| Freetown, Sierra Leone. | | | | waves breaking below your window. |
| We touch down at Lunghi International 17.00 PM late | | | | After dinner at the Continental Restaurant we meet |
| afternoon. Our contact has shown his presence, and | | | | other guests, amongst them one who works for the |
| we are whisked through Immigration, Customs at an | | | | U.N.H.C.R. We get to know the Soldiers of Fortune |
| unusual speed, considering the location we are in. | | | | who are present, ex French Legionnaires who now |
| Chauffeur, car awaiting us in the Parking lot and we | | | | do covert operations for the CIA. One guy in |
| take off to cross the Lagoon that separates Lunghi | | | | particular arises my interest, I am told he is a |
| International to Freetown. Once we arrive the | | | | Helicopter Pilot, a real crazy guy. French, in his mid |
| Hovercraft Ferry docked at the port, we take seats | | | | forties, you can see that he is different from the |
| in the reserved space. And this moment I catch the | | | | others. He appears with a Jute sack in his hand and |
| striking image of the young kids sitting on the craft's | | | | removes the thread that is tight around its neck. The |
| deck sideways from the main cabin. I hadn't noticed | | | | bar dames are all too curious and come all to see the |
| them when we entered the Hovercraft | | | | what's in the sack. Reaching into the sack he pulls his |
| You feel the sadness, the endless misery, the | | | | hand out fast, giving the impression something bit |
| emptiness in their faces, the pain that those kids had | | | | him. The girls all scream and run in all directions. He |
| gone through, for they are victims of Fodeh Sankoh's | | | | repeats the whole show a few times, much to the |
| Rebel Militias. A senseless, barbaric horde of brutal | | | | amusement of all present. The spectacle ends when |
| criminals, enjoying the pains inflicted on the little kids, | | | | he empties the sack and nothing appears. All laugh |
| maiming and injuring those for live. I recall the looks in | | | | after the girls reappear, and punish him for the scare |
| those eyes as if occurring today. An everlasting | | | | he put onto them. |
| impression one can not forget, for those kids were | | | | We retire late that evening and sleep with the waves |
| without arms, or wrists. | | | | beneath us battering the shore. |
| Fodeh Sankoh, the main Rebel who never admitted | | | | I wake up by a strange noise, coming from the sea. |
| to his crimes, his guerilla fighters would ask his | | | | It is dawn, before 06.00 AM, and I hear a whining |
| captives the gruesome question :"Short sleeve or | | | | sound approaching the Hotel, very rapidly. I am up at |
| long sleeve ..." Any comment would be superfluous to | | | | once, a relict of my Army training, rush to the |
| describe the agony suffered by those who fell into | | | | window just in time to sea a Bell Military Chopper |
| the hands of their captors. | | | | approaching low over the sea at full speed towards |
| After the Ferry ride we continue to Freetown where | | | | the Hotel, and as fast as it approaches, lifting up |
| another car waits to take us to our hotel, the Cape | | | | from the sea right in front of my room. Hovering |
| Sierra, the only decent place run by an Italian | | | | sideways like a swing in a Fun park, the Chopper lies |
| businessman. During the war the hotel became a | | | | almost idle in the air after the fast upswing, and then |
| command post for the Rebels, then for the troops | | | | drops back over the sea to disappear. The howling |
| of the O.A.U , the CIA, the U.N. All were crammed in | | | | of the Turbines still in my ears, I see the face of the |
| this hotel. | | | | Pilot and recognize the daredevil I saw the previous |
| Upon arrival we are greeted by the Italian owner, | | | | night at the bar. A stunning display of Piloting skills, |
| who arranged our contact in Sierra Leone. We are | | | | dangerous but done with a precision that leaves no |
| here to negotiate a business deal with an | | | | room for error. |
| International Company to sell our Packaging Products. | | | | When I walk down for breakfast I am told this is his |
| The room is what one would call "a room with a | | | | way of waking up the other guests lodging at the |
| view", overlooking the Emerald sea, about hundred | | | | Hotel. |
| meters below us. Really magnificent to see the | | | | ...................................................next : Business and Departure . |