Welcome to Sierra Leone - the place of smiles

WOW!!
Landing in Sierra Leone felt like walking into a sauna, we were immediately sweating uncontrollably in our English clothes. We were loaded straight onto a bus taking us literally 100 metres to the entrance of a crowded, busy and manic room/airport were everyone was waiting for their mountains of luggage. Looking around the room we saw a comforting sign saying "Welcome to Sierra Leone, the place of smiles." After fighting our way out, we were rescued by Charlie (The Collective organiser) and awarded Sierra Leones finest Star beer where every bottle is guaranteed to taste different. We were then ushered onto a ferry, jumping across some water to board the boat and up to the top deck. The breeze was much appreciated at this point and looking out to the main land I suddenly thought that this is going to be amazing. 


The only way to describe driving through Freetown is that it's a hundred times worse then driving in London. Cars, akados (motorbikes) and people are everywhere swerving around each other and with their lights on full beam. The city was full of life even though it was around 10pm. People were still selling and carrying countless things on their heads. I even saw someone carrying a table on their head. I've still yet to master this skill but I'm hoping someone might teach me soon, as long as they don't give me anything fragile. 


We finally arrived at our first destination which was Tribewanted, an echo camp situated on the most amazing beach. As we struggled with our heavy bags down the hill, a group of very kind people hoisted them up onto their shoulders and helped us get to camp. I later felt sorry for the guy who had mine as i noticed the airport had put a sticker on it saying "Warning Heavy!!" We later sat down for some food and crawled into our tents (which were already full of sand) ready to start our big adventure.