Geoff set off on the trip in April 2024, after first visiting the Southern Riverina to farewell his friends.
We’ve already received updates on the road from Geoff from his experiences in China and Turkmenistan, the trek to Tibet, his time in war torn Ukraine and his introduction to Africa.
In this latest two-part article from ‘the road’, he shares more experiences from West Africa.
His story is supported by photos from fellow traveller Sam Attwood.
Part two, which Geoff has titled ‘Blood Diamonds and Boy Solders’, will appear next week.
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We woke to the rhythm and the beat of Africa, camped on a football pitch on the outskirts of a small village several kilometres from the Sierra Leone border.
It is Friday night and the locals are in the mood for dancing.
It has taken four days of grind to get here from Bissau, Guinea Bissau, a quaint little capital with a Portuguese charm reminiscent of days gone by.
We turn west as the sun rises for yet another hot and dusty day.
The road to adventure leads us straight into the madness and mayhem of Freetown.
Add some colour and spice and you get a hodgepodge of chaos and confusion that defines Freetown, swallowed up in a sea of humanity, her undercurrent draws you deeper and deeper into the soul of this colourful and vibrant city.
She is unique and complex with a dark history.
She cloaks herself in a coat of many colours woven together with the common thread of hardship intertwined with truth and reconciliation.
She has survived the slave trade, colonialism, a decade long brutal civil war with blood diamonds and boy soldiers and the rest is history.
She has endured, and died a thousand deaths only to be reborn and baptised in the blood of a revolution.
Her sons do not falter as they kneel at the altar of the gun.
We are welcomed into Sierra Leone at immigration with smiles as bright as the rising sun that we had just left behind.
For a country left traumatised by civil war, it shows remarkable resilience.
The scars of its troubled past remain only in the story boards and memories of its survivors.
Having just recovered from the outbreak of Ebola followed by COVID, Sierra Leone is now welcoming tourists back into the country.
It really shows on the faces in the back street stalls, the bars and the vibrant night life when the girls come out to dance and the men congregate at the outdoor bars under African stars.
The war is long gone, but the scars of the past hide behind the masks of the future with unparcelled courage and beauty.
Peter Momoh Bassie is a man who has made a success of his life after being kidnapped at 11 years old and trained as a boy solder for seven years before being rescued by a Nigerian solder.
His story will follow.
Go dance with them if you care, there are many boy solders over there, come add some colour if you dare, the night life is vibrant and they are eager to share.
26°C