Tony in The Alpes

Hi everyone, I hope this finds you well. I'm fine. I'm in the Alpes. I've been travelling around southern France for a little over 3 weeks now and it's hot! I'm now in the small mountainous town/city of Briancon, France's highest town. It's a historic place, with lots of fortrees and old city walls surrounded the Alpes, well, actually built into the mountains. Streets are steep, as I discovered yesterday whilst hiking up to a couple of its fortresses. It's a fortified city, designed and built by a French Royal Army officer and engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre, Marquis de Vauban (1633-1707) I reached Briancon by train from Toulon, with a change in Marseille. That took 6 hours, on Sunday 15th June. I stayed in the lovely Pension Saint Antoine, run by a lovely, kind lady. The following morning, Monday, the lady put me on a local bus, which dropped me just outside the old city walls. I met a nice guy from Canada, now living in Briancon with his wife. he helped me through one of the large gates and gave me rough directions to the main bastian – Fort des Trois-Têtes. I followed a rough gravel trail and used my cane to negotiate the many switchbacks. I crossed the famus bridge, Pont d'Asfeld: an engineering gem from the 17th century, this stone bridge spans a vertiginous gorge at a height of over 50 meters (170 feet). Without realising it, I crossed the bridge! I was expecting something made of hard stone and bigger/higher. Continuing to hike, took me into the woods, which meant hiking for longer. I slipped and fell many times on the loose gravel and stones, but had fun. Eventually I met 2 English guys coming the other way. They helped me find the bridge. Once back across the river, I turned left and struggled up a steep rocky hill, which lead me into the start of the fortress area, city walls and the main part of Briancon's medieval town. The guys explained the layout in front of me and told me what was to my left and right. The main fortress was to the right, uphill, so, of course, I headed up. The road was steep and I bumped into many parked cars, but finally found the fort. It was a little confusing to me and I couldn't really find the entrance until I heard an echo. I followed a rail and this took me higher. After some time searching, I discovered a rock tunnel; went through and found some of the fort's walls on the other side, plus a couple of small rooms with stone walls. Descending several stone steps lead me to another stone room with views. I was unsure which way to go, so retraced my steps, eventually returning to the main town. After a coffee and an ice cream, I set off to find another fort. This time I hiked to Redoute des Salettes. However, this took a lot longer to hike than I realised, with me carrying my backpack with my laptop! Loose rocks everywhere and a steep gradient that, seemingly, continued up forever. I struggled, sweatted, fell, and grunted my way up. finally making the top around 4 pm or something. Of course, it was closed, so i took some picts and headed down. I probably took a diferent trail down as there were not the bolders I encountered on the climb on the descent. Instead, it was steep descending gradients of loose rough gravel and stones. returning to the bottom took even longer and I missed my 5 pm bus to Grenoble! fortunately, as I neared the end of the trail, I met a nice local guy who gave me a ride to the train station, established there were no trains/buses to Grenoble that night and found me a cheap hotel near the station.
This morning, Tuesday, 17th June, I'm still in Briancon! I thought there was a train departing at 10:51, but I missed it. No bus until 14:45 this afternoon. SoI'm sat in a cafe typing this in the heat and sun and drinking coffee and waiting! :).
The life of a travellller. Cheers, tony.
.

