Sierra Leone

For more than two centuries a giant kapok tree stood at the heart of Freetown, the symbol of the city: by tradition, the first settlers gathered beneath it to give thanks on arrival in 1792. In May 2023 it came down in a storm, to genuine national grief. The roundabout where it stood remains the city's symbolic centre, and fragments of the tree have been preserved.

Right beside it, the small Sierra Leone National Museum is the best introduction to the country. Its collection includes masks of the women's Sande society, carved soapstone figures known as nomoli, items linked to Bai Bureh, who resisted British rule in the Hut Tax War of 1898, and material on the Krio founding of the city.

TipAllow an hour, and combine it with a walk past the old State House and the Law Courts nearby.

A few minutes' walk from the Cotton Tree site, Freetown's Big Market occupies a sturdy old market hall near the waterfront. The upper level is a good place for crafts: country-cloth weaving, gara tie-dye, carvings, baskets and jewellery, with prices well below the hotels. The surrounding streets of central Freetown are busy and chaotic, a good place to feel the energy of the capital.

TipBargain cheerfully, carry small notes in leones, and keep your phone out of sight in the crowds.

Upriver from Freetown in the Sierra Leone River estuary, Bunce Island was a British slave-trading fort through much of the eighteenth century, and tens of thousands of Africans were shipped from here, many to the rice plantations of South Carolina and Georgia. The Gullah people of the American Lowcountry trace strong ties to this region. Today only overgrown ruins remain: walls, a gun battery, cannon and graves, slowly being reclaimed by the forest and threatened by erosion.

It is a place for quiet reflection rather than sightseeing, and a visit with a knowledgeable guide makes the history vivid without making it a spectacle.

TipBoat trips take around an hour from Freetown; use a reputable operator with life jackets, since the FCDO warns against unregulated small boats.

In the forested hills of the Western Area Peninsula National Park, just above Freetown, Tacugama cares for western chimpanzees rescued from the pet and bushmeat trades, the national animal of Sierra Leone. Guided tours explain the sanctuary's rescue and conservation work and let visitors see the chimps in their large forest enclosures, and there are forest walks and simple eco-lodges for overnight stays.

TipBook a tour in advance, and choose the early morning visit for the most active chimps and the coolest air.

Freetown's own beach is a long, wide curve of sand on the city's western edge, lined with bars and restaurants and busy at weekends and in the evenings, when families, footballers and joggers come down to the sea. It is a pleasant place for a sundowner after a day in the city, though the more beautiful beaches lie further south.

TipThe FCDO notes robberies along Lumley Beach; avoid walking there alone after dark.

This is the postcard beach of Sierra Leone: a bowl of white sand where a river emerges from forested hills into a turquoise bay. It famously appeared in a Bounty chocolate advertisement long ago. A community-run guesthouse and restaurant keep the profits local, and canoe trips up the river to a small waterfall and mangroves are offered by local boatmen.

TipWeekdays are calmest; at weekends Freetown residents arrive in numbers.

Just south of River No. 2, Tokeh's long beach is quieter and backed by a fishing village and a handful of resorts and lodges, a good base for a few days of swimming, walking and seafood. The sea is often calmer than further south, but the Atlantic deserves respect anywhere on this coast.

TipWalk the sand at low tide between Tokeh and River No. 2 for one of the peninsula's loveliest strolls.

Bureh is the home of surfing in Sierra Leone. A community surf club rents boards and offers lessons on beach breaks that suit beginners, and the village runs simple guesthouses and beach bars, with grilled barracuda and lobster. The sand is backed by palm trees and a lagoon, with green hills behind.

TipThe best waves usually come with the swells of the rainy season and its edges; ask the surf club about conditions.

A short boat ride from Kent at the southern tip of the peninsula, the Banana Islands are a small group of forested islands with clear water, snorkelling over rocks and wrecks, and the remains of colonial-era buildings and an old church on Dublin island. Simple eco-lodges and guesthouses let you stay overnight, and the pace is utterly relaxed.

TipArrange the boat through your lodge and make sure life jackets are provided.

Off the far end of Sherbro Island, the remote Turtle Islands are a scatter of low, palm-covered islets with tiny fishing communities and deserted beaches. Reaching them is an adventure that takes most of a day by road and boat, and facilities are very basic, so most visitors go with an organised trip or a reputable boat operator.

TipBring cash, food and drinking water supplies, and be prepared for weather to change plans.

In the Moa River in the south-east, Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary protects one of the richest primate habitats in Africa: eleven species, including chimpanzees, western red colobus and Diana monkeys, are found in its forest. It is also one of the few places where the rare and elusive pygmy hippo lives. The sanctuary is run with local communities, and guided forest walks, night walks and canoe trips start from simple tented accommodation on the island.

TipPygmy hippos are rarely seen; enjoy the primates and birds, and treat a hippo sighting as a bonus.

East of Tiwai on the Liberian border, Gola protects the largest remaining block of Upper Guinea lowland rainforest in Sierra Leone. Forest elephants, pygmy hippos, chimpanzees and the striking white-necked picathartes, or rockfowl, live here. Visits are arranged through the park, with guided trails and community-based accommodation.

TipContact the park ahead of travel; access roads can be very difficult in the rains.

In the far north near the Guinean border, Sierra Leone's first national park mixes savannah, grassland and riverine forest along the Little Scarcies River. Hippos, chimpanzees, several monkey species and many birds can be seen, often from a canoe on the river. Facilities are minimal and visits require planning, but its remoteness is the point.

TipTravel only with a driver who knows the route, and do not drive after dark.