Kambia’s special Salone suprise
By David Krueger
The first stop on the “David Puda Pudas Sierra Leone Tour” is Kambia, in north Sierra Leone. I’m not going to lie, I like it a lot here. There’s been some great weather, lots to see, a battle being fought and one pretty incredible surprise that nobody saw coming.
Let’s start with the surprise because it’s been about 48 hours since I discovered it and I’m still in disbelief. Once we got off the puda puda in Kambia, a coworker and I immediately began trying to find a place to stay for the night. We went to Kambia Africana Villiage, and were given a quote that was pretty expensive.
So we ventured away to another guesthouse that cost half as much, but raised some serious security/bug/health concerns. We decided Africana was the best way to go, and returned, to find one Mr. Njai at a table outside the main office eager to book us into a room.
Mr. Njai asked where I was from, and I said, as I always do: “I’m from America. Washington state, on the west coast.” If I just say “Washington” everybody thinks it’s Washington, D.C., which is about a six hour plane ride across the country from where I live.
“Really,” Mr. Njai responded. “I went to school in Washington state. At the University of Washington, in Seattle.”
A huge smile spread across my face. I looked down at my jacket in my hands that had “Washington” written across it and offered my new friend a view.
“I go to the University of Washington in Seattle,” I could hardly get out fast enough.
And with that a great friendship was formed. Absolutely confident we were going to be staying here, I asked about the price of a room. Either the person we talked to before misquoted us, or Mr. Njai gave us a Sierra Leonean resident (my coworker) and fellow Husky (myself) discount, because the price dropped significantly.
Mr. Njai and I have talked a lot in the last couple days. We’ve covered everything from politics in Sierra Leone (he was in Parliament for six years) to his honeymoon at the Space Needle in Seattle.
I’m not going to turn this column into an advertisement for the Kambia Africana Villiage, but suffice it to say that if you will be travelling to Kambia in the near future and need a place to stay, I don’t think it’s possible to beat Africana. The food, cooked by Mrs. Njai, is incredible, the rooms are nice and the staff is unbelievably welcoming and helpful.
As much as I love it here at Africana, I have left the guesthouse and travelled around Kambia. The only way to travel around here is to walk or take a motorbike. I love motorbikes, so I’ve chosen the latter much more often than I probably had to.
It didn’t take very long for me to get sunburned in Kambia. About an hour and 45 minutes is my best guess.
Our first afternoon here we went to the hospital, because that’s why we’re really here. We’re working on stories about the free government healthcare that was enacted last April. As part of it, I get to travel all around the country to talk to people. I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
After we checked in with the doctor, and scheduled an interview, we rode around town and down to the Great Scarcies River. It was beautiful. With the sun shining right above a hill in the distance, the water was as smooth as glass, except for the occasional boat that paddled by.
The next morning we had to be awake and at the hospital by 8:30. It was close, but we made it. After an extensive tour of how the hospital works (which will be described in a future column) and talking to everybody we possibly could, I returned to Africana to write about the puda puda ride here.
I sent that off and returned to the guesthouse just in time Wednesday night for what I had been looking forward to since Sunday: the United States vs. France in the semi-final of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The story again has a happy ending (unless you’re French) with America finishing on top 3-1, and advancing to play Japan on Sunday in the championship.
I’m not sure what city I will be in Sunday, but I guarantee you wherever I am, I’ll be in front of a television.
After the game I returned to room/hut C-4. I like my room number. It’s like the explosive you always see in movies. And there’s a lizard-thing that always hangs out by the sign. I’ve named him Gary. I honestly have no idea why that was the first name that popped into my head, but nevertheless, Gary it is.
That’s when things got a little scary. You know how if you’re afraid of heights people often say “don’t look down.” Well, when you’re (a little) scared of spiders, apparently you shouldn’t look up. I went to the bathroom, looked at the ceiling, and saw the three biggest spiders I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’d like to say I handled it well, but I didn’t. I let out a weird yell/scream and ran out, pulling my pants up as I went. I sat on the bed for a half an hour contemplating what to do. I settled on calling my mother. I talked to her for a few minutes to keep myself distracted from the spiders.
Finally I decided something had to be done. I was going to be in this room for two more days, and I was going to have to use the bathroom at some point during that time. So I prayed, grabbed my shoes, put them on my hands, and the Great Spider Massacre of 2011 began.
With each swing/grunt another one fell, until they were all gone.
Did it feel good to win the battle against the spiders? Yes. Am I worried their friends are going to gang up on me tonight for revenge? Absolutely. I’ve already taken care of a few more that have surprised me since, and it gets less and less fun each time. I wish we could just make a deal where we leave each other alone.
Aside from the spiders, Kambia has been an unbelievable experience. I’m starting to realize that Salone has this incredible ability to turn every day into a life-changing experience. I’ll never forget my first two days in Kambia, and I still have one to go. I am very excited to keep exploring Kambia, and see as much of it as I possibly can.
I’m just not going to look up.
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