Leaving Liberia with a bout of gastro and another of bad luck.

Lets just say things have turned from awesome to scary, horrible and tiring all at the same time. I guess my holidays really have had it all, and they're not over yet.

I didn't really write much about my last few weeks in Liberia but they didn't go so well... a week or so before leaving I had my camera and phone stolen, which was so frustrating.

But I had three excellent final weeks in the field; my lovely boss Julie threw me an ICRC party with wicked food and drinks; and I organised a couple of great farewells. One was at my apartment, where I invited all my local friends, and the women from the market cooked up a wicked feast. The courtyard turned into a disco with great African music, it was a great night and a great celebration. My local friends really helped to make it a great send-off, even going to find massive speakers for me when my music plan failed. We really had the neighbourhood pumping!

I was very sad to leave, and am still missing the place.

But then the bad luck really started as I set off for what i was looking forward to most: holidays.

After my ICRC debrief in Geneva I got gastro from the first proper western meal outside of Liberia (makes a lot of sense!) and spent the whole night before my flight throwing up. So, with no sleep I proceeded to the airport with tickets in hand only to realise I didnt have my actual return ticket home, only the flights from Liberia to Geneva; this meant I missed my flight to Paris and had to fork out $600 for a one hour flight. I really hope my insurance comes through and I can recover my tickets when I get to Paris in a few weeks! I really desest that horrible moment where you realised that everything has just turned pear-shaped...

Let's just say things have been awesome, scary, horrible and tiring all at the same time. I guess my holidays really have had it all so far, and they've only just begun.

But I did manage to make the flight in Paris, so that was a good start. Unfortunately though, I had half my things taken from me as I only had a small backpack as hand luggage; the new security regulations limiting what liquids you can take on board most importantly meant I got my sunscreen taken away, and I got totally sunburnt as I couldnt find sunscreen anywhere in a country full of black people!

After sitting on the plane in Paris for a couple of hours they informed us that the weight restriction had been exceeded so we all trooped off to our hotel that the put us up in for the night and then had to come back the next day. We had to stop over for refueling in Agadir, Morocco to enable us to get to Bamako. So after a days delay I finally made it! Let the holiday begin. Phew.