River No. 2

Once again, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the beach. This time it was the River No. 2 beach.

River No. 2 is far more secluded than Lumley. The 45 minute drive from Freetown was almost worth the price of the trip. The beach is nestled in the rainforest and mountains south of Freetown. The tide actually floods part of the beach - cutting it in 2 sections. The resort section is a small compound with bungalows, a restaurant and some shopping huts run by a group of locals who want to develop the area into a full-blown resort town. The locals might get their wish because all the guests were European or American - I can only imagine that guest recommendations will make this beach a popular tourist spot.

Although short, our stay at River No. 2 was the highlight of the trip thus far. The sand is ivory white and the water light blue. We had barracuda with cous-cous for dinner. It reminded me of the fish at Joloff's.

Yesterday we headed to the local chimpanzee preserve. High in the inland mountains, the preserve was an interesting place. A German guide showed us the different holding facilities for the different chimp groups. The idea is to rehabilitate hurt or displaced chimps so they can go back to the jungle.

We ended the weekend with dinner at an ocean-side british restaurant called Alex's. The soccer match between France and England was on the tele. As you can imagine, emotions ran high as both French and English ex-pats/tourists were each rooting for their national team.

Also, the weekend had an introspective quality as we all came to realize that our time here is almost up.

Out of time again my love.
Love you.
Will double check about the arrival time at JFK this Saturday.
xoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxo