Tag Archives: UK Blog Awards

To be continued?

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It’s been more than three months and we’ve been away from Sierra Leone for long enough to have started missing it.

Every so often, when we pause for breath from our busy “normal” lives, we find ourselves missing the colour, the chaos and sheer fascination of life in Freetown.

And we felt that more keenly than ever during our journey to London to attend last Friday’s UK Blog Awards finals. As usual, we were running late and hadn’t found time to eat either side of dropping the Flump with my sister-in-law.

With our train still 30 minutes outside the capital, the One With the Common Sense remarked: “This is where you miss being able to yell out of the window for a bag of popcorn or plantain chips.” Continue reading →

Ending on a high

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We’ve been back home a week but my brain hasn’t quite assimilated that we’ve left Sierra Leone.

Since touching down at Heathrow I’ve felt like a rabbit in the headlights. Or, at least, one dazzled by the neon glow from the logistics warehouses at the back of Terminal 4, which seemed impossibly modern after the equivalent sights at Lungi.votenow-1

I’ve spent most of the week hiding indoors, much as I did during my first seven days in Freetown. More than a sort of reverse culture shock, however, it’s a common cold that’s kept me confined to quarters.

It made for a low-key end to a tumultuous year. But 2017 got off to a great start when I discovered this website had been shortlisted in the Travel section of the UK Blog Awards.

Continue reading →

A Christmas wish… and 10 more “things”

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Ah, Christmas; a time for giving, sharing, for thinking of far-flung friends etc.

I don’t expect to be receiving any cards over here this festive season, particularly as I’ve still never seen a postman. (Although a bloke who lives nearby can often be seen sporting a cast-off Royal Mail top).

However, there is one small item on my Christmas list to you all. In response to numerous kind comments about my tales of a family bumbling their way through a stint in Africa, I’ve entered Home Salone (the name of this blog, ICYMI) in this year’s UK Blog Awards.facebook-2

If you’ve found it entertaining, amusing, nice to look at, or just plain feel sorry for us, then please vote for Home Salone in the Lifestyle and Travel sections. Continue reading →