Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151359104996961.1073741826.562066960&type=1&l=edfbbe8017
We woke up this morning in the dark of the night before even the birds began their early morning songs, and as soon as daylight dawned we were off on a 2 1/2 hour trek through the Tiwai Island forest. Tiwai (www,tiwaiisland.org) has been an island wildlife sanctuary since the 1980s. There are all kinds of chimps, monkeys (Diana, Red Colobus, Black and White, Green) and Pigmy Hypos plus 800 variety of butterflies and birds too numerous to count. During the war, apparently the Island was taken over by the rebels, who mistakenly believed that because it was a government research centre, there would be lots of money at the camp. Wrong. This part of the country was severely affected by the war, and although most of the evidence is restored to its normal state, there are still signs of bullet holes, burnt out village homes. The rebels would make a surprise attack on the villages and with cutlasses, knives, and other simple injury-inflicting instruments bludgeon, cut, and shoot, the villagers to death, mainly the men. The women were raped, and the young boys collected up as child soldiers. It was a brutal time. The fact that there were so many child soldiers, not only here but around hte world, has encouraged arms designers to make guns that can be handled by young people.Another abhorrent side of capitalism. The rebels took everything from the villages, every mattress, all tools, bowls, food, chairs, etc. It has only been 10 years and there are still a lot of physchological problems affecting the people. How do you get over that? How do you forget that as a young boy you were forced into killing? How do you forget that as a women you were brutally raped over, over, and over again. Now all the troubled young men have moved from the country into Bo which is experiencing a surge in crime. It is sad the hatred that exists in Africa and until that is diluted it is hard to imagine how there will be much progress.
Our walk through the jungle was quite pleasant and we could see the leaves above us swinging with the weight of the monkeys as they travelled along high above us, but to be honest I didn't "actually see them with my naked eye". After the trek I felt a bit punky, and spent the early afternoon reading my book in the open air lounge area and the later afternnon sleeping in my tent.
Ray woke me around 5:30 and we went on an hours walk to the now deserted research station to see if we could find the monkeys. And we did. The thrill of seeing them frolicking high up in the trees is similar to the elation you feel when watching a young baby speak its first words or take its first steps. You can't stop watching and your face is creased with an incessant smile. Sadly, we were pushing the daylight and had to get back to camp before dark so we left our friendly monkeys (I think we saw the red collabus and the black and white) to enjoy their freedom and peace in the jungle.
The evening was spent eating dinner and chatting and of course enjoying a cool beer. the camp had a new visitor, Tom from West Africa Discovery. A young brit doing his Masters in Responsible Tourism. He had lived in Senegal for a year and travelled in some of the other WA countries and fell in love with SL. He has decided that he wants to set up a responnsible travel adventure company here in SL travelling on the rivers, by bike, etc. In fact he organized a two/three week trip down the River Moa with a group of 6. They boated when possible, and hiked and slept in the villages when they couldn't boat. It was apparently a great trip but they had to abandon it in Bo because the leaderF got severely sick with malaria and the travellers had infected cuts and sickness and voted to stop. Nonetheless, what a trip!! Tom's idea is to partner with the locals and thus help them to develop responsible eco tourism. He was instrumental in getting one of the guys he works with into the same Masters course and it is hoped that this guy will become the President of the Sierra Leone Tourist Association. I really wish Tom luck. He is young, idealistic, energetic, and I think he has a great concept.
We woke up this morning in the dark of the night before even the birds began their early morning songs, and as soon as daylight dawned we were off on a 2 1/2 hour trek through the Tiwai Island forest. Tiwai (www,tiwaiisland.org) has been an island wildlife sanctuary since the 1980s. There are all kinds of chimps, monkeys (Diana, Red Colobus, Black and White, Green) and Pigmy Hypos plus 800 variety of butterflies and birds too numerous to count. During the war, apparently the Island was taken over by the rebels, who mistakenly believed that because it was a government research centre, there would be lots of money at the camp. Wrong. This part of the country was severely affected by the war, and although most of the evidence is restored to its normal state, there are still signs of bullet holes, burnt out village homes. The rebels would make a surprise attack on the villages and with cutlasses, knives, and other simple injury-inflicting instruments bludgeon, cut, and shoot, the villagers to death, mainly the men. The women were raped, and the young boys collected up as child soldiers. It was a brutal time. The fact that there were so many child soldiers, not only here but around hte world, has encouraged arms designers to make guns that can be handled by young people.Another abhorrent side of capitalism. The rebels took everything from the villages, every mattress, all tools, bowls, food, chairs, etc. It has only been 10 years and there are still a lot of physchological problems affecting the people. How do you get over that? How do you forget that as a young boy you were forced into killing? How do you forget that as a women you were brutally raped over, over, and over again. Now all the troubled young men have moved from the country into Bo which is experiencing a surge in crime. It is sad the hatred that exists in Africa and until that is diluted it is hard to imagine how there will be much progress.
Our walk through the jungle was quite pleasant and we could see the leaves above us swinging with the weight of the monkeys as they travelled along high above us, but to be honest I didn't "actually see them with my naked eye". After the trek I felt a bit punky, and spent the early afternoon reading my book in the open air lounge area and the later afternnon sleeping in my tent.
Ray woke me around 5:30 and we went on an hours walk to the now deserted research station to see if we could find the monkeys. And we did. The thrill of seeing them frolicking high up in the trees is similar to the elation you feel when watching a young baby speak its first words or take its first steps. You can't stop watching and your face is creased with an incessant smile. Sadly, we were pushing the daylight and had to get back to camp before dark so we left our friendly monkeys (I think we saw the red collabus and the black and white) to enjoy their freedom and peace in the jungle.
The evening was spent eating dinner and chatting and of course enjoying a cool beer. the camp had a new visitor, Tom from West Africa Discovery. A young brit doing his Masters in Responsible Tourism. He had lived in Senegal for a year and travelled in some of the other WA countries and fell in love with SL. He has decided that he wants to set up a responnsible travel adventure company here in SL travelling on the rivers, by bike, etc. In fact he organized a two/three week trip down the River Moa with a group of 6. They boated when possible, and hiked and slept in the villages when they couldn't boat. It was apparently a great trip but they had to abandon it in Bo because the leaderF got severely sick with malaria and the travellers had infected cuts and sickness and voted to stop. Nonetheless, what a trip!! Tom's idea is to partner with the locals and thus help them to develop responsible eco tourism. He was instrumental in getting one of the guys he works with into the same Masters course and it is hoped that this guy will become the President of the Sierra Leone Tourist Association. I really wish Tom luck. He is young, idealistic, energetic, and I think he has a great concept.
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