Welcome to Sierra Leone’s latest most exciting eco deveopment, a new Eco Lodge built on one of the most beautiful beaches on the Western Peninsular and set back into the rainforrest itself.

Perfect if you love nature, romance and/or creativity. With no vehichular access and a perfectly tranquil setting you are at one with the natural surroundings. Come and be looked after by a small dedicated, harmonius team to look after you. Come and be at one with nature.

The President made it a priority for this year in his anniversary speech, the Deputy Minster of Marine Resources received a standing ovation in Morocco for saying Sierra Leone was at the forefront of fighting the evil, Salone is a leading proponent of the Costal Zone Management of West Africa, stopping illegal trawlers is supposed to be at the very heart of this government’s policies. So how come there were no less than three illegal trawlers within half a mile of Kent beach all last Tuesday night(03 03 09)? More importantly how come the navy, that regularly visit the trawlers, was seen that night to visit all three ships and leave with bags of fish (and money?) and just allowed this illegal stealing to continue?

Three illegal trawlers in one night at Kent beach

The people of Kent are really distressed. Last night there were no less than three illegal trawlers plying up and down the water right inside the little bay. None of the local fishermen could go fishing because they were scared that they would be killed by the trawlers. The people of Kent say this is not the first time the navy went on board the trawlers, came away with bags of fish (who knows what else?) and did nothing to stop the illegal fishing.

This is a security matter, food security.

The trawlers are fishing right up to the beachside. They are stealing brazenly not only from the people of Kent but also from every Sierra Leonean. They are damaging the food security and future of fish stocks in the country. How will the children ever be able to fish if the fish breading grounds are wrecked? How will we feed ourselves when the fish are gone, when
80% of the animal protein we eat in Sierra Leone comes from our sea?
The trawlers steal over $8,000.00 (eight thousand USD) per shift from the country. The navy has the power to seize these vessels and keep them docked until they pay a hefty fine. As recently as October 2008, the Sierra Leone navy, working together with a UK NGO, the Environmental Justice Foundation, arrested an illegal trawler off Sherbro Island and brought it back to Freetown. The trawler was fined and had to pay the Sierra Leonean government a $30,000 fine.

Just imagine what revenue could be brought to government coffers if the navy was enforcing the international laws of the seas and this at the same time as allowing the local fishermen to fish and feed and support their families.

The navy must enforce maritime law for the benefit of the country

International maritime law is clear about the criminality of illegal trawlers. Even if the trawlers do have legal licenses it is always illegal for them to fish close to shore in the Inshore Exclusion Zone reserved for local fishermen. It is up to the navy to enforce the law. Please do not say it cannot be done because the navy has already proved that it can act when it wants to do so. Anything short of arresting the trawlers pillaging the seas must amount to some unscrupulous, corrupt navy personnel. They, as much as the trawlers, are damaging the food security of the country because by their actions they are helping the trawlers to steal the fish from the seas of Salone.
A call for the highest intervention. Mr President, new Minister for Marine Resources, Madam Afsatu Kabbah and Deputy, former acting, Minister, Madam Rosaline Oya Sankoh please intervene now.

Mr President, new Minister for Marine Resources, Madam Afsatu Kabbah and Deputy, former acting, Minister Madam Rosaline Oya Sankoh please intervene now. Please ensure the navy personnel will do their duty and arrest the illegal trawlers. Please investigate why last Wednesday 03. 03. 09 some navy personnel boarded three vessels clearly fishing within Mama Salone’s waters and left them again to carry on the theft of her seas.

Jane Aspden www.jaysbar.net

Kevin McPhillips travel

Serving the Sierra Leone community worldwide
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Cricket for change (CFG ) a UK based charity recently visited Freetown taking cricket to places not used to seeing cricket. these included cricket being played at blind school and working with disabled youth on east Freetown , the organizer of CFG Andy Selling’s said “the charity has been working with these groups for many years in London , Jamaica and Kenya. Our form of cricket is fast and played by just six players and uses a soft ball making it easy for young persons to play .

CFG worked in Freetown with Right to Play and the National Cricket Association in hope of making cricket more wide spread in schools across the country and also in communities that before had little experience of cricket .

One area and community of persons I witnessed was in the blind school where, with a cricket soft ball a bell is inside making game attractive and accessible for blind persons to play

They played this at Milton Mageri school for blind based in centre of Freetown where two children told me “this is great fun and I never knew we could play this game and I hope more disabled persons can have fun we did”

One of the coaches Andy Walsh, himself partially sighted, said “cricket is being played all over world by blind people and we want to see blind cricket grow in Sierra Leone as well

Apart from their work in the blind school they also worked with 5 secondary schools and national cricket coaches, who all took cricket for the first time to be played by physically challenged persons,

One of the coaches said “at first the physically challenged were nervous about playing the game but we saw their attitude change once we made cricket fun and supported and encouraged them. He said “cricket is for all persons and you have same rights to play cricket as anyone in society”

All the physically challenged youth were all feeling so positive after end of 4 days of playing and they said they hoped this would be start of new form of cricket for them.

