Christmas in Africa

    When we decided not to spend Christmas in Morocco, one option would have been to fly back to the US and spend Christmas in typical Maine fashion: a colorfully decorated Christmas tree, a Balsam Fir wreath on the door, plenty of Christmas lights, 4 feet of snow, stockings hung with care, long shopping lines, winter coats, festive wrapping paper, hot chocolate, etc...

    Instead, we opted to celebrate an atypical Christmas in Africa with the Grudda family. While it cost more to get to Sierra Leone than back to America and our Christmas decor was not so extravagant (one inflatable wreath, a fake miniature tree, and presents wrapped in suitcases/butcher paper), we thoroughly enjoyed exchanging 4 feet of snow for pristine sandy beaches and 90 degree weather. Jealous?

Christmas Eve
    Steve made arrangements for us to charter a boat from a local businessman and go barracuda fishing on Christmas Eve. We had brunch at a local restaurant, enjoying some freshly squeezed pineapple juice compliments of Steve's zone, while he dropped the truck off at the shop. Unfortunately, after taking a taxi to the marina we found that the captain of the boat had stood us up.

    We all crammed back into a taxi and headed back to the flat that was generously made available for our use by the Hogues, a couple who had traveled back to their home in America for the holidays. The Country Lodge Hotel was within walking distance, so we spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool.

     With plans to try fishing again the following day, we ate the Christmas pork on Christmas Eve, instead of the traditional spread of junk food. Despite traversing the Atlantic Ocean in a suitcase (not to mention the water-taxi ride into Freetown) and surviving several days of intermittent power in the fridge, the pork was excellent. We were especially grateful since pork is such a rare find in Morocco.

     The Grudda family traditionally opens one present on Christmas Eve. The present is usually some sort of toy weaponry which ushers everyone into a playful war. This years Christmas Eve presents included dart guns, helicopters, plastic bubbles, punch balloons, and bowling.

Christmas Day
     We opened a few more presents Christmas morning but had to leave early because, despite the garage's promise of having the truck done in 3 hours, we were still taxing around Freetown. We stopped at a local store and bought the coolest hats we could find to protect us from the sun.

     To our great pleasure, we arrived at the marina to find the boat already in the water and Martin, it's owner, behind the wheel. We spent the majority of the day being entertained by Martin's commentary on life and the history of Sierra Leone. Despite not catching any barracuda, we enjoyed spending the time out on the water and got to see much of the Freetown coastline.

We also saw proof that there are, indeed, some good-sized fish in the waters there.

Later that night, we finished opening the presents and ate too much candy.

Day After Christmas
      Because of Sierra Leone's historic ties to Britain, the day after Christmas is observed as Boxing Day. The truck mechanic took full advantage and so we spent another day in taxis. Our destination was now the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, located just a few miles outside Freetown, and taxi seating was tight!

 

     The sanctuary is home to almost 100 chimps that have been rescued from residents in Sierra Leone. Human characteristics and novelty make baby chimps a unique pet. They are trained to do all sorts of things from shaking hands and clapping to smoking, drinking, and picking pockets. A mature chimp is 5 times as strong a man, however, so they become less adorable and more of a nuisance after the first few years. The sanctuary liberates them from peoples' homes (it is illegal to keep them as pets) and works to rehabilitate them to the wild. This ensures that the chimpanzees can live out their 50+ years in relative freedom instead of in cages.

Not a typical Christmas...but we had fun. 

-David & Nicole

Arriving in Freetown, Sierra Leone

     From the moment the plane gets ready to depart for Freetown, you know you've never experienced anything quite like this. It seems as though the vast majority of the flight passengers were suspiciously able to bypass the "1 carry-on suitcase + 1 handbag allowance" because the overhead compartments are busting at the seams with plastic-wrapped containers. It is doubtful that their contents are even legal according to international travel regulations...but this is Africa. The person sitting next to you not only lugged four over-sized luggage bags on the plane, but they also ignored their assigned seating placement because they preferred an alternate seat by the window. They get away with their seat thievery by pretending to not understand. The plane takes off at midnight...

     When the wheels touch down in Freetown four hours later, half of the flight passengers remain seated en-route to Monrovia. You climb clumsily over their laps in order to begin the long disembarkation process. From your extensive (or even non-extensive) flight experience, you expect there to be a bus or ramp awaiting at the exit to guide you to passport control. There is neither. You walk the distance from the plane to the passport control entrance where a chaotic mob awaits.

     There's a man arbitrarily handing out customs forms from the center of the chaos. Why didn't they give this to you on the plane you ask? That would be far too logical. You grab one, and fill it out as quickly as possible in order to secure a place in line. If you've planned ahead, someone in-country has already purchased your visa and e-mailed you a copy. If you do not have a copy of your visa...you may have been better off staying on the plane en-route to Monrovia.

