Photos: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151359104996961.1073741826.562066960&type=1&l=edfbbe8017
Monday morning we were up early, packed up our remaining stuff, phoned our insurance agent in Toronto to extend my policy one day because the airline changed the return date, booked into a place on the beach, had breakfast, said good bye a hundred times over to the people from the trip, then took off in a taxi to the Cotton Tree. The legend of the Cotton Tree is that on March 11, 1792 Freetown was founded by a group of Afro-American slaves who had received "freedom" for their loyalty in fighting for the British in the American War of Independence. They are refuted to have arrived at Government Wharf, and walked from the Bay up to the large cotton tree. There they prayed, sang hymns, and gave thanks for their freedom. We also saw the Government Wharf which is where the slave boats arrived, and left from, the Wharf Steps down which the \Portuguese made the slaves walk to the ships, and the King's Yard where the freed slaves waited to receive land. We also saw Connaught Hospital which is the first Western style hospital built in West Africa. An emotional attraction is the Peace and Cultural Memorial at the edge of Victoria Park by State House. This was a colourfully designed diorama showing the heroes of the slave trade and a memorial to the soldiers who were killed in the war. I got quite choked up going around all the different stories and it made me appreciate even more how brave some people are who get out there and fight for a cause.
Freetown is a like a jewell that has lost it's sparkle. Geographically, the town is beatufiul. It is nestled into the hills on the edge of the ocean and is hilly, with narrow winding streets full of cars and people. In the 40s, 50s, and early 60s the Crio and Colonial styled buildings must have been spectacular; now they are shattered, worn, and tired. The people are kind and gentle and considerate, and over all there really wasn't much more begging than in Toronto.
After our site-seeing trip we badly needed money, so we went on a quest to find an ATM. We must have tried about 10 that didn't work and finally when we knew the banks would be closing we ended up in the ECO Bank, in the managers' office explaining to him our predicament. He got it fixed, and since by now the bank was closed, Ray left me as hostage, or maybe they were hostage, while he went out through the back door, around to the ATM and managed to get the money out. He then came back to get me, but by the time I got there it wasn't working again! Anyway, I sat in the guys's office, and they all giggled, and laughed, and we had a great time till I left. We had also tried another Internet in the city, but this too was too slow to get into any sites. By this time it was 4:30 and we needed to be back at the hotel for our taxi which was taking us down to the beach. We got in the cab and set off. The traffice was painful. We picked up another woman (the taxis do this out here, take more than one fare at a time) and dropped her off, but we made it back around 5:00, before the cab arrived. Ray had time to try another bank, I had time to try the WiFi again. Neither worked.
We drove out of Freetown, after saying good bye yet again to some of the group who were hanging around at the hotel, down the coast road through Lumley Beach (crazy place), Hamilton Beach, Lakka Beach, Goderich, and it started to get really mountainous and very pretty. The road of course was dreadful from Lumley on, but it is slowly being paved!
We are staying at River No. 2 (http://rivernumbertwo.com/). This is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it is. It is a community project promoting responsible tourism, so it is run by locals. They hae 20 or so little bungalows on the beach, not very ritzy, but adequate. There are 2 rooms containing a bed and 2 chairs, plus a bathroom for $60. The first night despite asking twice we never got water and half the light bulbs weren't working so there was only a light in the bathroom and bedroom and none in the sitting area or outside. That coupled with the fact that dinner wasn't very good, but quite pricy, left us feeling a little dejected. But you can't complain when you have the beautiful sands and the ocean about 30 feet from your front door.
Monday morning we were up early, packed up our remaining stuff, phoned our insurance agent in Toronto to extend my policy one day because the airline changed the return date, booked into a place on the beach, had breakfast, said good bye a hundred times over to the people from the trip, then took off in a taxi to the Cotton Tree. The legend of the Cotton Tree is that on March 11, 1792 Freetown was founded by a group of Afro-American slaves who had received "freedom" for their loyalty in fighting for the British in the American War of Independence. They are refuted to have arrived at Government Wharf, and walked from the Bay up to the large cotton tree. There they prayed, sang hymns, and gave thanks for their freedom. We also saw the Government Wharf which is where the slave boats arrived, and left from, the Wharf Steps down which the \Portuguese made the slaves walk to the ships, and the King's Yard where the freed slaves waited to receive land. We also saw Connaught Hospital which is the first Western style hospital built in West Africa. An emotional attraction is the Peace and Cultural Memorial at the edge of Victoria Park by State House. This was a colourfully designed diorama showing the heroes of the slave trade and a memorial to the soldiers who were killed in the war. I got quite choked up going around all the different stories and it made me appreciate even more how brave some people are who get out there and fight for a cause.
Freetown is a like a jewell that has lost it's sparkle. Geographically, the town is beatufiul. It is nestled into the hills on the edge of the ocean and is hilly, with narrow winding streets full of cars and people. In the 40s, 50s, and early 60s the Crio and Colonial styled buildings must have been spectacular; now they are shattered, worn, and tired. The people are kind and gentle and considerate, and over all there really wasn't much more begging than in Toronto.
After our site-seeing trip we badly needed money, so we went on a quest to find an ATM. We must have tried about 10 that didn't work and finally when we knew the banks would be closing we ended up in the ECO Bank, in the managers' office explaining to him our predicament. He got it fixed, and since by now the bank was closed, Ray left me as hostage, or maybe they were hostage, while he went out through the back door, around to the ATM and managed to get the money out. He then came back to get me, but by the time I got there it wasn't working again! Anyway, I sat in the guys's office, and they all giggled, and laughed, and we had a great time till I left. We had also tried another Internet in the city, but this too was too slow to get into any sites. By this time it was 4:30 and we needed to be back at the hotel for our taxi which was taking us down to the beach. We got in the cab and set off. The traffice was painful. We picked up another woman (the taxis do this out here, take more than one fare at a time) and dropped her off, but we made it back around 5:00, before the cab arrived. Ray had time to try another bank, I had time to try the WiFi again. Neither worked.
We drove out of Freetown, after saying good bye yet again to some of the group who were hanging around at the hotel, down the coast road through Lumley Beach (crazy place), Hamilton Beach, Lakka Beach, Goderich, and it started to get really mountainous and very pretty. The road of course was dreadful from Lumley on, but it is slowly being paved!
We are staying at River No. 2 (http://rivernumbertwo.com/). This is considered one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and it is. It is a community project promoting responsible tourism, so it is run by locals. They hae 20 or so little bungalows on the beach, not very ritzy, but adequate. There are 2 rooms containing a bed and 2 chairs, plus a bathroom for $60. The first night despite asking twice we never got water and half the light bulbs weren't working so there was only a light in the bathroom and bedroom and none in the sitting area or outside. That coupled with the fact that dinner wasn't very good, but quite pricy, left us feeling a little dejected. But you can't complain when you have the beautiful sands and the ocean about 30 feet from your front door.
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