About 30 minutes south of Freetown there’s a small coastal village called River #2. It’s here that the river, River #2, flows into the Atlantic, and it’s also home to the famous River #2 Beach.
I used to be a massive beach head. There was nothing I liked more than a day on a lounge chair with my book. I’d turn over every so many chapters to be sure I was getting an even tan. I still love the sound of waves crashing on the shore and the smell of salt in the air but since I watched my mother have cancerous lump after cancerous lump removed in later years, I rarely lie in the sun any more. If I do, it’s under an umbrella. I’m religious about applying suncream and would miss my sunhat more than my phone, were I to forget them.
And I dislike crowds.
I wasn’t at all pushed about having a day at the beach but the majority rules. We compromised on a half-day. An afternoon. We needed to be back in the city before dark.
It’s a DFA rule. A good one.
Driving during the day is manic – driving at night, with people on the streets you can’t see, lights that only half work, and no lanes worth noting – it’s the stuff nightmares are made of.
In 2016, the first post-war traffic light was installed. Last year, lights were added at seven key junctions. I can’t begin to imagine the chaos pre-TLs.
We taxied down and back Peninsular Road in relative comfort, paid our community tax, and wended our way through the tourist stalls to the sand.
Along the way, I marvelled at the head-carrying skills of the women. This is a learned skill honed from a young age, not exclusive to Africa. It involves practice, lots of practice, to develop the excellent balance and straight posture needed. It’s considered more efficient than other ways of carrying stuff. I saw one woman downtown carrying a pyramid of eggs on her head – hands-free. Some can carry 20% of their body weight. I’ve tried with an empty basket. Laughable. But I’m up for giving it another go after reading about the benefits. I’ll start, as they suggest, with a kilo of rice.
The beach is operated by a cooperative with all monies received (SLE 15/person) going back into the area. The chair cost (rickety wooden chairs, table, and umbrella) was higher than usual (SLE 250/$10) and the place was crowded. At least I thought it was. All afternoon, people trickled in with their ice chests of food. Even as we left around 5pm they were still coming … seems like this particular Saturday was slated for a beach party and no one had told us.
We parked ourselves beside a table of 10 or so. I was hoping they’d invite us to lunch – their food looked amazing. The older man in the party came over and asked us if their music was bothering us. Consideration at its best.
Hawkers came, laden with bags and purses, dresses and shorts, tablecloths and duvet covers. And people bought. These weren’t locals – they were JCs – the Just Comes. Sierra Leoneans living abroad home for the holidays. ChatGPT tells me…
JCs are often seen as being somewhat out of touch with the everyday realities of life in Sierra Leone because they may have grown accustomed to a different way of life abroad. This can include their accent, mannerisms, or expectations of comfort and service. They are sometimes humorously teased for standing out.
There’s a curious thing here at such gatherings. Whole familes and groups dress alike. They call it asoebi or ashobi. In Krio: Wi all get wi ashobi for di event – We all have our matching outfits for the event. I read that asoebi is a Yoruba word from Nigeria that means ‘family cloth’.
What I’d look at in Europe and think naff, works here. It absolutely works here.
Drizilik, the top rapper in the country, has an album of the same name and the video for his song, Ashobi, features British actor Idris Elba, who is going to relocate to Africa in the next few years to build up the film industry here. splitting his time between Accra, Ghana; Freetown; and Zanzibar, Tanzania. In the video, you can see the outfits differ but they’re tied together with a common print. Elba, whose father was born in Sierra Leone, also has big dreams to build the country’s first eco-city on Sherbro Island. But not everyone thinks it’s such a great idea. Will it, like Nigeria’s Eko Atlantic City. ‘further entrench the highly unequal status quo‘? Only time will tell.
There’s a myth apparently, that black Africans can’t swim. I’d never heard it and was surprised when I did. I didn’t see many people swimming; it was more standing around in the water, more social. Everything about this country screams social.
Sierra Leoneans love their phones. And they love taking selfies. Watching them pose was better than watching television. Seeing them set up so that we’d be in the background was even more amusing. And the t-shirts! There’s a book there, waiting to be written. The t-shirt the girl is wearing is a line from the Nicholas Cage 1993 movie, Deadfall, where he plays the wild and unhinged, Eddie.
Later, we mosied on up the beach towards the Ahma Surf Club where WJ had put in our dinner order for fish and chips an hour earlier. This was when the planets aligned for me.
The food, as always, was excellent (we’ve only had one bad experience so far – Roy’s on Beach Road). We had fish on skewers and the delicious local wallah rice. The oysters, bought from an oyster seller, were small – not what I’d expected – but I wasn’t eating them so it was of no consequence to me. Anyway, I’m learning to manage my expectations.
Scrolling through the club’s FB page, I found this post:
Sometimes we all get tied up on looking and waiting for that perfect wave to come along. While doing this, we forget that surfing is not about finding that awesome wave, it’s about enjoying the moment, loving what you’re doing, going with the flow and making the best of what’s been given to you. That’s how life is sometimes.
They do good work here, offering free surfing lessons to the community’s children. Their revenue comes from surfing lessons from those who can pay (about $10 a lesson).
Remember my last post of 2024 over on Unpacking? Where I talked about Sierra Leone’s only female professional surfer, KK?
Well, who did we meet but the woman herself.
I was stoked. I told her I’d just mentioned her in a blog and she gave me a big hug. Just like Veronica. Connections are important here. I like it, even if I’m not a hugger.
Surfboards are expensive and hard to get in this part of the world. If you have any lying around gathering dust, they’d be more than happy to take them from you. Think of it as your good deed for the year. KK has great plans…
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