Our flight out of Sierra Leone was at 5am, and as this meant an unearthly check in time, we stayed at Tariq’s Resort and Restaurant, a 15-minute drive to the airport.
It was an inauspicious start when the group of young girls who greeted us weren’t expecting us, despite us being asked to choose dinner days in advance. A phone call was made, Hawa the owner arrived by car, apologised profusely and showed us to bungalow 11 called Cleo and Omar.
The reasonably large room resembled an authentic house with earth bricks and a bamboo ceiling. The bed had a mosquito net above, and there was a table and chair, TV and air conditioning.
The bathroom had an open shower with no curtain, basin and sink and unfortunately the water only trickled and was cold.
It took several attempts to connect to the Wi-Fi which eventually required the use of a power bank.
There was a free form, inviting looking swimming pool and five loungers with thick comfortable cushions in bright ethnic fabrics. The pool was being meticulously cleaned by several staff, but just as they’d finished, leaves from the surrounding trees fell in: unfortunately the foliage also attracted mosquitoes although citronella candles were lit for us.
The service from the bar was a little haphazard and informal. In the absence of gin, Hawa’s husband Michael brought out a large bottle of vodka, and let us help ourselves. He also proffered two chilled white wines: a French Bordeaux and a muscat. We opted for the former, although when I asked how much it was, he said, ‘not expensive, maybe around $10, we’ll check it out for you later’.
Our pre-ordered dinner of a shared chicken shawarma, chips and salad was delicious but huge. During our meal we chatted to Hawa and Michael who told us more about the resort which they had started having recognised a gap in the market for airport hotels.
When we’d ordered dinner, there had been no prices attached to the various dishes, and it was hard to determine how they would account for vodka consumption. However, when the handwritten bill arrived with simply a long line of numbers and no words, the total was 940 leones (£37), and as we had 1050 to use before leaving the country, we paid without quibbling. We were in bed by 8pm in the hope of snatching 6 hours sleep before our 2am taxi.
