Day One: The ‘Opoto’ General Manager’s arrive
Calendar week 22 – Day One
As a recap,… You fly all night, you land bleary-eyed, and you barely have time to figure out which end of the bucket shower you’re supposed to stand under before the real chaos begins. Day One in Port Loko. Aud’s and I, having willingly swapped the predictable hum-drum of our UK life for the tropical roar of Sierra Leone, were ready to meet the team.
Our Office-Adjacent Palace
Now, I should outline the important part of the logistics, where we crash. In the long-term, we want to find a proper house or apartment after we’ve had a chance to really scope out Port Loko and ensure we pick the perfect place. But for now, we’re keeping things extremely close to the operation. Our temporary address is the bedroom adjoining the office. Yes, the office. You walk past the main staff workstations, past the room that is known as the science lab, down a short corridor there is a kitchen, a bedroom, storage room, and the General Manager’s office – how exciting, our own office!!! …and an all-access toilet.
There, at the end of the hallway is our temporary accomodation. It’s certainly snug, we’ve got an en suite toilet and shower, a bit of storage space, and even a lovely little sitting area on a balcony, all safely tucked within the security wall. We are literally living our work, surrounded by the project on all four sides. It’s a squeeze with all our luggage, but honestly, after many years of chasing meerkats and crocodiles, Aud’s and I have definitely lived in spaces smaller than this. It’s tight, but it’s ours, and it’s the perfect basecamp for Operation Port Loko!
We are still unpacking our bags and getting a feel for the office, not even had a chance for a walkabout yet,.. Or a quick nap after that sleepless flight!!! …and people started arriving. By 10h00, our Sierra Leone Director, Mohamed Kamara, had gathered the senior staff. I think that both Auds and I knew it would be happening, but again, were a little shocked that it was really happening,… Right now. Yes, we’ve both worked across Africa for a number of years, and were kinda ready to introduce ourselves.
What I hadn’t prepared for was the overwhelming, humbling, and utterly infectious warmth of the welcome.
Let’s address that elephant in the room,.. Yes, I’m the ‘Opoto’ the foreigner in local language. And after twelve years of British comforts, I expected a slight distance, withe the staff maybe wary of us, distrustful or anxious. But that barrier simply didn’t exist here. Mo, whom we’d only briefly met before, was the most gracious host, setting a tone of easy partnership and shared purpose. We spent the morning in a whirlwind of happy greetings, handshakes, and smiling introductions. Sierra Leoneans are truly renowned for their hospitality, and they are genuinely friendly and welcoming to those coming from outside. It makes you feel genuinely like you’ve come home, even when you’re 4,000 miles away from your old kitchen – yep, there will be many food analogies, I am a dedicated foodie. We might be the new General Managers, but we felt instantly like part of the family.
If You Have Not Eaten Rice…
To celebrate our start, the amazing Sia and Morlai cooked us, and everyone here, a proper local lunch, Fish and Rice. This is where the Ipswich-chef-turned-Zoologist in me does ahappy internal jig.
If you haven’t lived in this part of the world, you can’t grasp the utter, central importance of the staple starch. Everywhere in Africa, you find it: Pap or Sadza (the thick maize-meal porridge of Southern Africa), Nshima (Zambia’s equivalent), or Fufu (the cassava or plantain mash of West Africa). These aren’t just sides; they’re the engine room of the local diet, cheap, reliable energy.
But here in Sierra Leone, the motto is clear: “If you have not eaten rice, you have not eaten today.” …and do they pile the rice on a plate!!!
My dish arrived, a whole, beautiful fish complete with head, tail, and all the good bits intact, perched atop a mountainous pile of fluffy rice, with a dab of killer hot sauce on the side. Yes, baby! Pure happiness on a plate.
Sweating for Science
Then, just when I was feeling most managerial and full of rice, the project hit warp speed. The next thing I knew, we were elbow-deep in lab work, assisting with the soil core drying process.
I mean, one minute I’m giving a semi-professional speech, the next I’m scrambling through the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prep soil core samples. The job? I could try to glamourise but, but, I’ll be honest, it was long and tedious, drying out the soil cores to get the baseline science. The setting? Our ‘Lab’ room with the drying oven and although it is not yet blasting away the window concentrates the sun’s rays, making the place feel less like a lab and more like a sauna. We couldn’t even run the fan properly because it threatened to blow all our precious paper and plastic bags everywhere! …such is our dedication to science.
It was unbelievably hot and repetitive work, but honestly, it was brilliant. We chatted, we joked, and we worked through it together. That feeling of shared purpose, the knowledge that this meticulous, sweaty effort is the vital baseline for all our science, that’s what this project is all about. That’s not just corporate speak either, this is genuinely why we are here, this is why we were selected for the role and this is why we accepted. Following those procedures, even when you’re tired and the heat is trying to melt your brain, is the very definition of making a positive difference.
Krin Krin and the Mpox Update
We finally crawled out of the lab and headed to the MJ Hotel for dinner. Samking, the barman and general all-round great host, recommended the delicious Chicken Krain Krain, and Aud’s, went for the chicken with chips and peanut soup. Samking kept us entertained with stories, he was just so welcoming!
Let’s take a quick Foodie moment – The dish Samking recommended, the Chicken Krin Krin, is a classic Sierra Leonean comfort food, and it’s a brilliant example of how local cuisine takes something simple and makes it essential.
The “Krin Krin” (which you might also hear called Krain Krain or sometimes even Jute Leaves) refers to the main ingredient: the leaves of the jute plant (Corchorus). When these leaves are chopped up and cooked, they release a sticky, slippery substance, the culinary term for it is “viscous” or “mucilaginous.” Yes, I’m talking about a certain slimy texture, a bit like okra, but in the best, most satisfying way!
The leaves are simmered down in a rich, deeply savory palm oil stew (or “sauce,” as they call it here). This sauce is packed with flavour from onions, peppers, and often a key local seasoning like ogiri (fermented sesame seeds), giving it that unmistakable, earthy West African depth. The Krin Krin is usually bulked up with protein, in my case, delicious chicken, and traditionally served, of course, over a giant pile of rice, and the devils own hot sauxce – By Crikey, people here like a bit of spice!!!
It’s a meal that is both hearty and healthy, a quintessential taste of Sierra Leone, and exactly the kind of satisfying, local dish that makes you feel completely grounded in the new environment.
Then, halfway through the evening, Samking casually mentioned the local Mpox (Monkeypox) outbreak, with a few cases reported right here in Port Loko.
CRIKEY!!! …Mpox, in layman’s terms, is a viral disease that gives you fever, aches, and a nasty rash, and is related to smallpox. It can jump from animals to humans, and then spreads through close personal contact (touching the lesions, bodily fluids, etc.). While it’s generally not deadly, it’s certainly the kind of casual curveball that reminds you that life here is never, ever boring… and this is just the end of the first day.
Day one summary: I was embraced by a community, consumed a mountain of rice, sweated out five litres of water over a drying oven, and got a friendly health warning. I love this place!