David Turner, the organiser of the tour here said “the visit this week has really pushed cricket back to grassroots and hopefully over next few years game will spread to all communities of the country.”

“We hope to have more visits or take cricketers to England but we are looking for funding so anyone wanting to support the poorest persons enjoy sport come on board !!!!!!!!!!!!

]]> http://jaysbar.net/2008/12/15/cricket-for-attitude-change/feed/ http://jaysbar.net/2008/12/15/the-comedians/ http://jaysbar.net/2008/12/15/the-comedians/#comments Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:42:52 +0000 Jane http://jaysbar.net/?p=106

The Comedians put on one of their entertaining and lively shows yesterday evening at the Aces Club in Aberdeen. As usual this popular duo of entertainers thrilled the crowd and made them laugh in appreciation at their antics.

The Comedians are famous in Freetown and all around Sierra Leone for their lively, talented and humerous dance and acting routines. Samual (Lafiedy) and Ibrahim (Sanaorge) have won many awards and aclaims in Sierra leone and would like the opportunity to take their lively acts to a wider audience world wide.The Comedians won the Premier Award at the National Stadium, 2005 for best comedy, best stage performance, best form, best comedy dress and best joker. In 2007 they won the TBS award for best artists in Sierra Leone.

The  Comedians take their work of entertaining people very seriously. A  lot of thought and preparation goes into their productions, performances, dance routines and dress. They have studied their art form carefully.

They explained that the idea behind their routines is  one of dressing up and acting  as old people and in particular how old people react with children. They recognised the comedy value that underpins many of these exchanges.

They have both been working in the field of comedy for about ten years now and came together to work as a team and develop their act around six years ago. They costantly reherse and perfect their performances, developing new ideas for comedy together.

The Comedians are available to perform at weddings, street performances , parties,welcomes at the airport, stage performances, nightclubs and private functions. Contact them through the contact form below.

Bravo to the Ballanta Acadamay of Music for its excellent production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, The Gondoliers.

Last Sunday’s matinee performance at the Leone Preparetary School, off Kingharman Road, Brookfields was a magnificent rendition of this Gilbert and Sulivan classic operetta. The cast filled the auditorium with their powerful voices giving full justice to both the music and the intricacies of the lyrics.

The stage set was well designed. The first act brought the waterway streets of Venice and the life of the gondoliers (waterway taxi/poda poda drivers) right to the audience.The second act saw the action transferred to the royal court of Barataria because it was believed that one of the two main gondoliers had unknowingly succeeded as the new king of Barataria.

Roaring choruses, stirring solos and duets together with well choreographed dancing, brought the story of the gondoliers  directly to the audience as the plot unfolded with its different twists and turns.

Are the two gondoliers going to be able to stay with their newly wed wives? Will the Duke and Duchess of Piaza-Torro’s daughter be forced to accept one of them as her husband instead? Who really is the new king of Barataria? Will there be a happy ending?

Come and find out for yourselves at one of the remaiming performances on Friday 12 and Saturday 13 at 8.00pm or Sunday 14th at 6.00pm. It is a treat and comes highly recommended.

My name is Kenneth Gbengba from Fact Finding Tours of Sierra Leone. I have been a bird guide for 18 years, guiding birding tours all over West Africa. I am recognised as Sierra Leone’s top birdwatcher and I run the only indigenous eco tourism handling agency in the name of Fact Finding Tours. My office is situated on Lumley Beach Road at the National Tourist board Information and Business Centre.

I was the expert guide for H’s bird watching trip to Sierra Leone, which was for six days bird watching over a one week period. I designed an itinery which included his particular wishes to see the White-Necked Picathartes (Bare Headed Rock Fowl) and Tiwai Isaland. Luckily I have particular knowledge about a Picathartes colony which which is reasonably easily accessible and where I can ensure a certainty of a sighting. It is a protected area.  I have closely monitoring this nesting area over a number of years. It is little known to other people which fact has helped to protect the colony. The idea is to protect the security of the colony whilst at the same time encouraging only those with shared interest in the conservation of this rare species, a chance to spot it in its natural habitat.  Below are some of the bird species spotted on each day of the trip including a first sighting of the Spur-winged Goose on Tiwai Island: 

 Day 1 Guma Valley Nature Trail.

White-necked Picathartes (Bare -headed rock fowl), Rufous-winged Illadopsis, White-tailed Alethe, Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Yellow-casqued Wattled Hornbill, Forest scrub Robin, Great blue Turaco, Fanti saw-Wing, Lowland Akalat, Puvel’s Illadopsis, Brown-chested Alethe, Kemp’s Longbill.

