts - but chimps are quite funny about other chimps being introduced into the pack, so the process of release is often over a year of slow introduction. If they don't do this in this way - the chimps wait until everyone has gone - take them into the bush - and kill them. So its a slow process.

Tour was good - said that - lots of information - lots of chimps - and then back to the hut for the night. Still day light we sit on the balcony, open the wine, and relax ....

the night is falling and its time to put on some lights and make some food. I remember pointing out that the lights must be like a free food sign for insects as there is no other light for a few hundred miles around - laugh laugh - giggle - giggle.

So lights on - gas cooker lit - and time to cook canned tuna and couscous.  The night outside gets darker and darker - the noises of insects, crickets, chimps, and strange rustling around the hut - gets louder and louder, and the tinned food ... did I mention no fridge !! .... is ready. Well its no feast - but its food and wine.

Finished eating - its time to sit on the balcony and relax ... again ...

Its then that you realise the joke about being a neon sign for insects comes into reality. Not just any insects - some of the most huge, and loud buzzing things I have ever heard or seen. One of these had made a call - it was coming into the hut. Whatever we did - it smashed against the door repeatedly with the weight and size of a small car ... I don't think you need much more detail than this - except the fact that we didn't hang around to argue with it. Imagine what you see when Spielberg try's to show complete terror and panic in a crowd of people who have just discovered that a world ending asteroid was going to hit the earth ....

Now times that by 10 !!!!

Anyway - we are not going out - cant - the creature from the black lagoon was still banging at the door trying to get in. So its an early night ... just needed to squash another huge thing,  less aggressive, that had got into the hut .. check .. flip flops .. nice invention ... now bed.

The night is hot, there are mosquito nets on the windows up stairs ... so at least some air in the hut ... but no lights - mosquito nets wont stop the lagoon chap if he wants through them...

Morning - so go on the tour again? No - lets go for a nice walk .... or at least that's that voice again making what I think is a good idea ... a walk to the dam ? well not so keen as it seems to be a less trodden track - but hey - survived the all night attack of the huge insect brigade - so why not ... why not indeed !!!!

The track was as it seemed. More akin to the edge of a jungle trail, with dangerous overgrown paths, drops down into dangerous bush land - and insectopia .... about 2/3rd of the way down the path, the thoughts of leaches and whatever having a free meal - its time to turn around. Anyway - time is running out - and the driver is due soon. And quite honestly, too many battles with insects ...

Back to hut - get our bags - and off - down South ... to beaches, bars, civilisation, and cooked food...

I should point out that - this was the only blog entry written in the UK !!! I must have been so distracted by the events of the night that I totally missed writing about this ..... blanked from the memory ..

Bareguitarists are not big on insects !!!!

Day 3 Monday - another day at the office (cemetery)

Outside the hotel is an old army guy now driving taxi around Freetown ... The only problem with those two terms is - traffic pretty much can stand still in and around Freetown as they are working in every major road in the country at once ??? Not sure what that's about -
well actually I am sure what that's about .. its election time next June..

you don't actually drive in Freetown - you sort of push your way in and out of traffic as you get the chance to.. But he still is a nice chap and we pass the morning with some chat ... Some discussion about the old Freetown - and of course the fact that since the war it's been a place of resettlement. All this goes on as a man sitting at the gate next to me plays with a live lobster ( ??) and the small bush deer wander around - and we are waiting for the driver .. If you thought you lived in a surreal world - then think again !!

Today traffic is bad - he is late - and we sit having a drink in one of the two restaurant bars outside the hotel entrance ..

We decided that today is best to focus on one thing ... It's not the most glamourous of things - Its a visit to the cemetery.

It is said that the Abouds in Africa lived on tip of each other. Once dead - we are all buried in the way we lived. All compressed into one plot of racecourse cemetery are various generations of my family - uncles - aunts - cousins - an elder brother who died aged 9 months old - and great grand parents... All together in the one area. Of course this area had to be cleared of overgrown bush and trees ... High grass and bush as high as a person .. hiding snakes and just about everything you are warned about when walking through jungle bush lands. Now clear and the grave stones of many generations of the family visible - I paid my respects.


I am not sure if it was the heat, something she ate, or any combination of this, but Sandra was throwing up like a puppy at the cemetery. Luckily she had the sense to move away from the family plot when doing this... but I am sure whoever's grave she was throwing up over may not have appreciated it !!! I made a call not to photo that moment - wise choice !!! Check - that item off the list ...

Anyway - time to move on, and to show a truly adventurous spirit, we went on to Kissey street, to find  no. 1 Kissey Street- where the old shop used to be.

Going down old narrow colonial streets - hundreds of compressed people and sellers selling their wears on the street itself .. Makes the term crawl seem like a high speed chase ... It took some 2 hours to go less than mile in the end ... And due to a broken down lorry on route to the cemetery it had already taken us some 2 hours to go about the same distance ....

Anyway the shop on the corner of kissey street is now a bank .... There you go .... It's slow progress to discover things here in Freetown ... even the m25 moves quicker than this during rush hour !!!! Check check ...

This now done ... We stopped for a while at my cousins shop ... then back home via a bank or two to try to get the ATM to work ( a whole blog in it's own right so don't ask!!) ... Finished off the take-away from Sunday night then an early night .... As the humidity - heat - and sat in cars for endless hours had taken it's toll ... Clearly seen when my trusted meerkat companion threw her guts up at the cemetery !!!

It's hot here - humidity in Freetown is as high as any tropical forest - and bears can't just remove their coats ... Well - unless they are bareguitarists of course !!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone