Tiwai Island

So we’re in Sierra Leone, this place is super friendly and really picturesque.

There is a problem with traveling through landscapes like this, and seeing places with this kind of beauty. One runs the risk of failing to describe the beauty adequately without being guilty of gross hyperbole. Not everything can be incredible, not everything can be unbelievable, exclamations are not cumulative marks to be added as a degree of emphasis. But, Tiwai island begs special mention.

Rather than shower the concept in adjectives, using the thesaurus function of my computer to try and distinguish this place from the umpteen others we have seen; I will simply try and describe the scene.

It’s a 12km² island in the middle of a river, home to eleven species of primates, Pygmy hippos and untold numbers of birds. But, its more than that, it’s the place that little boys imaginations conjure up, a place of dark water rivers, crocodiles and tool using chimpanzees. Its a place where in the evening you sit, in a raphia hammock watching the African wilderness around you. The river is dark from the tannins of forest decomposition. Oily almost, it oozes its way through the thick walled jungle, the raphia palms bend, overhanging, dipping, tasting.  Every now and then, the treetops dance in the light. A sudden glow as red colobus dive, arms outstretched, sunlight catching the red fur, fire-balls in the sky. I took myself for a little forest walk, by myself, barefoot in the forest, just me, shorts and a vest… Magic! I saw black and white colobus, Diana monkeys and Sooty mangabeys (The original vector of SIV and subsequently HIV subtype C, according to Dr S. Barichievy who knows everything). I saw red colobus, Cusimans, a massive cobra, untold numbers of birds, untold species of butterflies, all new to me. A plethora… that’s the word, a plethora of new!

For the nerds reading, mainly Nic, Marco , Bryan, Graeme Ellis and Don…the people who care about birds… on one beach, just sitting in the water I saw among others; palmnut vultures, Egyption plovers, rock pratincoles and African skimmers. There are blue headed beaters, and numerous unidentifiable and therefore obviously very rare waders. Hordes of forest birds with their little flickers of color and haunting calls abound in the dense green. At night I sat alone, in the silence of the river noise, for hours in the moonlight, watching the river, obsidian in the night. Thinking the things that now grown little boys imaginations think of; I’m on an island in a river, the forest areas of Sierra Leone all around…man, life is good.

I do think that Tiwai island is a very beautiful place in the world, a definite place to go and see. Spend a day or two, get Lahai the body-builder look alike chef to whip you up something delicious, go for a walk with the guides who know every tree and bird. Stroll around in the green or laze in the river. There are people researching pygmy hippos and camera trap pictures reveal their presence, every now and then you see their sign in the jungle, just a munched plant here and there. It’s a special place this.