A day at the beach

We spent this past Saturday at River Number 2, an amazing beach about an hour from Freetown over crazy bumpy jungle roads. Years ago the community around the beach joined together to take care of the area and make it friendly for tourists by adding bungalows, a restaurant, toilets and showers. They use the money to pay for all the kids to go to school and other community needs like funerals and weddings. When the rebels came to the area during the war, the community members buried their goods and either hid deep in the jungle or out at sea in wooden boats. The war ended 8 years ago. Just 8 years.

After a full day of wandering the beach, being smashed by the waves, eating fresh coconuts and getting sunburned, we went to dinner at a restaurant overlooking an inlet. The tide was low, so after dinner a friend and I wandered around the wet sand. A young boy and teenage girl were coming back from washing at the river and we asked them their names. After a short conversion, the 8-year-old boy gestured to the water and asked proudly, "Do you like my village?" Yes, yes I do.