Sierra Leone to Liberia and Back

Hey friends and followers. I hope everyone is keeping well?
I'm now back in Freetown, Sierra Leone. I'm staying at the quaint hostel in the Aberdeen Area where I was before. It's fairly quiet as I type this latest travel update, whilst sitting on the balcony, overlooking the stone-strewn track that is meant to be some kind of road, but isn't!
I disappeared for a while, to Liberia, but also to Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary in east Sierra Leone.
To get to this tropical island in the middle of the Moa River, I first had to take a shared minibus (Boda-Boda) from the edge of Freetown to Bo, the country's second largest city and a university town – students everywhere.
I travel to Bo with a Dutch guy named Arne, who'd I'd met when in Freetown. He was fun, very tall and we argued a lot about various topics! It past the time. We stayed at Sahara Hotel in Bo. An inexpensive establishment, about US$11 per night for a private room with a fan, plus a towel and a bar of soap. Breakfast was included. I stayed there on another occasion.
Arne was also heading to Liberia. He departed for the border the next morning. I took a shared taxi to the town of Poturo, which took about 90 minutes or so, and then an hour-long motorbike taxi ride to the village of Kambama. Once at the village, a local guy took me across the Moa River to Tiwai Island in a simple canoe.
There are 8 traditional villages surrounding the island, all on the side of the river. Tiwai is tropical with a large rainforest, which is a protected wildlife reserve and sanctuary.
 Camping is available and also two simple guest houses: The former research lodge where I stayed and the Visitor Centre in the village. Meals are provided by the staff on the island for a fee. Breakfast is included in the price of a night's stay. Free, clean, drinking water is available on the island. It's possible to do several activities. I undertook a guided forest walk early the next morning and heard monkies calling to one another in a loud strange guttrall sound. Birds were also heard and frogs sang in the early morning. The noise the from made almost resembled a car alarm! The hour-long walk was fun. I had to step over several fallen logs and trees and tripped over  many rough stones and tree roots. The narrow trails twisted every way and I stumbled along behind my guide, constantly going up and down with every step. The forest closed in on all sides several times.
Later the same day, I had a canoe ride around part of the island. It was delightful: very peaceful, almost silent apart from the occasional splash from the canoe's oar. After an hour in splendid peace, the guide paddled me over to the mainland, helped me out, pulled me up the steep rocky slope to Kambama village and, after a 10 minute wait, I took a motorbike back to Putoru Town and went onto Bo. The next day I joined a shared taxi of 6 people including the driver, and  headed to Monrovia, capital and largest city of Liberia. The journey took roughly 6 hours, including time spent at both border crossings and several check-points. The shared taxi cost US$20 per person, one-way.
A Liberia tourist visa cost
US$100 and I arranged this in Freetown. I had to wait 7 working days to get the visa.
Upon arrival on the outskirts of Monrovia, I discovered it was a very noisy city! Music was booming from every bar and club, it being a Saturday evening. TV's seem to be blasting from every shop or restaurant. The roads were terrible: stones, rocks and pot-holes all over the roads! It was chaos, and that was just the taxi station! The motorbike ride into the city itself, was just as noisy and chaotic. The driver weaved in and out of other motorbikes, cars, trucks and all mannor of obsticles. I simply hung on! My destination was St. Teresa's Convent on Randal Street. This is, apparently, the cheapest place of accommodation in Morovia. All other guest houses and hotels are very expensive. Naturally, the motorbike driver couldn't find the location of the convent and had to ask several times. Eventually, it was found, but by this time, it was 9 in the evening. The staff at the convent weren't really expecting me, although one of my friends who was staying there, did mention I'd be coming.
St. Teresa's Convent is nice enough. Rooms are upstairs, with a kitchen on the ground floor. Free fresh water is available. Most rooms seem to be twins with 2 single beds. Bed sheets are provided, also a fan. There are 3 bathrooms with a sink, a toilet and a shower in each.
I plan to visit the 2 main churches in Monrovia, the Catholic Sacred Heart and the Prodistant Trinity, but the weather was so humid, I did almost nothing. The Dutch guy, Arne, who I'd travelled with before, told me about a newish restaurant down the street, called T Holy. Food was reasonably priced and they had free, good speed WiFi. So I based myself there for 3 days and researched. Eventually, I headed to Robertsport, 50 kilometres (32 miles) north of Monrovia. The shared taxi took about 4 hours to reach robertsport, again on farely bad roads. I stayed at the delightful and relaxing Philip's Guesthouse and was looked after splendidly by Philip and his young brother, Lisima. The guesthouse overlooks the main beach and on my first proper day in the peaceful town, Lasima and I headed down a grassy and rocky slope onto the soft sand. We walked about a kilometre in the warm air before finding a spot and sat on the gritty sand and chatted as I enjoyed the sound of the crashing surf.
Robertsport is a surfer's paradise. There are large waves and plenty of spots to ride them. Most of the locals surf. There are several things to do in and around the area: walk the long beach to a famous shipwreck, swim, surf, snorcle. Take a boat trip on nearby Piso Lake or go walking in the hills and mountains. It's a peaceful town. I spent most of my time lying in a hammack and listening to an audio book.
3 days later, I returned to Monrovia and its noise for one last night, before making a slow return back to Sierra Leone.
I fly back to the UK on 19th December.
Cheers, Tony :).

