>On Friday I had a close shave.
Mr Phillips, Freetown City Council’s Chief Administrator told us that the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Company wanted to interview two of our party on a live lunchtime panel.
Doug and I traipsed over to the television studios (located opposite the Sierra Leone Special Court) and were just walking through the door into the studio when we were told there was a change of plan and they only wanted one of us and Mr Phillips leaving Doug to face up to Sierra Leone’s very own Jeremy Paxman single handedly.
Having dodged the bullet I was sat in an office watching the feed. The show, ‘Lunchtime Break’ consisted of an interviewer with a series of different guests. One was a Dutchman working on non-violent methods of communication with the Sierra Leone army; another had something to say about paddy fields and a third was telling people about a competition called ‘U Sabi Dance?‘ (You Think You Can Dance?) which left Mr Phillips and Doug.
Darren and Emma had remained at the Freetown City Council offices where they were discussing contract management with the relevant officers but, with televisions in all the offices it was easy for them to record some of the interview that took place.
This provided us with a good amount of celebrity related banter over the rest of Friday. Mostly it was completely unfounded but on Doug’s return to the hotel after we had been shown Freetown’s night life by our hosts the receptionist greeted him by asking whether it was he who he had seen on TV that lunchtime?