The United Nations figures for Sierra Leone's population in 2010 had 43% aged 15 and under. We certainly saw a lot of young people on the trip.

Idriss and Ghibril wanted to stop on the return to Freetown to buy some provisions for home. Ghibril  passed on the bushmeat because the price was too high, most likely due to the seller spotting Tony Jan and me in the car and quoting a Freetown price. The mangos were a deal. This is Idriss making his selection.

Our group used Flash Vehicle rentals http://flashvehicles.com/rentals/about-flash/
There were two Toyota Land Cruisers, driven by two top flight drivers, Ghibril and Cherno.

The roads are in poor repair for the most part, with the exception of the highway from Waterloo to Bo. After Bo the roads were dirt or gravel, with the exception of some new construction near Kenema. These two gentlemen had to be constantly alert for the road, pedestrians, animals, etc. An incredibly hard job that they did exceptionally well.

We spent a good deal of time in the vehicles. It is amazing that one can doze off while at the same time have their kidneys rattled travelling over cratered roads.

 I was looking for an easy to use sunshield for the Panasonic GH3. Nothing was on the market yet except for the Zacuto VF, and that required that you hold the camera to your eye.

 I devised something out of black and white foamcore. It is lightweight and slips over the flipped out viewfinder so it can be oriented in a number of directions.

It can be  placed flat in the camera bag for travel.

Pop it together to use. There is velcro on the edges by my thumb.

I held it in place with a rubber band.

I attached the camera to a monopod for almost all of the shooting in Sierra Leone. In come cases if I need to move, I collapsed the monopod and placed the end under my right arm to anchor the camera there and used the strap around my neck for another support point. This left both hands free to support the camera and work the controls.

Some shots from Freetown:
                                    All the children wear uniforms to school.

Motorbikes are used for taxi service up and down the hill where Fourah Bay College is located.

Sierra Leonians are quite adept at balancing loads on their heads. This results in great posture.

Idriss Kpange worked with our crew. This is a shot of him in his recording studio.

We went to Bunce Island on Monday. Tony found a ride on a fellow traveller.

The remains of the slave fort on Bunce Island.

Freetown from the water side.

First day in Sierra Leone. We have to get a few clearances in hand before we can hop out on a street, film in public, etc.
We took a tour of Freetown, including Fourah Bay College, where Marcus Rediker will present a public lecture on the Amistad Rebellion on May 8.
Konrad Tuchscherer and Philip Misevich of St John's University led us to their old academic haunts and the site of the lecture.
All three are pictured below in reverse order outside the Department of History and African Studies, the site of the lecture.

Equipment List for Sierra Leone Amistad Rebellion Project

Here's is a list of gear that I am packing in a Manfrotto Backpack:

Description of Articles:

Lumix GH3 Camera w/Battery Pack (Serial #WE3AA001604)

Lumix 12mm-35mm  HD lens (Serial# XT2KD001752)

Nikkor 24mm f2.8 lens (Serial# 776873) Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens (Serial# 3802316)

Rainbow Nikon to micro4/3 Lens adaptor

Lumix Battery Charger AC, 1 Panasonic 7.2 v 1860 mah  battery 3 Wasabi 7.2 v 1860 mah batteries

Lacie Rugged  350 gB Hard drive

Manfrotto Compact MKC3 – H01 Tripod (Serial# R0061255) Bogen 3009 tabletop tripod Monopod (unknown brand)

Ceptics Grounded Universal Plug adaptors Universal Surge protector/Power strip

Zoom H4N Audio Recorder (#00123668) AC Adapter (#12805538) and Windscreen

Sony SO-UWPV1/38 UHF wireless lavalier pack: Sony UTX-B2 Transmitter (106876) (FCCID:AK8U&XB2) Sony URX-P2 Pro Wireless Receiver (107357) lavalier microphone w/ screens

2 – MEElectronics In-Ear headphones

HP PC and Power Cord/Mouse (#CNU9445DDH)

Tiffen Lens Filters /Case (Polarizer, ND0.6, CPL, UV)

I would not want to go on a 50 mile forced march with this load, it is approaching heavy as it is.

Tony is packing a similar set of equipment with some different sound gear.
We are going to record sound to Camera A or the main camera, and also get  Boom and or wireless lav sound to a Zoom H4n recorder. I believe the plan is to use
Plural Eyes for syncing.

My friend, Dave Bodnar is lending me the HP small notebook PC. 
He has it set up with a Solid State Hard Drive and Ubuntu (Linux) OS.

We've tested the camera in a variety of settings and decided to shoot 29.97, 50Mbps QuickTime files. The camera will also shoot AVCHD and MP4 files as well as Stills.
The Lumix lens and some of the scene file settings together produce some pretty sharp, almost too sharp looking images. There is a lot of enhancement in the image, so we've decided on a Custom setting (Photo Style) that is -5 Contrast, -5 Sharpness, -2 Chroma and -5 Noise Reduction. 
I am getting used to the focus functions on the camera, some work through the touch screen. I like using the  50mm Nikon lens on a monopod or tripod because is seems a little easier to see the (manual) focus snap into sharpness.

We'll be doing most of the shooting in daylight, I'm told, so DoF should not be an issue. The camera performs pretty well in low light in any event and we will have fast lenses on hand.