The helicopters used by the UN here are not exactly new, but they were equipped with useful safety information, including the card pictured here. Good thing we weren't wearing any hosiery that day.
After two and half hours, we were definitely ready to get off the not-so-soft helicopter benches and head into town. We walked around Freetown a bit, and met Renee at a bar downtown. We took a nice walk on the large, public, mostly clean Lumley Beach at sunset, and and later headed to Alex's Beach Bar for a very lovely dinner.In many ways, Freetown resembles Monrovia. The dirt is the same orangey red. The shacks built of the same corrugated metal. The mango trees have the same slender leaves hiding the same clumps of heavy fruit. A few major differences stand out: Freetown is hilly. As the chopper descended, we looked out among dark green hills. Because of the hills, our friends there can enjoy one activity absent from Monrovia: hiking! Saturday morning we took a short hike on one of the highest hills in Freetown. (The views are more impressive than they look in this photo.)
After the hike we drove to Franco's restaurant (seems like the expats just call it Franco's) where I took two hours to polish off two giant grilled crabs.
Last stop of the day: the beautiful No. 2 Beach, where the sand was very soft, and the water was just warm enough. Surrounded by rolling hills, the glittering water was a pretty turquoise color - quite different than the rough waters at most of the beaches near Monrovia.
Sadly, we had to leave on Sunday morning. While Lungi Airport is pretty difficult to get to, the Pelican Water Taxi was very professionally run, and fairly comfortable. During our 2 hour delay at Freetown's Lungi Airport, we watched a television set in an entertainment center strangely reminiscent of the oddly designed apartments in Monrovia...
Our Elysian Airlines flight home was interesting. For an hour after we were supposed to have left, we couldn't find out if and when the flight was going to happen. Two hours later, we finally were rushed onto the plane. The door was quickly slammed shut, and after little communication from the pilot, we took off. However, the flight was smooth and comfortable. Sometimes it's better not to think too much about these things...
