Sugarloaf Mountain

Today was a trip out with 15 other crew members to nearby Sugarloaf Mountain. The departure was delayed by 1.5 hrs because the minibus driver overslept! After another trip across Freetown's orderly road system we reached the bottom of the mountain. The last section being a dirt road with many potholes that made Sally want to get out and walk!
The climb up the mountain was more of a scramble then a walk with very steep section through rocky woods and across smooth big sections of rock face. The climbing only took just over an hour but the rest in between sections took just as long. Turned out we were just on the other side of the mountain where in 2017 a gigantic mudslide washed away a section of the hill killing 1141 people after 41 inches of rain came down. The walk down was more tricky as you had to stop yourself from slipping and find your footing amongst loose pebbles and leaves as well as negotiating big boulders. But it was certainly an adventure and got us out of our bubble in the fresh if not warm air! It certainly is a country of contrasts, trying to reconcile the rise of materialism with installing basic systems of water, sanitation, power and waste disposal!Read more