    You stand in line with just four people in front of you and think to yourself that this wont take very long. Little do you know a handful of people will find their way in front of you, some way or another, leaving you toward the end of the line instead. You can watch your luggage trickle in to the right while you wait. It suspiciously flips over and over with each rotation of the baggage carousel, but at least it's not piled in the larger stack of luggage that is so high it gets kicked into a wall. You can also observe a handful of locals who were able to bribe their way through security in order to meet their friends directly at passport control.

    Finally, you make it to the front of the line. The customs official finalizes the visa process by fingerprinting you and taking your picture. You may or may not be asked forcefully to fill out and sign the second portion of your customs form, in spite of the fact that it is marked "for official use only". After all of this, he stamps your passport and you walk away.

     The next checkpoint guy asks you to produce your yellow card. You are prepared and have all of the required vaccinations and more documented properly within your yellow immunization record book: Typhoid, yellow fever, rabies, Hep A, and Hep B. You also are carrying a months worth of anti-malaria pills. Strangely, the checkpoint guy could care less that you took such careful precautions. All he wants to see is that you merely own a yellow vaccination card, and then he pushes you to move on. Perhaps on another day he may be more diligent in checking your specific vaccination records. Perhaps not. Either way, you walk away feeling relieved that the arrival process is nearly over since you can see all of your luggage straight ahead.

     The baggage officials are so rough that you discover one of your bags is completely ripped. Nothing is missing; however, so you grab your luggage and walk toward the exit. You stop briefly in order to sweet talk the customs officials, so that they wont dig through all of your luggage. At the airport exit, there is a man making sure that no bags have been stolen by confirming that the numbers on your bags match those taped to your boarding pass. Why don't they do this in every airport?

 

4:00 AM arrival outside of the Freetown Airport

You don't realize that you're only half way through the process of getting to Freetown.

    Outside, the surroundings do not resemble any airport you've ever seen. You stand in a giant dirt lot and remind yourself that you just stepped out of an international airport. If you're lucky, you have a family member or friend awaiting your arrival to guide you through the process of getting to Freetown. If you don't...good luck.

     To the right of the dirt lot, you line up to buy tickets for the Sea Coach Express water-taxi. This is the most convenient way of reaching mainland Freetown, as driving would take over six hours around the unpaved inlet. If you're fluent in Krio, you will get your ticket much faster.
 

     Attached to your Sea Coach ticket is a raffle ticket. The second half of the raffle ticket is tied to your luggage bags. You check to ensure that the numbers on each raffle ticket are identical just before the Sea Coach officials pile your luggage into a van while you are ushered into a different van. It's a 10 minute drive to the ferry pier and you have no idea when you'll see your luggage again.

     The number of passengers + luggage exceeds the amount of space that one water-taxi can hold, so you must wait your turn at the pier. You wait for up to an hour before your number is finally called, and then you are permitted to board the boat. There's a bright orange life jacket ready for you. As for your luggage.... it may or may not be on the same boat as you, it may or may not be rummaged through while on the boat, and it may or may not arrive in Freetown soaking wet.  

    The ride takes 45 minutes. At the pier in Freetown, your bags are waiting for you (unless they're coming on the next water-taxi, in which case you'll have to wait). You collect the luggage and an official cross-checks the raffle ticket numbers to ensure that they are truly yours. Then, you push your way through screaming porters and walk up a dirt hill to the main road where your chauffeur's car awaits. Make sure they haven't forgotten their keys back on the boat...

You've arrived in Freetown.

-David & Nicole

Aunt Nicole & Uncle Dave

     Nicole's brother and his wife just left Morocco after a week long visit, with their baby fetus in tow. We were proud to be the official tour guides for our baby nephew's first international trip ever!

& Ricky and Rebekah were fun to hang out with too... ;) 

    In between playing some competitive card games and watching our nephew practically double in size, here are some highlights of the trip:


Camel Burgers
    Since Rebekah couldn't ride a camel while pregnant, we decided to eat one instead....So we ventured into the camel market to buy some meat.

The finished product. It was tasty.

Spanish Cathedral vs. Grand Hassan II Mosque
    We walked by the Spanish cathedral...but found that it was not nearly as impressive as the Grand Hassan II Mosque. The cathedral is no longer in use and seems to be heavily neglected and minimally maintained. We couldn't even go inside.

Spanish Cathedral

     The Grand Hassan II Mosque tour, on the other hand, was quite impressive. Beautiful. It's a shame that the more beautiful of the two represents such an empty religion.

 

Baklava
     In true Lebanese fashion, we bought freshly made phyllo dough and prepared baklava. Yum.

making phyllo dough

The finished product.

Marrakech Nightlife
      Marrakech transforms into a completely different city at night. From street games to musical shows to dogs running around with chicken heads... we saw it all. We even earned a nominal profit from wining a few games.

Rebekah mastered the bottle fishing game

#chickenhead

 Ouzoud Waterfalls
      Arguably our favorite from the trip was our visit to the Ouzoud waterfalls. We wished we had spent more time here. Perhaps next time we will...

Cliff jumping

   
 We're excited to meet our nephew this summer, when we see Ricky and Rebekah again.

 Thanks for visiting!

-David & Nicole