Queen of the mountain

Today was very much a match of two halves, even the second one didn’t start until 10pm.

The first part was lovely. This afternoon, Izzy arranged for a taxi to take us across to Number Two Beach, which was another beauty, although this one also had a market, back behind the sands, full of the vibrant colours of the cloths or ‘lappa’ (see my first Extra). We had Star Beers, which is our daily staple, a bite to eat, and Izzy and I went for a swim.

When we arrived back at Izzy’s apartment, she arranged with her landlord for us to go up to the roof of their new development, next door, so we could watch the sun go down. The building is great, but it’s very weird being somewhere with no health and safety to speak of. The lift shaft, for example, is just completely open. I took today’s blip from the penthouse balcony, as Izzy enjoyed the view (see my second Extra).

The Minx fancied an evening in and a bit of quiet, so Izzy and I took a keke to The Roof Garden. She has a driver called Amaru, whom she has introduced to all her friends, who is totally reliable, which is a comfort to me as she sometimes needs to get home late at night.

He’s a charming and chatty young man, and justifiably proud of having worked hard enough to buy his own keke. He also supports his family, both direct and ‘adopted’. I’m genuinely impressed by him.

Anyway, back to The Roof Garden and dinner. Izzy’s friend, Beth, had recommended that we have the goat. Now, I've had goat once before, and I can't say I enjoyed it, but that was at The Highwayman in Burrow, and I took a gamble that perhaps it would be a little different in Sierra Leone. And it was: it was delicious.

So, all in, Izzy and I had a delightful meal, after which we got back into the keke and headed for home, which is when the second 'half' of our day began. The less good half.

In hindsight, we suspect that we were spotted as we slowed at a checkpoint, but whenever it happened, we were steadily climbing Wilberforce Road when a motorbike, carrying three young men, sped right by us and snatched Izzy's bag from her lap.

I should also say at this point we were quite lucky: the strap on Izzy's bag snapped so she was not dragged out of the side of the keke, and Amaru kept his head, so that the motorbike sped off without any harm done apart from the stolen bag.

We were stopped in the next village as Amaru asked if anyone had seen the boys on the motorbike, when Izzy realised that we could track her phone from mine using Apple's 'Find My' app. And, indeed, we could see Izzy's bag - or her phone, at least - about a mile away down the far end of a road leading out of the village.

Our next stop was the police station, resulting in two vehicles, about twelve officers, plus Amaru and Izzy setting off after the phone. When they got to its location, though, only Izzy's bag and her house keys were there, although the keys were the major concern, so that was a good result.

At this point 'Find My' was, for whatever reason, no longer updating, and so we had to give up for the evening and made our way home. Izzy was understandably cross and upset, but, to be honest, I was just very relieved that she was OK. (And also that I was there, not that I did anything!)