The first thing that hit me about Sierra Leone, or Salone as it's called here, was the tarmac on the roads, or more accurately the ridiculous amount of potholes in something that once was tarmac. No sooner than leaving the airport are you bouncing around your vehicle avoiding the craters. I thought maybe as the airport is abandoned military base situated about an hour by boat across the bay from Freetown, or five hours drive through the jungle, that perhaps in the capital itself the roads would be in better shape. I was wrong. As I drove out of Freetown the day after I arrived, I discovered that, in fact, the roads Freetown had to offer was the best it was going to get.
In as little as forty minutes outside of Freetown you could be forgiven for thinking you'd been picked up and dropped far out in the bush. Tacugama, my home for the near future, lies a modest 10 miles outside of Freetown in the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve and is an entirely different world. The road however is just as bumpy and tarmac is left completely behind a couple miles out of Freetown, meaning the craters are now bigger, muddier and take on the uncanny appearance of hippo pools. The forest, despite being disturbed, secondary forest, mainly as a result of charcoal burning and fuel wood collection, is lush, tangled and green and on its way to a good recovery. The chimps, of which there are roughly a hundred, are settled into social groups and undergoing the lengthy rehabilitation process that one day should lead them to a wild future. If their constant pant hooting, screeching (mainly outside my office window) and displaying are anything to go by I'd say they're pretty healthy, happy, little creatures. Great as the chimps are for reminding me that this is no ordinary office job my work doesn't relate to them directly, not at least the ones in the sanctuary. I'm here to coordinate the Community Outreach Programme that Tacugama is developing. Our focus is sustainable livelihood initiatives with communities dotted around the country. On the job front I won't say much more as you can read all about Tacugama and the community stuff on the website, or at least you will be able to when the community section is updated (right now it says next to nothing, sorry). However, the information on Tacugama, its history and mission etc is quite extensive so have a look if you're interested at www.tacugama.com. If it comes across a little 'chimp huggerish' don't be fooled, it's really not that kind of place at all.
Right now it's getting dark so I'm going to walk back to my little house and start thinking about dinner. I've managed to write a lot in this post but actually get across very little information, I'll try better next time! Good night for now x
