Road to Kabala

Set off from Aberdeen, Freetown at about 14:30 last Friday with a couple of friends to see what's happening "upline" - a term for the "in land" held over from the colonial days when a railway line actually still connected the dots in here. It was a bit of a last minute decision, but off we went... to Lunzar, Makeni and Kalaba

We combined pleasure with a bit of business. First stop, a Catholic Hospital in Lunzar, where a little patient of Sandra's was receiving treatment for Burkitt's Lymphoma. Little Mariama was not her active self (chemo had obviously kicked in), but she and the family was non thee less happy to see us. Her dad was more intrigued by the colouring book than she was. Good to know she's receiving good care there.


On to Makeni, quick stop at another hospital then to find a bed. The Hotel was full (apparently booked full because David Beckham arrived there the next day), but we were on a budget in any case. Friendly and helpful staff, bed not to bad, disco opposite the road very noisy, cheap (<$7 each), but...the bathroom could do with a bit of cleaning

North of Makeni saw a few "Camel Mountains"
Then hit the "Kabala Highway"
A bit of miscommunication (and no road signs) lead us around the town of Kabala, but delivered us at the door of a really nice guesthouse run by the friendly Mr Turay. Running water, single rooms, small living room, satellite TV (on one Guinea-channel) and electricity from 7pm to 12pm at only $10- a bargain.

Spent Saturday afternoon, browsing through the local market, took loads of photo's of kiddies yelling "snap me" and laughed as they watched themselves on the little LCD screens. Had supper of cous-cous and veggies with 3 Canadian girls from Care Canada and enjoyed a much quieter night at our guesthouse on the outskirts of town.

Got to see a bit more of nature, including the cotton trees in bloom and the fruit with a cotton-like substance.