Tiwai Island

Wanting to go to Tiwai Island has been in my mind since knowing coming back to Sierra Leone was a go. I'm a plant and animal lover and I love to explore. Tiwai is a good place to do this! Tiwai is Sierra Leone's only community conservation program and, at 12 sq. km., is one of the country's largest inland islands. It is on the Moa River and is home to the rare pgymy hippo as well as 11 species of primates (which makes the area diverse and highly concentrated as far as these things go). There are also loads of bird species and numerous kinds of plants. The Gola Forest Reserves stretch east of Tiwai toward Liberia and contain the last patches of rain-forest left in the country.

Now that I've given you some facts from the brochure, time to give the low-down on the trip. It all began a week or so again when Fudia and I made the trek to the office in Bo to find out how to accomplish this trek. There's a lovely office which is near impossible to find. The lovely Jendetta (?) came to greet us and laid out the options and costs. Augustine (our driver on this jaunt) happened to discover his brother working on the grounds. I'm unclear why that was a surprise; Augustine informed me that he knew his brother worked but didn't know where or doing what. Odd. In any case, after gathering our info, we made our way home and laid plans.

We decided to take food (although we could have had the chef there prepare us food) and decided it was most cost effective to take Augustine as a driver. Both Fudia and Augustine had never heard of Tiwai (in fact, of all the staff at the CRC, only 2 had heard of the place and no-one had been) so they were excited to get away and check it out. After loading the van, we set out. We flew along (well, "flew" is maybe a bit extreme) - but we had pavement for about 1 hour. The next hour and a half consisted of red clay gravel/sand road with varying degrees of pothole obstacles. We passed through village after village with children who ran after the van shouting "pumoi, pumoi" (white person). Toward the end of the trip I was contemplating how PC it would be of me to shout "black child, black child" right back. They mean no harm but, really, does the obvious ALWAYS need to be stated? A couple of times older folks hushed them up which I thought was kind. Other sights along the way included rubber plantations, thatched huts out in the middle of random fields (to keep watch I think - although there seems to me nothing to watch), the occasional person sitting by the side of the road, people carrying loads of timber on top of their heads, school children out digging/chopping/otherwise working (I'm told they're doing their "practical" for required classes such as Agriculture - I think it's a clever way to put kids to work and suggest that U.S. schools give it a try), people sitting on their porches watching the world go by, women working in rice fields, people out in the water catching fish, women cleaning clothes in the rivers, murky swampy areas where I'm sure huge vipers hang out, palm tree after palm tree after palm tree...

After 2 1/2 hours of driving we were SO CLOSE when we had to come to a stop. Alas, there was no bridge where there should have been a bridge. See pictures! Although Augustine might have given it a brief thought to try and create a bridge over the gap (or take a driving leap?) both Fudia and I let him know this would be very unwise. After consulting a couple of passers-by, we unloaded our stuff and set out to walk the rest of the way. Luckily, it was truly just "up the hill and around the curve", so in about 10 minutes we found ourselves in the last village. From there we caught a motorboat to the island - a 10 minute ride. Fudia hadn't been on the water since 1980 and she doesn't swim, so she was scared, but I told her I'd rescue her even if there were snakes in the water. I don't know if that made her feel any better, but we arrived safe and sound. I did inquire about crocodiles (which are there) but the driver told me they were scared of people. Really?! Since when?!

The first thing we did is meet the staff and get the lay of the land. There are maybe 5 or 6 people who sleep on the island and take care of people who are there. They also serve as guides if one wants to have a canoe tour or forest hike (both of which I did). There is a research facility on the island and sure enough, we hadn't been there 5 minutes before I saw a white woman with a huge backpack on come tromping through. She is April Conway and is on the island for 16 months researching the elusive hippo. She hasn't spotted one personally yet but she has installed cameras which have captured them in the wee hours of the morning. There are photos posted in the central gazebo area. They have names like Delta 3 and Charlie 2. I feel sure there's some sort of significance. Anyway, we established sleeping areas; there are 6 platforms surrounding the central area - each of which has a few tents on it. Fudia and I shared one platform (each with our own tent) and Augustine took a different platform. The guys made up our tents with sheets/pillows and in the meantime I met a Dutch man and his son who were on the island for a couple of days taking a break from visiting the daughter who works in Kabala. They would be part of my forest hike the next morning. Since we were sweaty and dusty from the drive, Fudia and I decided to go "wash" in the river. I got in a heated discussion w/Fudia about not putting soap in the water until I figured out that "washing" has nothing to do with washing. Augustine waited for us b/c it's not customary for men and women to "wash" together (although it seems to be okay for them to go to the beach together). We spent a lovely 45 minutes or so just cooling off in the river. No water danger as the current was flowing quite fast (April told me the water hadn't been tested for some horrible parasite starting with an L, but since the water was fast it was most likely fine). Indeed, so far, I remain well. In any case, the river, while deep at some points, is quite shallow at others and one can see to the bottom. There are oysters all over the bottom and rocks scattered throughout which means a canoe guide has to know the river pretty well. I didn't see any snakes which made me happy.

