They Said It Couldn't Be Done

Five other dudes and I went to Sherbro Island for Easter. We rented this poda-poda for the long, bumpy journey and then jumped on a 4-hour boat ride down a beautiful river to reach Bonthe, a curious old town on the island.

From Bonthe we planned to find a beach on the other side of the island for camping. Easier said than done. We asked around and the general consensus was that boats were too expensive for a volunteer budget and hiking there was too difficult. However, one local man said it best: "Oh, there is no path. It will not be possible to reach there...but you are on a mission and you cannot be stopped." So we found a random boy to guide us and set out the next morning.

On the way out of town, we watched this blacksmith make machetes for us (just in case). Very impressive.

During the hike, we trekked across this swamp (James, Jason, and guides Alpha and Crew above) and sank into mud up to our thighs. We passed through lots of tiny villages along the way and stopped briefly to greet the chief of each one. Six white guys with giant packs entering their remote village must have been a sight to see.

After five hours, we reached the promised land: miles of untouched beach stretching as far as the eye could see. The beachfront villagers of Gbalo greeted us with open arms. Most of them didn't speak a word of English or Krio (they speak the island language, Sherbro). Above, our new friends watch as we transform their hut into our camp for the night.

Dinner and I, together at last.

The hike back to Bonthe included a drinking water shortage, an endless march through 100-degree desert, a rattlesnake, a village swim, and a dugout canoe ride along the island coast. We all came back in one piece. Mission accomplished.

Make Some Noise

We saw a rapper named Bu-Berry perform at the soccer field on Saturday night. It was expectedly lame, so my friend Mackay said "Hey, let's get up on stage" as a way to combat boredom. Soon enough, six of us bounded up onto the rickety setup and were greeted by a thunderous roar from a few hundred of our closest Makeni friends. We danced around like fools for one song and then backed away before we completely stole the show from the poor guy. But honestly, Bu-Berry needed us. After our cameo he screamed into the mike, "Make some noise for the white people!!" Oh, what a night.

Believe it or not, a few hours later I was sitting in the second row of the cathedral for Palm Sunday mass. Different crowd from the night before, I think.

In other news, my radio feature about Maine ice fishing aired on the NPR show Weekend America and is featured on the public radio website Hearing Voices. Check it out.