Day 2

Pictures are not loading here so will post them at later dateMorning – 15/09/08After spending the past few days with the idea of acclimatising ourselves to Sierra Leone, today the adventure really began. We rose as we would any other day, down to breakfast for some bread and marmite, simple but more than sufficient, before Mr Jalloh arrived in the Diocese car to steer us off into the geographical heart of Sierra Leone. We dropped off various things at Bishop’s court (where Iain and I will stay during our months in Sierra Leone) then, at 09.09am we left in the direction of Bo.The Journey -The first part of our journey was spent escaping the bustle of Freetown. Mr Jalloh dodged the frantic drivers and pedestrians with consummate ease, and in next to no time the sign signalled that we were “ now leaving the municipality of Freetown,” and we were out, to adventure and beyond.We travelled in between vast Mangrove fields and smaller settlements before we became enclosed by the jungle leaves that would become customary before the day was out. The scenery itself is hard to envisage (luckily photos will be in constant supply) but it is easy to say that the jungle on either side of us is far from hard on the eyes. Mountainous jungle landscape as far as the eyes can see. It was not long before the red dusty roads became hard to cross swiftly and one bridge in particular has us holding our breaths until we reach the end. The roads became progressively bumpier and narrower as the day continued, and if it were not for Mr Jalloh, it may have taken much more than 3 and a-half-hours to reach Moyamba. Mr Jalloh prides himself in the fact that he hardly ever uses 1st gear in the big 4×4, which is in fact a pretty incredible feat. Some of the roads are so steep with cracks and pot-holes large enough to lose....Duncan in, yet his experience gets us through.Moyamba – We arrive just after mid-day, it’s been a long morning, the roads making it impossible to sleep. The town itself is like most of the rural places we’ve seem so far, they do the best that they can with what they have. On arrival we pass by the the old school...which consists of sticks holding up a make shift roof. The space is small and, at a time, used to teach over 100 kids. Within a couple of minutes of passing the old building, we reach the new Sierra Leone church school, Moyamba. Greeted by the school headmaster, “Mr Raymond,” we are shown the new structure and Iain begins his work to assess what more the school needs.After this we share lunch at the school with Mr Raymond and some of the locals. Lunch is excellent, we have tinned cheddar cheese and tinned meats, most importantly we get a taste of coconuts, and a taste of the local culture. By 1.30 however, Mr Jalloh is eager to get away and we say our goodbyes and clamber into the 4×4.........which WON’T START!Still Moyamba – 4 hours on the car still won’t start. We decide to call time on reaching Bo today and settle into a guest house in town. We’re all happy however, as the extra time gave us a chance to relax and walk through the town to the old school...which is very very “old school!” The day’s been long long but exciting, the adventure continues tomorrow!