After two full weeks in Salone, I finally visited one of the beaches. I took a stroll down the coast, starting from Lumley beach and ending by the rocks of Aberdeen beach.
Coming from the Pacific Northwest in America, I don’t have the luxury of seeing many beaches at all, much less nice ones. And as I’ve mentioned before in previous columns, I haven’t done much traveling at all – within or outside the states (US) – so I can probably still count with my two hands the number of beaches I’ve visited.
With that said, the coastline and beaches here are by far the most stunning sets of scenery that I’ve ever seen.
Graced by a warm and sunny day, the water shined brightly and the horizon on the coast spread infinitely wide. The sand was almost as white as sugar and the summer breeze was so cool and calming that I couldn’t help but stop and take a deep breath each time it passed.
The scenery was absolutely and literally breathtaking. I must have taken more pictures on my single visit to the beach than I did during my entire trip thus far.
And as I walked down the coast, taking pictures and breathing in the ethereal air, I began remembering the simple joys of life in which, to be frank, I haven’t partaken for a very long time: Picking up a handful of sand, only to let it slip through your fingers just to try and feel each grain tumble back down to the ground; running away from the waves that crashed onto the shore and crawled its way farther and farther up the land; stopping and smiling at a small footprint left by a child.
These are all things I did during my stroll along the beach and, after a long week of work, it turned out to be quite therapeutic for me.
Considering how free I was to roam around, I was actually surprised at how vacant the beach was. There are places in Washington – beaches and parks that aren’t nearly as beautiful as here – which would fill up with thousands of people and pets on a half-decent day.
I really hope that Sierra Leoneans don’t take their beaches for granted, because it’s a truly sensational spectacle.
I’ll always acknowledge the fact that I have very little experience of seeing the world as a whole; but I’m still not afraid to claim that, at least to me, the beaches of Salone are the most beautiful in the entire world.
By Yu Nakayama
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