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Monday, April 19, 1976, 10:00 am - Day 83
I am in Freetown now and I came in yesterday afternoon from Bo. The trip took about 4 hours and wasn't too bad. The road is mostly decent and I was able to take it easy at about 75 kph for most of the way. That was the farthest that I traveled on my Honda so far and I got 192 km before I had to turn the reserve knob on my gas tank. Therefore I used 1.4 US gallons to get 192 km, which comes out to 84 miles per US gallon or 103 miles per imperial gallon, which is what they go by over here. At Le1.29 per imperial gallon that means it costs me only 1.3 cents per mile for gasoline. Also I have a reserve tank of 0.4 US gallons, so that I can go about 230 km or 140 miles per tank full. And I can fill the tank for about Le1.80, I have gone about 4500 km since my one and only accident so far. I feel alot more confident about my motorcycle riding ability now, and feel that I can automatically do the right thing if something suddenly happened and I had to stop suddenly or swerve out of the way. At first I was always forgetting to use the brake or clutch or other controls in the right way at the right time but now I do it automatically. The only way that I could get an accident now is that if something on my Honda fell apart while I was riding or if something got in front of me at the last moment.
I have tried to be careful and conscious enough to keep either from happening and so far it has worked. I am the only one now who still hasn't hit a chicken and some of them have even hit 3 in one day before. I have had a few close calls with chickens but chickens are found only in villages and I make it a point of slowing to 40 kph (25 mph) while going through, which I have found is the fastest that you can go and still be able to see chickens in front of you in time to slow down for them. Any faster and you can't see them in time and end up running over some. You can expect a chicken to always do the unexpected.
In Freetown this morning we were treated to about 20 to 30 shots of cannon fire. Yesterday was Easter and today is a holiday and so is tomorrow. I don't think that these last two holidays are religious ones though and I think that they have something to do with the President's inaugguration.
Monday, April 19, 1976, 4:00 pm - Day 83
There were plenty of devils walking around today. These were of a different type and were covered only on the head and arms and part way down the body. Also, instead of straw, it looked like netting filled with clumps of cloth the size of tin cans. Each devil had its own group of kids and they would all walk down the road, singing and playing drums. I haven't the slightest idea what they symbolized, but I must have seen about 20 of them, each with its own group, walking around Freetown and also in the outlying country.
For the first time, I got on my motorcycle and started riding without having a definate destination in mind. I probably went 100 miles today in just riding around Freetown and down the coast and in through the hills. Freetown had a policeman on just about every corner today because of all the devils walking and also I think there was something like a parade going on , although I didn't get close enough to see for sure.
Just outside of Freetown there is a hill, and going up around that hill and all of the way to the top is a road. This road seems to be the best quality road to be found here in Sierra Leone. In going up this hill they had to go through solid rock for most of the way up. Because of all of the cutting they did they ended up with an easy grade and also about a 16 ft wide road with about 5 feet on the mountain side where they have a ditch. This ditch is very neat and uniform and is made out of compacted laterite, stone pitching, or concrete, depending on the slope and length and location. The road surface is smooth and has a quality blacktop job on it. I can't see any good economic reason for putting a quality road like that up to the top of that hill except for the view. It looks like there might be a high class house started near the top but even so, that road probably cost about $100,000 even though it is only about 2 miles long.
The view is probably the best that can be had here in Sierra Leone outside of flying in an airplane. You get a good view all 360 degrees around the hill. Starting with Freetown on the north you can turn slowly and see the Atlantic Ocean on the west and some large mountains on the south and east, with the villages of Regent on the southeast, Glouchester on the east, and Leister on the northeast. turning back towards the north again you see the river coming in from up country and widening out to form a large natural harbor which Freetown faces. It is supposed to be the largest in West Africa, or Africa, or the world, or something, but I forget which. Across the harbor to the north is Lungi, where the airport is. From the airport to Freetown is about 20 miles by road and also a half hour ferry ride. The top of that hill is a good place to just go and sit and think, because the view is so inspiring and often times you will be the only one there.
The closest thing in America to it would probably be the top of Mt.Tamalpais in Marin County, north of san Francisco. Even though I have never been there, I have heard alot about the view and how it is supposed to be the best view of san Francisco Bay that there is. I have seen many fine views of San Franciso Bay from different points around the Bay and also I have seen the view from the foothills around Mt.Tamalpais, so I can pretty well imagine what it would be from the top. I had my camera with me but didn't take any pictures because there was a high fog that was blowing in from the ocean across the area. Tomorrow I plan to go back out there and take a few pictures to get a bird's eye view of both Freetown and regent (where I spent my first week in Sierra leone).
I stopped in Freetown for lunch and afterwards as I was leaving on my Honda, I got my first taste of police corruption in Sierra Leone. The street that is in front of the restaurant turned out to be a one way street. I always used it as a two way street because in going to the restaurant I go the correct way and the restaurant is located half way down the block. The only sign that lets you know that it is a one way street is a Do Not Enter sign at the corner at the end of the block that I never go to. Coming from the restaurant I just head up the street the way I had come, thinking that it is a two way street, and not having been in a position to see that it was really a one way street.
It was as I was leaving the restaurant that a policeman flagged me down and asked me where I was going. I couldn'y see why he was asking and so was a little slow and confused and unclear in answering because I don't know any of the street names or anything. Next he motioned for me to park my motorcycle and was saying something about inviting me to the police station. We weren't communicating very well even though I was using Krio, and he had the impression that I was speaking French, so he called over a Frenchman to help out. As you might think, it didn't help, and after that a Sierra Leoneon came up, whom I could talk to and understand, and he told me that it was a one way street and I was going the wrong way, and that the policeman wanted to take me over to police headquarters. The guy then said that I should offer the policeman a dash to let him forget the whole thing, which I wasn't too enthused about doing. He said that if I went to the police headquarters, then I would have to go to court and the minimum I would have to pay would be Le10.00. He said they didn't have any system in sierra Leone for just writing out tickets and then paying a fine.
I asked the policeman how much he wanted and he said Le10.00. I offered Le1.00 which he didn't like. This was when the guy told me about going to court and having to pay at least Le10.00. I then offered him Le5.00 and he readily agreed. I also ended up giving my translator 40 cents. I didn't like the look of the whole affair and I think that if I had it to do again I would have gone with him to police headquarters. Also, I wouldn't agree to giving the policeman a ride to police headquarters like he wanted, but would have parked my motorcycle right there and then offered to walk over with him. I think that the more trouble that I make him go through might inconvience us both and I might end up getting the worst of it, but the policeman would have to do what he is paid to do and wouldn't be making any money on the side. Also, the more trouble that he has to go through, then the less likely that he will go through with it and he might be tempted to just forget the whole thing without my paying anything.
We hads the cannons again. This time I counted 21.
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