Next on the agenda: canoe ride. I headed out about 5 for a two hour ride. SO pleasant once I decided that despite the rocking, the canoe would stay upright. Not that I would have minded falling in, but it would have been a big drag to ruin my phone/camera. Being on the river was peaceful and filled with the sounds of birds and maybe monkeys (don't really know my monkey calls). While I didn't see any animals, I loved being on the water enjoying the breeze, the fresh air, and the really beautiful vegetation. Some of the palms grow right in the water and because the water was so still, the reflection was really beautiful. It made me think of Impressionist paintings and the effort to capture light and color and reflections of sun and water. It was a pretty quiet ride as Mustafa's English isn't too great and he didn't know the answer to some of my questions; but it was lovely to just BE and enjoy.

When I got back, Fudia was ready to eat so out came our chicken and fried rice. Cold water was enjoyed by all; there's solar power on the island and what a treat that was! I hung out for a while with the Dutch men and another man, Rod, from Vancouver who is spending 3 months traveling through West Africa. We shared our observations of progress or lack thereof in Sierra Leone. Peter and his son (whose name I can't recall) shared about the daughter's work and her frustrations and joys. Rod told us about his travel plans and how his money got stolen in Freetown. He was heading to Liberia next; we encouraged him to get a cell phone. He's in digital media and is an independent contractor - hence the time to just explore. He was sporting a whole bunch of African bracelets and REI nylon pants with an Airwic-type shirt. Hiking shoes finishes the picture. I couldn't have clothed him better for the part if I had tried. The next day we ended up giving him a ride to a spot where he could catch a bus/taxi for Liberia. Some reading in my tent completed the evening. Lots of insect/night sounds made for very light sleeping - as did my slightly damp/mildewy sheets. I think it's hard to dry things in the rainforest!

Up and at 'em by 7 a.m. on Thursday for a forest hike. The goal for this trek was to see monkeys so we wandered around for 3 hours trying to do just that led by our trusty guide armed with a machete. But these monkeys are not like zoo monkeys! They are not interested in entertaining and are really hard to spot. First of all, they're incredibly high up in incredibly tall trees. Second, they must have informed the entire population that there were 5 white people who wanted to see them and they clearly decided amongst themselves that they were not interested in playing that game. We did spot some but I did not manage to get even one picture because they were too high and leaping about. Our guide spent a few minutes communicating with a red colobus monkey which was really cool; I couldn't tell which was the human and which was the monkey! We also spotted a blue something or other and I think I saw a black and white colobus as well. The sign that they're about is rustling of the leaves in the upper part of the canopy and then flashes of color if you're lucky. There are signs on the ground of monkey activity: fruits/nuts with chunks out of them; little stockpiles of leaves or nuts; or pods that have been stripped. Our search for the monkeys was interspersed with information on trees and plants with their medicinal uses, the spotting of beautiful colorful butterflies flitting about, signs of pygmy rhinos and bush hogs out and about in the night, and identification of various birds. By the way, we would have been HOPELESSLY lost; I understand why one is not allowed to wander the island without a guide. Do not I repeat DO NOT attempt to be your normal American independent self in the rain-forest.

A side note about monkeys: It was interesting to take this trip at this particular time seeing as I have just finished my December New Yorker magazines and just finished an article about the director of Global Viral Forecasting, Nathan Wolfe. He monitors the emergence of deadly viruses, all of which seem to originate in the jungles of Central Africa and spread because people eat bushmeat (monkeys, cane rat, anteaters, etc.). When it comes down to feeding the family or possibly dying of a horrific virus, people will feed the family, so education and prevention is proving a huge challenge. I thought about viruses while looking for monkeys. I'm grateful, too, that I don't have to make the choice between eating a monkey or possibly preventing the spread of disease. Back to the topic at hand...

We were back around 10 a.m. and it was time for breakfast. I was definitely over the hike by the time we got back as I was soaked through and unpleasantly thirsty. More cold water, praise God! We had ordered some breakfast: pancakes Sierra Leonian style which means balls of a sort of fried dough-type thing with a savory onion/tomato sauce. Interesting combo. Washed this down with tea and cold water and finished it with a segment of orange which I bummed off Peter. Time to pack up and go as I had a date with Rev. Koroma to go to his school's sporting event in the afternoon. I paid up - total for this trip ran about $100 - serious bargain for the three of us! Fudia & Augustine got to go for half price b/c they're Sierra Leonian. Hmmmm. But in all seriousness, the Tiwai Island Administrative Committee wants the natives to get behind this and come visit. I hope Augustine and Fudia will spread the word (Fudia won't hush about how she misses being there and is already planning to spend some of her leave time there) and a couple of people have let me know that they were not adequately apprised of my plans (in other words, they would have liked to come along)so all this is a good sign that perhaps it will become a popular place and will attract support and more funding. I was thinking it would be a great treat for some of the older CRC kids to go for an overnight if they get good results on exams or good final marks. Maybe that's a possibility...

With Rod (the Canadian) in tow, we hopped back on the boat - our load lighter except for 2 fish (a reddish something or other on top of a slimy-looking catfish) that flopped out the top of the Coleman (Fudia had requested someone go fishing for her so she could have fresh fish for fish stew that night which was, by the way, quite tasty). In the village on the opposite side of the river, we picked up the captain's mother who needed a lift to Bo. Two and a half very dusty hot hours and one horrific traffic jam in Bo later, having dropped the mother off on the side of the road, we were back at the MTC and I RAN inside for a shower in anticipation of my next social event. Who knew I would be dashing about in such a fashion?! :) Augustine took off with the van to get it cleaned and Fudia cared for her fish. A happy time was had by all and I can actually say I have hiked a rainforest in West Africa!