A Sunday stroll - via Leicester and Gloucester
on Freetown Blog (Sierra Leone), 22/Nov/2009 18:02, 34 days ago
Today Becky (VSO colleague) and I have been for a great walk in the hills behind Freetown. We had been told where the route began, so just decided to take a taxi up there (near the American Embassy) and see if we could find our way. As it happened, it was easy - a very quiet and shady lane winding through Krio villages back down towards the city.The villages in the area were originally set up by Christian missionaries as communities for freed slaves and some of the sights had a hint of English village about them. In the village of Leicester (below), we passed the Anglican church, complete with stained glass windows, from which a packed congregation, in their Sunday best, was giving a hearty rendition of 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'.On a day like today, it is hard to imagine the hardships the early settlers endured, both freed slaves and missionaries. Of the 70 adult missionaries sent out by the CMS from 1804, by 1824 38 had died in the harsh conditions of climate and disease they found hereIn addition to the British heritage of the missionaries, there are also signs of the US  heritage of the freed slaves. Many of the house designs are reminiscent of the US, where many of the returnees would have previously worked as domestic staff. Although it is quite high above the city, it was still hot, and we stopped off for a welcome cold 'soft' at a roadside shop, before the urban sounds and smells started to rise up through the trees  to meet us.  On arriving back among the hot throng, we jumped straight in a minibus taxi. For 40p and in 40minutes we were on the beach and able to cool our feet and have a beer. And here is one last picture. It adds nothing at all to the flow of the narrative and I am only including it because I can..