We set off from base at 7.00 am for our journey to Tiwai. We had to go up through Bo and then to Portoru where we would park up and take a short boat ride over to the Island. We went up and over Imatt, via the pretty little Creole villages of Regent and Bathurst to Grafton and on to Waterloo. A much quicker and altogether more pleasant route if you have a suitable vehicle for the road.
We had a short pit stop at Waterloo to top up with more supplies of drinking water and some bananas for the journey.
We drove through some stunning countryside past more lush greenery and crossing picturesques rivers on the way. We had a couple of personal needs breaks on the way and H and Kenneth would have a walk around with Kenneth explaining the different birds around each aea.
We had a stop at Bo, Sierra Leone’s second city, to eat and buy our provisions for Tiwai. Within an hour we were back on the road and heading further into the country side. The roads were getting narrower as we progressed. We took a turning at one junction and kenneth announced this was the final road to our destination. It was narrow and winding and all of a sudden it was blocked. We had just experienced a sudden, unseasonal, hard shower of rain, with a wind and this had seemingly brought a tree down whch now lay right accross the road making further passage impossible. We had no option but to turn around and go in search of someone with a machette.
The turning round of the 4×4 took some time on that narrow road but once achieved we set off and indeed the very first person we saw was a young man around 14 tears of age with a machette in his hand. Kojo, the driver, brought the jeep to a rather sudden stop, which had the unfortunate effect of skidding a little on the loose stones on the road. The young man took one startled look at the van, another at the occupants of the vehicle and he took to his heals and fled in alarm. kenneth lepy out of the jeep as did Kojo “Hey come back, come back, we need help” they both called out but this did not reassure him at all and he just shouted back 2no fear” and carried on running until he dived right into the bush and out of sight.
Back at the crossroads we did get a chance to explain ourselves and another young man went off to fetch a machette. We all returned to the fallen tree which he swiftly chopped down the blocking branches. Another youngster on a bike dismounted and gave a hand and within a very short time we were on our way again.
!5 minutes later we parked up at a village where the boat was moored that acted as a small ferry to the island. A mystical and enchanting 10 minute boat ride through the gathering dusk brought us to the island and a five minute further treck took us right to the campsight that was to be home for the next couple of nights. It was a truly idylic setting in the heart of an unspoilt rain forrest.
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