Day 2 Banana Island

Royal Tern, Sandwich Tern, White- breasted Cormorant, Johanna’s Sunbird, Variable Sunbird, Senegal Coucal, Red-billed Firefinch, Village Weaver,Garden Boubou, Grey Plantain Eater, Grey Plover

Day 3, 4 & 5  Tiwai Island and journey to and fro

Tit Hylia, Green Hylia, Spur-winged Goose (a first spotting of this species on the island), White-breasted Guinea Fowl, Western-wattled Cuckoo Shrike, White-crested Hornbill, African Finfoot, Egyptian Plover, White- fronted Plover, Blue Cheecked Bee- eater, Palm-nut Vulture, African Emarald Cuckoo, Red-billed Helmet-Shrike, Chocolate-backed Kingfisher, Red-vented Malimbe, Red-headed Malimbe, Blue-billed Malimbe, Black Bee-eater, Fire-bellied Woodpecker.

Day 6 Regent Forrest

Capuchin Babbler, Forest Robin, Wood Warbler, Grey Longbill, Pied-winged Swallow, Little Grebe,  Dybowski’s Twinspot, Western Bronze-naped Pigeon, Blue-headed Wood Dove.

We set off for our drive home at midday. We returned back in the boat to the jeep and then once loaded up we drove to Bo. We had a short stop at the Sewa River to take pictures of the sand miners. Another wide, clean free flowing river of Sierra Leone.  Bo is a pretty city, very refined and up-market with a more leisurely fel to it by comparison to the hustle and bustle of Freetown.

Topped up with petrol we set off for our homeward bound drive. The route is interesting passing vast swathes of beautifull countryside whch currently is not being cultivated in a systematic way. This was an area that suffered during the war and there is evidence of the war scarred, burnt buildings side by side with brand new replacement buildings.

Past another magnicent river where we had another photograph stop and over through Grafton and Regent to home and a few Star beers. H reported that he had thoroughly enjoyed all of the trip and I had to agree that irt had been a wonderful experience.

This morning was to be our last on Tiwai Island. After a good breakfast of omelette and bread, tea and coffee Kenneth and H set off on a final morning trek through the rain forest with the local guide. Kojo and I stayed back at base to tidy and pack up and to settle our bills.

By ten o’clock we were completely organised so we arranged with one of the Tiwai guides to go on a mini trek ourselves. It was another magical experience. Trekking through the thick undergrowth following our excellent guide we would catch tantalising glimpses of blue sky and sunshine high up above the tall, tall trees. It was lusciously green. We had asked the guide to try and let us see some of the rare Colubus monkeys that live on Tiwai.

As we made our way steadily along the path we would be taken at every turn by an almost overwhelming variety of interesting thing to see and spend a while watching. A lovely flower which was the purest cream in colour with petals that looked more like fine, thin ridges, so many different butterflies and some fascinating fungi to name just a few of the magnificent natural sights. All the time the sounds of the jungle fill the air, it is never quiet but it is extremely peaceful. An awesome experience.

Our guide kept stopping and listening carefully. He looked up into the trees and then he pointed to a troupe on monkeys high up in the distant trees. They were moving quickly as a family group in a line following their leading male. Red -backed Colubus whispered the guide and we stayed quite still to watch, fascinated by the agility, speed and grace of these animals as they lept from tree to tree in single file. Look carefully at the pictuers to spot the monkies. We made the return trek back to the camp so that we could make a good start on our homeward trip and we felt very satisfied regarding our whole experience of Tiwai Island.

We had arranged to go on an early evening canoe ride up the River Moa. We set off for a 10 minnute track down to one of the small landing areas on the island. Even that short walk had the group stopping at various intervals to stand and watch quietly as Kenneth pointed out an interesting bird or animal. Once at the landing area our guide whistled over to the mainland for the canoe and it immediately set off and was guided over by two young men with a combination of pole and paddle.

We enbarked one at a time with Kenneth making the seating arrangements. The traditional dug- out canoe was slim and quite long and was just a perfect size for its two crew and four passengers. The two boatmen skillfully manoevered the slender boat out into the river and turned it towards the far end of the island.

This was one of life’s magical experieces. The boat canoe was gliding almost silently through the water certainly being at one with its surroundings and not disturbing the stillness of that evening atmosphere. The boatmen took a passage that ran parrallel to the island giving enticing views of the lush, green forrest coupled with dramatic, vivid colours of the waterside trees anf ferns. One moment there would be a blaze of colour as yellows, golds, greens and orange mingled in a waterside frenzy. seconds later the boat would round a slight bend or take a path centre river because of the rocks and the horizon would open as the river appeared before us in the dramatic light of the approaching sunset. On to the end of the island where we disembarked to stretch our selves and take in the fabulous scenery and see both sides of the River Moa part around the head of the island.

The beauty, the peace and tranquility seeped through everything even though the jungle itself was awakening to its own nocturnal life. As the boat was navigated back the dark descended in a staedy pace. At this moment the air and night sky was filled with hundreds of thousands of migrating bats. The now blue, black sky was teaming with them and the stream of them stretched as far as we could see. “There are more bats here than there are people of Sierra Leone” commented Kenneth and indeed so it seemed. The boatmen confirmed that this year they had seen more of these bats than ever before. An interesting observation indeed and one wonders why this phenomenum may have happened. Back at the small landing area it was now dark but Kenneth had come with his powerful torch light and we made our way effortlessly back along the track back to the camp. here it was time to eat and relax.