Afrinkong
Nature & LandscapesThe Loma Mountains
Cloud forest and montane grassland in the northeast, hardly walked at all.
Photo Verónica Trejo / Pexels
SIERRA LEONE · Tourism
The Freetown Peninsula
A peninsula where rainforest mountains come down to white sand, Tiwai island with eleven primate species, and the Banana and Turtle Islands offshore — the best beaches in West Africa with almost nobody on them.
West AfricaRegion
27Tourism experiences
Beaches under forested mountainsKnown for
01
Featured destinations
Where the country actually takes you.
Nature & Landscapes
MountainsBintumani
1,945 metres in the Loma range, the highest point in West Africa west of Cameroon.
Photo Akshay Nayak / Pexels
WaterfallsCharlotte and Bumbuna
Charlotte falls in the peninsula forest, and Bumbuna on the Rokel in the interior.
Lakes & RiversThe Moa and the Rokel
The Moa runs past Tiwai, and the Rokel comes down to the estuary at Freetown.
Beaches & CoastRiver No. 2 and the Banana Islands
White sand, forest behind, and two small islands an hour offshore with reef around them.
Forests & RainforestGola Rainforest
The largest remaining block of Upper Guinean forest, now a transboundary park with Liberia.
Photo Alexey Demidov / Pexels
02
Wildlife & safari
What lives here, and how you see it without disturbing it.
Wildlife
Eleven Primates at Tiwai
An island in the Moa river with one of the highest primate densities anywhere.
Forest, Not Plain
Pygmy hippo, forest elephant and bongo in Gola — a forest circuit, not a savanna one.
Tiwai, Community-Run
Eight villages own the island reserve and have done since before the war.
Photo Mico Medel / Pexels
03
Culture & heritage
The part of a country you cannot photograph from a vehicle.
Culture
Krio, and Sixteen Others
Freetown was founded by freed slaves, and Krio is the language and the culture that came of it.
Traditional PeopleMende, Temne and Krio
Mende in the south, Temne in the north, and the Krio of the peninsula.
Cassava Leaf and Country Rice
Cassava leaf with palm oil, groundnut stew, and fish straight off the beach.
Photo FOX ^.ᆽ.^= ∫ / Pexels
Festivals & CelebrationsLantern Parade
Illuminated floats through Freetown on the night of Independence Day.
Traditional Arts & CraftsCountry Cloth and Gara
Hand-woven country cloth strips, and gara tie-dye in indigo and kola.
Historic SitesBunce Island
A slaving fort in the estuary, ruined and overgrown, and among the most affecting in Africa.
HeritageThe Cotton Tree, and What Followed
Freetown grew around one tree where freed slaves gave thanks in 1792.
04
Cities & everyday life
Where people actually live between the landmarks.
CitiesFreetown
Krio board houses on the hills, the estuary below, and mountains directly behind.
Photo BabijaPhoto JB / Pexels
ArchitectureKrio Board Houses
Timber-framed, shuttered, verandahed — an architecture that came back across the Atlantic.
Photo Barnabas Sani / Pexels
Local LifeSunday at Lumley
The whole city goes to the beach, and the bars along it play until late.
Beaches With Shade
River No. 2 and Tokeh have forest behind the sand and calm water in the dry season.
05
Adventure & outdoors
For travellers who would rather walk it than watch it.
Adventure
Surfing and Forest Walking
Bureh has a surf club run by the village, and Tiwai has night walks for pottos.
Outdoor ExperiencesClimbing Bintumani
Four days from Sinekoro, through forest and out onto grassland above the cloud.
Photo Manass Rex / Pexels
Luxury TravelGrowing
Good beach lodges on the peninsula, and Tiwai's community camp inland.
Photo radwan skeiky / Unsplash
06
Travel inspiration
The frames people come home with.
Photography / Scenic ViewsForest Meeting Sand
The peninsula beaches in the late afternoon, when the hills behind them go blue.
The Turtle Islands
Eight sand islands in the far south, reachable only by boat, with no electricity.
Why Visit This Country
Why Sierra Leone
The best beaches in West Africa, with rainforest mountains standing behind them.
Why Sierra Leone
The best beaches in West Africa, with rainforest mountains standing behind them.
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