THE MIDWEST AFRICAN SERIES, DAY 12, 13 & 14
FREETOWN – BANANA ISLAND – CONAKRY
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry. I suppose out of all the West African cities, I have most been looking forward to Freetown. It’s English speaking, got plenty of beaches and I hear the locals are great!!
NEVER EXPECTED TO GET INVOLVED IN A SHOUTING MATCH ON BANANA ISLAND!
There is certainly more western tourists/expats here than I have seen in the previous two countries so will be interesting to see what it offers.
WHERE IS FREETOWN?
Freetown
COTTON TREE
People have considered the Cotton Tree one of Sierra Leone’s most important landmarks for over a century. It was here in 1972 that a group of slaves recently freed made their way down the freedom steps and sat beneath this tree and prayed to show their appreciation of a new life.
A storm last year collapsed the tree, but you can still appreciate its former size.
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry
DAILY INFO….
- HOTEL –
Sierra Palms Resort (8.5)
Noom Hotel (8.5) - ATTRACTIONS –
Cotton Tree
Sierra Leone Museum
St George’s Cathedral
Banana Island
The Drive to Conakry
FALL OUT
Museums are never really my thing, but I decided to give the museum of Sierra Leone a chance and wish I didn’t. After hearing the guide would take another few minutes, we made our way through the museum and it was exactly as I had expected; artefacts, pottery and swords…
After almost deciding to leave, the guide approached us and scolded us since the museum only opens at 10 – the time was now 10:10. So upon hearing her bickering I mentioned I was keen to leave anyway – good start to the city I was most looking forward to.
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry
FACTS ABOUT FREETOWN:
- At the heart of Freetown stands the majestic Cotton Tree. Early settlers gathered around this tree to express gratitude upon their arrival. Major streets, buildings, and landmarks can all be geolocated in relation to the Cotton Tree.
- In April and May, Freetown comes alive with mangoes. These juicy fruits are sold individually or in heaps by roving vendors on street pavements.
- While English is Sierra Leone’s official language, Krio is the heart and soul of Freetown. Speaking Krio “smɔl-smɔl” (just a little) will earn you smiles and appreciation from Freetonians.
KENT
After a bit of car trouble we made it to Kent, the small town just south of Freetown. Here, a guide took us around the various buildings that people used during the slave trade, including the basement where they kept the slaves and the negotiating room for buying and selling.
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry
FLAG….
- GREEN – Alludes to the country’s natural resources – specifically agriculture and its mountains.
- WHITE – Epitomizes “unity and justice”.
- BLUE – Evokes the “natural harbour” of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, as well as the hope of “contributing to world peace” through its usage.
BANANA ISLAND
From here we made the 20 min boat trip across the water to Banana Island. This place was effectively chosen as a prison, as there was no means of escape. Here the prisoners/slaves would be put to work digging wells and constructing buildings such as the church and homes for their captors.
Since conditions were incredibly poor, some of the slaves often became too ill to be useful in the trade. They took those considered too sick (alive) to one of the disused wells, threw them in, and left them to die..
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry
RELATED READ: SH*T SCARED AT THE GORILLA HABITUATION EXPERIENCE
SCUFFLE
Locals now occupy several settlements on the island and call this island their home. As we made our way across the island, a local chief of one of the settlements approached us and thrust us into a confrontation.
The issue was that the communities agreed that if tourists access the island, then each community would receive some fee rather than the village at the point of access. This means everyone can benefit and is on board when it comes to having tourists walking around their villages.
The West Side Boys, Freetown & Conakry
ABOUT THE COUNTRY:
- LANGUAGE – English is the de facto official language, and Krio is the most widely spoken.
- HELLO – Kushɛ or Kushɛ-o
- HOW TO CHEERS – Živeli!
- BEVERAGE OF CHOICE – Palm wine
- POPULAR SPORT – Football
- STAPLE DIET – Rice
RESORT
It is strange to think what this place used to be and now there is a – albeit small – resort where tourists come, drink cocktails and top up their tan lines, bizarre.
DAY 13 – ROAD TO CONAKRY
I know I keep saying this but this is the beginning of the real journey, from Freetown to Guinea Bissau! I have heard tons of stories that the roads are poor and the police are corrupt. So far we have paid over $50 in bribes most of which were not essential but makes life easier for my guides who pass these checkpoints fairly often.
THE WEST SIDE BOYS
Ever since I was bought Operation Barras, the book about the famous SAS mission in Sierra Leone it became engraved in my brain and I knew when visiting this country I had to try and visit.
I was initially expecting this to be a short trip down to an old village with very little sign of what had happened back in September 2000. How wrong I was. After driving off the main road we switched onto bikes to make our way across what had to be the worst roads I have ever seen. After 30mins on the bike we arrived at Magbeni, the main base of the West Side Boys. Once we had a chat with an elder who was here when the West Side Boys arrived we found a boat and made our way across the creek to Gberi Bana, the secondary base where the British Soldiers were imprisoned.
GBERI BANA
Another elder greeted us upon our arrival and unequivocally asked us to leave. He has had a few groups visit this place who had promised to help the community in some way but it turns out once they visit the sites they gave nothing in return.
After carefully negotiating by my guide we were good to go and were taken around the village. I was surprised that the building that held the hostages was still there, fully intact besides a few bullet holes. But the hole that Musa, the Sierra Leonian translator was filled in. I think this was to spite some of the tourists that came here before.
LZ
Just beside the house where the hostages were kept is now the local football pitch and the site of the landing zones for the chinooks to drop off the troops and to collect the prisoners. It’s all incredibly surreal to be here.
CHILD SOLDIERS
Like a lot of the rebels, the leader of the West Side boys, Foday Kallay knew recruiting child soldiers would give him the best chance of complete control. Often, rebels took kids from their family and friends, and these kids would look up to their leader as a father figure, which Kallay was keen to exploit. To solidify this, the kids were often forced to begin their killing spree by shooting their parents.
CORRUPT
On our way through Conakry, officers stopped us at every checkpoint, but one was particularly interesting as they took us out of the car and asked us to open our bags.
WELCOME TO COUNTRY NUMBER 166
We knew what the score was when they pointed at some of the vehicle paperwork and said that the law does not permit more than one person in it – you couldn’t make this shit up! Of course it was nothing a little African Tax couldn’t fix.
NOOM
Our hotel in Guinea was for sure a great surprise. Not only was it the best of the trip so far but also had the Guinean team staying there after their effort in the African Cup of Nations. Naby Keita, dressed head to toe in Gucci walked past me at check in and had to literally fight his way to the car.
FOTOBA
In fairness, even visiting the island isn’t exciting. There was a bit of history between the Portuguese, English and French but besides that, a village, more rubbish and a prison we couldn’t get to there wasn’t much to see. So we dandered about then headed back to Conakry via the island of Iles de Los for a look at the beach. This was nice even if we did find a syringe.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I did not think I would have ever visited the old base of the West Side Boys back when I read the book. It was a great story, what the SAS managed in terms of observation, recce and assault was mind blowing, I don’t think many other special forces units at the time could have pulled it off.
NEXT UP
The 3 day drive to Bissau!! Click to read.
SAFE TRAVELS, DS x
166/229
This post is part of The Midwest African Series, for the entire series click here or for episode 1, click here.
To watch the video of my trip, head to my highlights on my go Instagram.
