It
was a while ago now that Josh and Mark left us but I'm taking advantage of the
free time to write this blog while there is currently a big storm outside and
instead of watching the Euro finals we are sitting in the Clubhouse with no TV
signal and power that keeps cutting out.
So anyway, a few weeks ago we decided to arrange a good send off for Josh and Mark so we
organised for about 12 of us to go to Freetown on Saturday to watch the Sierra
Leone national team play a world cup qualifier. Unfortunately we didn’t all
make it up in time due to the standard car troubles but those that did really
enjoyed it and the Leone Stars won 5-2. Even though I didn’t make it there in
time, when some of us were wandering around Freetown market we could here all
the people cheering in the streets as news travelled that they had won. We
later joined the others at the hotel we were staying at and all got ready to
hit the town. We crowded into taxies and met with Charlie, his girlfriend and
Pete from CBF at an outside bar situated on Lumley Beach. It was nice to see
everyone together enjoying a few drinks and chatting while chilling under the
stars. One too many drinks later though and we all thought it would be the
perfect idea to go into the sea still fully dressed. Here I took my opportunity
to get my own back on Josh and Mark by soaking them, only to then be fully
rugby tackled by one of them straight into the water. I wasn’t too impressed.
Climbing into a taxi soaking wet we decided to find the omelette and bread guy
from our last visit. They definitely need to get someone like this in England
it’s the perfect combination. We then got more beers to take to the hotel and
sat up chatting on the balcony well into the early hours of the morning.
The
next day none of us seemed to be suffering too much which I definitely welcomed.
Some of us left to go back to Makeni and others decided to go to the beach for
the night. We said goodbye to Mark and Josh who were staying at the hotel for a
little longer. It was kind of sad to be saying goodbye to them as we all
started this experience together and share some incredible memories. However
they were jetting off back to their comfortable lives in England where they
could have as much junk food as they liked. Not that I'm jealous or anything.
That
day we ended up at River Number 2 which is by far the most beautiful beach I
have ever been to. It had everything, the white sand, crystal blue sea and
picturesque scenery. A paradise beach. The 7 of us spent the rest of the day
soaking up the sun or in my case evening out my awful tan lines and swimming in
the sea. We had a delicious dinner of barracuda fish with a tomato sauce and
rice and then me, Ben, Greg and Adam spent the night in tents falling asleep to
the sound of waves crashing. It wasn’t my most comfortable night’s sleep as we
had no pillow, sheet or cushioning to lie on but I did embrace the moment. In
the morning the weather wasn’t so nice so me and Greg headed back to Makeni,
while Ben and Adam went to Freetown to continue doing their questionnaires for
their project with all the managers and coaches in the four regions that CBF
work in.
We
returned, pretty tried from our eventful weekend but feeling fully prepared to
hit the last 3 weeks of this experience in the best way possible.
P.S.
the TV power finally came back as I was writing thisso got to watch the end of the Euro's. well done spain!!
