A trip up country
Moyamba Junction, halfway between Freetown and Kenema, operates as the one, almost obligatory, stop when traveling between the two cities. Food, here, is affordable, and expats don’t get short changed, too much, though the price they pay is being harassed the more for it.
Having secured a fresh baguette with freshly grilled meat, we were happily munching away in our car, when one of the local girls repeatedly almost squashed a newborn muskrat, squealing away, against the car’s windows, either trying to sell the animal, or getting us to pay for some food to feed it. That is, the girl said it was a muskrat, but Wikipedia claims the animal doesn’t thrive in Africa. Perhaps it was some other form of Arvicolinae, or even Cricetidae.
We were on our way to Bo, which was to be followed by a Sunday visit to Kenema, for a weekend-long outing of the Freetown hash.
Nice to be out, staying in the reasonable Countryside hotel, on the Bo-Kenema road, we also learned that the Freetown Hash’ outings regularly suffer from emotional, sometimes almost violent, moments when some of the local women clash over adolescent issues. At least this time it wasn’t over who got to sleep with whom, though that probably would have been funnier.
Saturday afternoon finally saw me seize the opportunity to eat mashed up cassava leaf. Resembling spinach and served with rice and fish and/or chicken, it’s probably the yummiest west African dish.
On the Sunday, on the way back, we stopped for lunch at Sab’s, in Bo. A Lebanese fast food joint that serves very decent food at very reasonable prices.
This year, for the first time since the early nineties, Peace Corps volunteers have returned to Sierra Leone and quite a few are posted around Bo. Visiting Bo, for them, typically constitutes the highlight of their month and a visit to Sab’s toilet the equivalent of being in the presence of a higher being. The toilet is missing its seat.
Bo, although untouched by the war, has very little to offer, showing that Sierra Leone was doing fine in its downwards spiral, war or no war.
Developing?
Cocorioko claims that Sierra Leone moved up dramatically in this years Human Development Index listings, now at 158th place. This is, indeed, slightly remarkable as the country is amongst the poorest four in the world (according to the IMF, milage varies).
However, Wikipedia can confirm that in 2007, Sierra Leone was also at the 158th spot, one spot lower than the year before.
Apparently, Cocorioko reports, president Koroma promised during the presidential campaign of 2007 that if Sierra Leoneans elected him President, he would ensure that the country would move up the United Nations Human Development Index.
Cocorioko goes on praising the president, but it seems the praise is uncalled for. True, it seems that in 2009, Sierra Leone was listed as 180th, but that was two years after Koroma took office. Two years after they already were in the 158th spot.