Bintang Bolon

The children have broken up for half term all be it they only get three days off returning back to school on Tuesday also it is independence day so Paul is also off college, he is still not sure whether he will need to go in tomorrow.. We decided to take a trip out for the day the plan was to drive along the south bank to see how far we could go before the road got too bad for the car. We were also dropping Rachael off at Brikama college so she could meet up with Amy. Rachael is one of the new volunteers who will be working at the college. We arrived at the college in good time Amy was already there she had decided to go into work today so as to tidy the office. We left them as Amy decided to give Rachael a tour of the college. We were soon back on the road and passing the village of Pirang which is where we recently had a walk through the forest. The road was quite good tarmac through the next two villages then we were diverted off the road and on to a track which ran parallel to it. The road was still in the process of being built and there were large boulders dotted along sections to stop vehicles using it however it looked in better condition than the one we were travelling on. The track which we were taken along was a mix of tarmac and sand which was full of ridges however the gellehs and trucks just speed along no problem throwing up red dust as they went. We passed a number of villages along the way with locals sat outside there houses or out in the fields working, and the usual variety of animals, donkeys, goats, cows and sheep. The road which we were travelling on was very wide and flat so you got a good view of the horizon up a head and was bordered by baobab and palm trees. Unfortunately we didn’t see any wildlife it was probably too late in the morning. We passed a couple of areas which looked as if in the wet season they would be flooded and possibly home to crocodiles.

As we entered the village of Somita we looked for any sign posts to Bintang Bolon unbelievably it was signposted so we came of the main road to travel along a sand track. The road was in very good condition and not too sandy so no fear of getting stuck. We passed through a village with children running out of their compounds and shouting toubab at us. They even had street lights which consisted of a light bulb in a icecream tub and make shift lamppost.

We arrived at a water front restaurant and lodge which was built on stilts across the mangroves and river. The restaurant had a jetty and gave an excellent view of the river which was bordered by mangroves and trees. The manager and a couple of women were busy fishing for crabs which they were catching in a circular hoop net which was baited with fish eyes and fins. They were throwing it over the jetty and leaving it a while before hoisting it back in to a catch of a couple of crabs which were tipped into a bucket with others. We relaxed in the sun enjoying the views with julbrew and pop in hand. Abigail wanted to use the toilet so Paul took her down one of the plank walkways. There was suddenly a bit of a commotion from the women behind me when I turned around a load of bats had flew in to the restaurant and attached themselves on the ceiling before flying back in to an adjacent tree. Apparently Abigail had disturbed them when going to the toilet. They also saw a couple of monkeys scurrying along the planks and into the mangrove trees.

We were asked by the manager if we wanted to eat however they only had shrimps on the menu so no good for Abigail and Bradley, I think you probably have to book in advance. Before leaving we took a look at the lodges, they were situated between the mangroves and overlooking the river with there own little jetty. Although basic they looked very clean well worth a nights stay. They also do boat trips on the Bintang Bolon river and only last week they said they had some dolphins in the estuary. We walked out towards the village jetty hoping to find somewhere to eat our picnic lunch. Immediately we were surrounded by about twenty children all wanting to talk to us. They continued to follow us down a track passing a huge mound of empty oyster shells which then came to a dead end so we had to backtrack. They then offered to show us the crocodile pool so we followed them through the village to the pool which was practically dried up and had no sign of any crocodiles. As we headed back to the car I was greeted warmly by an elderly lady who offered me some groundnuts. Back at the car and leaving the locals at the restaurant gates we made our way back down the sand track stopping on route to eat our picnic lunch before heading back home. As we were driving the car didn’t seem to be driving as it should there seemed no acelarator I had visions of us breaking down in the middle of no where. As we entered Brikama Paul took the decision to stop off at Amy’s to let the engine cool down hoping it would do the trick. Amy wasn’t at home so we called in on Anne and had a coffee and chat with her until Amy arrived back. We got back on the road to head home, still the car was playing up it looks like another job for Molah our mechanic.