Travel Highlights 2013: A Year in Pictures

I thought 2013 would have to work hard to compare with 2012 
(http://stephendcook.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-top-ten-photos-of-2012.html). However, we really have been blessed once again with a great year of travel and adventures. This year Laura and I celebrated five years of marriage, we sold our house and possessions and moved to Sierra Leone. I also celebrated turning 40. In between we had a big health scare with Laura but the prognosis is now good and we look forward to 2014 with excitement.

Here are a selection of photos from my travel year plus being involved in the Champions League Final.    

1. Serre Chavalier - France 

I was really delighted to get an invite for a week’s skiing in Serre Chavalier in France. It was brilliant and an enormous laugh, even though I had never met two thirds of the group before.  I decided to take my Olympic opening ceremony shirt and pull the ‘Bolt’ at the top of Les Alpes. 

2. Marrakech - Morocco.

As a 5^th wedding anniversary gift for both of us we had a trip to Marrakech. We explored the city, souks and surrounding area including a ski resort in the Atlas mountains.

Main Square at Night

All smiles until they try and fleece me for £20. They weren't smiling then.

Above and below - Okaimeden

3. Champions League Final, Wembley - UK
http://www.stephendcook.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-captains-tale-champions-league-final.html

Every weekend in May was taken up with rehearsals for the opening ceremony for the Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. It meant seeing and spending time with old friends from the Olympic opening/closing ceremony and fulfilling a boyhood dream of playing on the pitch at Wembley with a full house. I hoped it would be playing football but I happily accepted playing a percussion instrument. 

Pissing about in the hours of waiting. Here I am showing my secret power. 

Armed with Shields we do battle. I am front row, second from right. 

I make it into Sky Sports in a picture with Robben and Schweinsteiger 

 4. Various Locations - UK

Between April and June I visited a few places in the UK. 

a) Derbyshire 

b) Northern Ireland

c) Dolgellau, Snowdonia - Wales

     

5. Quirimbas National Park, Mozambique

To celebrate my 40th birthday and the sale of our house, we went to the spectacular Quirimbas National Park. As well as staying on Ibo Island, we also took a Dhow safari to three desert islands where we camped. A really special holiday.

6. Tombo, Sierra Leone

In September laura and I moved to Sierra Leone to start working (volunteering) for The Craig Bellamy Foundation, an education and development charity that uses football for change.   

Nestled in the background is the site of our academy.

Kent - Sierra Leone

Tokeh Beach

Bureh Beach

7. Brufut - The Gambia 

We are spending Christmas and will be seeing in the New Year in The Gambia. 

I

Life & Teaching in Sierra Leone - Oct to Dec 2013

It's eerie and quiet at the Academy today as the boys and some of the staff have gone home for Christmas. Laura and I are not returning to the UK however, we are off to The Gambia for Christmas and New Year. 

In October half term a few of us visited the Banana Islands for a day out. We only went to one of the islands, Dublin, where we visited the beach and had lunch. 

Where we live in Tombo is marked 'A'

The Banana Islands from Kent Beach 

The Beautiful Kent Beach

We had a nice morning on our own beach followed by lunch, the boat back and then our favourite game of where's the cab.

Taxi's are one of my biggest frustrations out here. When they are not trying to charge white folk a 500% mark up for journeys, they are almost never where we agreed them to be at a set time or are not answering their phones when we do try and invite them back to where they should be collecting us from. We thought of a foolproof way of dealing with this which is to pay at the end of the return journey but all that has really meant is that they don't do return journey and then arrive at the Academy in the evening claiming the first fare. Aghhhhhh!!!

It's not just taxis that have left me a little frustrated though. In order to make our house a little more secure, we needed to get a little bit of welding done on our back door. The welder arrived bang on time, looked at the job in hand, got some metal and got his tools out. At the end of his machine were two wires which he jammed into my kitchen plug socket (having forced a pen into the top pin) to get it working. One minute of welding then took place before the machine cut out. He's blown the fuse. In fact he's blown my fuse so none of my plug sockets worked down one side of my house. He asked for another socket. I politely indicated that I didn't want the rest of my house to befall the same fate and that I need electricity and I sent him packing with transport money and then called the electrician. T.I.A. as we say - "This is Africa".

Back at the Academy we welcomed a new volunteer teacher at half term, Daniel, and what a God send he has been. Daniel has taught GCSE Maths and Biology courses to our first generation and done a brilliant job too. 

The boys have continued to surprise and delight me this half term, most of them are so studious it puts many UK students to shame. CBF students realise how fortunate they are to have free secondary education and this opportunity to also work on their football and possibly become a professional footballers. For too many students I have met at home, school is something done to them in some kind of spiteful act.

During a rare free afternoon in exam week I was able to take the education team down to the beach during the week...something we can never do normally. I've been really blessed with these great guys. 

Team Education. Liverpool shirt not mine...honest.

    

And finally we had a Christmas party and then a Christmas 'bash' where the students performed their plays and dances they had been working on in project time since December. They didn't disappoint either, I think we have uncovered some real talent as well as seeing what some of these boys look like in drag. 

The boys surprised Mr Kian by coming to the party in all his clothes 

A Christmas dinner of sorts

Playing ladies...quite well

So that was our first full term at CBF Academy. Laura and I are very excited about our holiday in the Gambia and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.