Saturdays are strange affairs in Freetown. For a start, most of them are spent in the office, though it’s an enjoyable and relaxing time and I’d say only close to 50% of the time spent on my day job. There’s something about being in your office in a T-shirt which already puts you in a different mood.

Things start with social media, and then quickly move on to my RSS reader (Feedly). If I’ve missed a weekend through travel, then it can take several hours to read through 250+ blog posts, and even that’s going fast. I then head to the Saved folder where I’m trying to gradually clear back all the posts I’ve saved for reading later.

Then it’s email, small jobs, writing to friends, bits of admin (including today an hour or so spent cancelled my credit card because some fraudster is buying expensive wood flooring and EasyJet tickets with it in the UK).

On the one hand, maybe I’m wasting my time when I should be out and about, especially considering I live minutes away from some of the world’s finest tropical beaches. But another part of me says that at least while my family aren’t here, I’m keeping on top of things, investing in learning about hobbies like photography, keeping across events in Abidjan, and doing a bit of extra regular work in what is still classed as a global humanitarian emergency.

They were fumigating the office this morning, so I did at least delay my arrival, which gave me time to head out on my new mountain bike. It’s been a while since I rode so I was a little unsteady and in a minor incident ended up with some cuts.