Bureh Beach

I am in love. Words simply cannot do justice to Bureh beach, but I will try. A pristine beach stretching for miles, forest-covered mountains disappearing into the mist, cool ocean breeze, glorious rays, bobbing dug-out canoes, fresh fish, bonfire, sleeping under the stars, a midnight swim, endless stars and new friends, life really doesn’t get much better than that.

Or so I thought, until we went for that midnight swim and the water lit up, sparkling like nothing I have seen before. It was phosphorescence, tiny plankton that glow when you make any movement. There were thousands, maybe millions, of glimmering little spots that danced around and highlighted our glowing bodies as we glided through the water. Switching between the crawl watching the intoxicating sequined shield covering my body and the backstroke gazing at the infinite stars blanketing the sky, I was in heaven.

Today, I woke up on the beach cold for the first time since I came to Sierra Leone!! I spent the morning lazily reading my book then went for a long swim along the coast for well over an hour. When we fully exhausted ourselves we decided to hike back along the now black, rocky shore. While the rock scramble was a fun adventure at first, it quickly began to scald our feet. We aborted the rocks and opted for the cool ocean but the damage had been done. The pads of our feet bubbled with huge blisters, an unfortunate end to an otherwise perfect weekend.

Here are a few teaser pictures. The island was our midnight destination.