Today I stood in front of a group of schoolchildren in Freetown

I went to an organisation called Excel in Freetown today. It is started and run by a very nice lady called Yeniva from Santa Monica, California. Her family is originally from Sierra Leone but move to the US. She had come to Freetown in 2008 and set up this place with her own savings. The aim is to provide a place and an opportunity for the Sierra Leonean children to have a creative and more engaging way to complement their everyday schooling. She allowed me to volunteer and work with the kids there.

I dropped in and introduced myself to the staff and children, and I was given half a day to stand in front of them and sit among them to exchange my knowledge and experiences with them. It was a 2-way learning experience. We talked about China, the Chinese languages and geography and its one-child policy, current economic and political situations in the region, the brutal war in Sierra Leone, how its people have reconciled despite of all the unthinkable atrocities during the war, how Sierra Leone is developing rapidly and its government is going down a positive path to rebuild the country...

It was so much fun and of great pleasure to talk with the next generation and the future of this country! I totally loved every minuted spent with them!!!!!!

I was embarrassed in Freetown, but I'm happy for that!

Yesterday evening I was standing in front of Freetown's famous landmark, the Cotton Tree. I was peeling a couple of oranges and casually chucking the peels on the ground (I've only been doing this since I came to West Africa, because everyone does it and there are no bins to dispose of rubbish anywhere). But soon, 3 passers-by embarrassed me by telling me to pick up the peels. So I picked up the peels. But I was at first very surprised, because I would not have littered had I not seen locals do it before and even if I wanted to properly dispose of rubbish, there were no bins. But I soon realised how comforting and wonderful this embarrassment was. This tells me that Sierra Leoneans DO care about their country, which is vastly different from other West African countries I've visited. This brought me great joy and from it I saw hope in this small country that has only emerged from a brutal civil war a few years ago.

This is just one of the things I've seen or experienced that make me dare to think that Sierra Leone, if it can continue or even improve its current governance, holds a more promising future than other West African countries I've visited. I salute its people and their compassion!

So I crossed into Sierra Leone, turned around and peed back into Guinea

Just kidding, no peeing :)

I took a minibus from Conakry, Guinea to Freetown, Sierra Leone. The distance should be less than 300km, but it took 15.5 hours. Because: (1) the roads are very bad, some are paved but are scarred with big potholes, some are just dirt paths (so much dirt and dust when I took a shower and washed my hair in Freetown, it was like mud dripping down my face) (2) the car is in such bad shape that it broke down nearly every hour and it usually took an hour or so to bring it back to life again. (3) the driver was nuts! (4) checkpoints where soldiers stopped and made us pay. I had to pay GF5,000, GF2,000, GF1,000 and GF2,000 on 4 occasions.

Leaving the Guinean border was straightforward, I even took the exit stamp out of the official's hand and stamped the passport myself. The Sierra Leone border consists of 3 different barriers. First is the customs where I was made pay GF5,000 to pass. The second is the security check where an official wrote down my passport info in a big book and said to me "what can you offer for your security?" I knew immediately that he was asking for money. But I would not let him have it so easily, so I shrugged my shoulders and said "I'm a student, I pose no security risk to anyone". Then he said to me with disappointment "OK, go now". That's right, bitch! The third is the immigration where I filled out a little form and was let pass.

 Now I tell myself that I will never want to repeat this kind of journey again. And I hope the roads from Sierra Leone to Liberia and further on to Ivory Coast will not be as bad as this.

Quest for visas is over... for now

Today I obtained visas for Sierra Leone and Liberia. Now I've collected all the visas for the next 8 West African countries that I'll visit. Scoring all these visas is a tale of high visa fees, variable exchange rates (always to my disadvantage), bribes, fake invitation letter and lots of patience.

Coup in Niger

Just heard the news that there's been a coup in Niger yesterday, and the borders are now closed. This casts a serious doubt on my travel plan as I've planned to reach Niger within the next 2 weeks. Let's see how things develop...

In Conakry, Guinea

After 24 hours in a bush taxi from Bamako, Mali, I finally arrived to Conakry. My immediate impressions of Guinea are that there are road checkpoints everywhere, and soldiers carrying big guns are also roaming everywhere, it doesn't make me feel so safe at all.

Between the border and Conakry, I was made pay GF10,000 at 3 different checkpoints by soldiers who were holding my passport hostage if I didn't pay. Though, at the second checkpoint, I was able to slash the price down to GF5,000. And at the third checkpoint, I got angry and paid only CFA800 (my last CFA coins from Mali) which was slightly less than GF10,000.

When I challenged the soldiers and asked why I had to pay over and over again when I already paid for the visa. Their answer, you are not gonna believe it. They said the visa was only for "avion"(flying) to Conakry, and if I travelled by road, I had to pay. BULLSHIT! Well, I guess when you carry a big-ass gun, you can BS all you want.

Got lucky at the Malian border

When I was returning to Mali from Burkina Faso, I thought I was going to need to buy a 5-day entry visa for CFA15,000 at the border and then extend it to a full 30-day visa in Bamako, Mali. But, to my surprise, the border official said my old Malian visa was still good, so I only paid CFA1,000 to enter Mali. I believe they clearly misunderstood my old Malian visa: it is a single-entry visa and valid for 1 month. Since I'd already entered AND exited Mali with that visa, I should have been required to get a new one on my second visit. At the same time when I was at the Mali/Burkina Faso border, there were also 2 Americans, 2 Brits and 1 German, and they were all made to pay CFA15,000 to buy a new visa. Whatever the reason was, I felt very lucky, or, maybe they just liked my smile :D

Now I'm back in Mali, I just hope that every other official would think the same, and I would not encounter any problem when leaving.

Up the Niger River in a pinasse

After Timbuktu, I took a small pinasse and travelled up the Niger River for 3 days. Seeing the villages and small settlements dotted on the banks of the river, men netting fish in their little canoes, women washing clothes by the river and children herding cows and goats, it is unforgettable. At night the starry sky reminded me of a few years ago when I took a felucca down the Nile. Two rivers, two places, but I felt it became very blurry as to where exactly I was. It felt like the two places were one, under the same beautiful sky. And falling asleep while staring at the stars is the best thing in life!

Obama in Africa

In just Mali, Obama's image and name are seen everywhere. Most often you will see kids wear a tshirt featuring him and his campaign slogans. And there's countless number of barber shops and small grocery stores that are named after him. Looks like President Obama is more popular abroad than at home.

Timbuktu

Sand and dirt are everywhere, and it feels like this place should have been swallowed by the Sahara long time ago. It's not as majestic as I had thought of it, maybe any legends that are associated with Timbuktu have been erased by the wind and sand.