Trip to Banana, Sierra Leone

Hi deer friends, fans and followers. I'm well. Still in hot Freetown. I've just returned from 2 relaxing days on Banana Island, off the Sierra Leone coast. I stayed at a lovely, if slightly expensive, guest house named Dalton. Right on a small, gritty, private beach. Almost paradise! :). The local staff are lovely, kind, helpful and went out of their way to make my stay as easy as possible :). A private room with sink, toilet and basic shower, plus double bed with moskito net, small table and stool, plus an African-style basic couch, cost about US$32 per night. Meals are extra. A pretty good price for the view, sound of the Atlantic on the doorstep, a local village within walking distance, restaurant serving local food, gardens, lovely trees and hammacks to relax in.
It's a bit of a hike from Central Freetown, or, Aberdeen Neighbourhood, for that matter. Akeke for one person to Kent Beach, where motorised boats collect guests for the island, takes roughly an hour and can cost 400 Leones, roughly US$15, one-way. Although, 2-3 people can share a Keke (Tuk-Tuk). A motorbike from Aberdeen to Kent Beach is 150 Leones (US$6) each way and takes about 1.4 hours.
The motorboat to the island takes roughly 20 minutes and costs 400 Leones, About US$15, each way. Lifejackets are provided. There are various activities available: spear fishing, scuba diving, guided forest walks; lasting about 3 hours, a historic village walk. Or one can simply relax. Now back in Freetown, going to visit a few more sights and then plan to collect my visa on Wednesday and slowly head to Liberia.
Warmest wishes everyone. Cheers, Tony :).

Innosearch Message and Promotion

Hi dear friends and followers :). Some good and interesting news for those of you who like to travel and are blind-visually impaired.
InnoSearch, the US website company that uses AI to help visually impaired people shop more easily online, have  officially launched flights! You can take a look at
https://www.innosearch.ai/flights.
It should be now easier to search and compare flight prices over several sites. Go on, give it a go. I am. Many thanks. Have a great day/ evening.
Thank you, Tony :)

Trip Update.

Hi everyone, hope this finds you all well and keeping warm if in the UK, Europe or North America! I'm fine, swetting my bum off in hot and humid Senegal! I'm now in Ziguinchor, the southernmost biggish, city. Hoping to get my visa tomorrow for Guinea-Bissau! It's time to visit some islands and get away from the chaos for a bit! .
I crossed the Mauritania-Senegal River border about a week ago, with lots of help! Travelling from Nouakchott, Mauritania's coastal capital, onto Rosso, finding someone to help me to the Mauritania immigration post to get the exit stamp, then help me into a small, wooden, motorised canoe for the 5 minute trip across the River, took ages. Once on the other bank, it was a case of entering a large building, negotiating several barriers, having my photo taken at some official counter, my thumb prints taken, and finding a taxi to take me the short distance to the shared taxi stand for a 2-3 hour journey to St. Louis. I had help from a lovely English-speaking Mauritanian, who one of my friends aranged for me. The entire journey took roughly 12 hours. I stayed with a lovely Senegalese Couchsurfing family for 3 nights in a nice room with a comfy bed. Unfortunately, no WiFi, but I coped. My host, Elhadji and his lovely wife, Fatu looked after me best they could and I was fed each morning with a baggette filled with tasty food . Also a large hot cup of sweet coffee! . I eventually found Wifi in a place called Flamingos, a cool bar with a large tv to watch football. On my third day, Elhadji gave me a wonderful guided tour around the Isle of St. Louis and also part of Sor, the mainland. We walked over the famous Pont Faidherbe Bridge, which was rebuilt in 2011, and probably rebuilt again since. We even stepped inside the Cathedral, opened in 1828. A service was in session with women and children singing and playing instraments- delightful. The following day, I took a very early, crouded bus to Dakar, Senegals large and sprawling capital – full of traffic and people. I stayed with, yet, another nice family, who have 5 little children, what fun! Again, no WiFi access and, this time, almost no English! I was in a kind of suburb, far from the centre and far from any internet . I shared the bed with my host, Djibril, went to the toilet in a hole in the ground and took bucket showers – it was fun .
I met friends I made in Mauritania for dinner one night in a Lebanese restaurant. Fortunately, one of them had my phone number, so we were able to communicate. I went on an interesting city tour on my second afternoon with a really nice guy named Ousmanne. His website: www.senegalpremeumtour.com If anyone visits Dakar, check him out. We visited this enormous monument to Africans and I climbed 198 steps for good views and to feel and walk around the huge lump of concrete the 3 large copper statues stand atop. I could feel some of the letters and numbers on the commemoration plaque. Then we visited a couple of impressive mosques, including the Mosque of Divinity. I met the son of the man who had built the mosque, it was finished in 1997, I think. We also took photos outside the large cathedral and visited two markets, including Kermel. There was trafic everywhere and the journey was slow. I paid too much, but it was a good experience and Ousmmane's English was excellent. Ok, getting hungry, time to run. I'm staying at a nice place called Camping Casamance, it costs about UK £23 a night with breakfast. Warmest wishes to everyone. Cheers, Tony .

Dakar guide's website:

www.senegalpremeumtour.com

senegalpremeumtour.com