Inspired by Ghana’s successful 2019 “Year of Return” campaign, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of the first recorded enslaved Americans arriving in Virginia, Sierra Leone has made a notable play for DNA heritage tours targeting African American travelers. More enslaved people transited through here than any other part of West Africa, but only now is the country starting to protect and memorialize its important historic sites. On Banana Island, a villager led me to an unmarked mass grave where more than 1,000 people who refused to board the slave ships were buried. In Kent—which a local guide told me stands for “keep every knot tight”—I crouched inside a cell where as many as 400 people would be crammed while waiting for a transfer to Bunce Island and eventually, the New World.
Primate tourism has major potential, too, with Sierra Leone laying claim to 15 different species, six of which are threatened. The Western Chimpanzee was declared the country’s national animal in 2019—extending a level of protection only made possible by the sustained lobbying of Bala Amarasekaran, who is founder of Freetown’s Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary and is working to develop the country’s first eco-tourism circuit. “If Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, can secure such an important policy decision, then other nations can also undertake similar reform to save species from extinction,” Amarasekaran says. A planned expansion of Tacugama will include an interactive learning space, library, exhibition hall, and rooftop café; once complete, it will be the country’s first zero-carbon, EDGE-certified building.
To visit Sierra Leone right now is to witness a phoenix rising from the ashes. Bassie suffered unfathomable torture at the hands of the rebels, yet he’s open to sharing his experiences. Amarasekaran has been saving chimps’ lives since 1979 and has no plans to stop. Macauley and Kamara know what they’re up against in trying to put Sierra Leone on the international surf map, yet they charge forth undaunted. In a decade, I hope to return and see what they’ve built. Because if their resiliency, optimism, and ambition are any indication, it’s only a matter of time before Sierra Leone has a new story to tell.
How to visit Sierra Leone
Traveling to Salone, as the country is also known, requires a sense of adventure. Power outages are common, ferries break down, hotels get overbooked, and border patrol may try to shake you down for money. (Politely refuse and they should relent.) An open mind and go-with-the-flow attitude will serve you well here.
Getting there and around
There are no nonstop flights between the United States and Sierra Leone; most connect through Paris or Brussels. The old Lungi International Airport and the new, fully green Freetown International Airport are both located across an estuary from the capital, which is best reached via a 40-minute ferry ride on the Sea Coach Express. The potholed roads in and around Freetown are choked with kekeh (similar to Thai tuk tuks but painted with phrases like “No Food 4 Da’ Lazy Man”) and poda poda, or brightly colored mini buses, and traveling by vehicle can take hours thanks to notoriously gridlocked traffic. Many locals get around on foot, which is also exhilarating. Book your excursions through a reputable outfitter like Tourism Is Life Tours and they’ll arrange a private car and driver as needed.
Where to stay
Unless you prefer an international business hotel like the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, the best bet in Freetown is Toma. If you travel upcountry to hike in Kamala or tour the village farms growing cassava and cashews, Weinday’s Guest House (+232 78 709 253) is a clean if barebones option serving delicious home-cooked meals. The Place Resort at Tokeh Beach, meanwhile, offers some of Sierra Leone’s most upscale accommodations, complete with air-conditioning, rain showers, and a backup generator to counter the not-infrequent blackouts.
What to do
Head out to the Western Peninsula for an $8 surfing lesson at Bureh Beach Surf Club. Swimming at Lumley Beach or Tokeh Beach, two of the country’s cleanest, widest coastlines with bathtub-warm water and sunsets that stretch to infinity, are musts, as is a tour of Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, a wildlife rescue in the Western Area Peninsula National Park that rents rustic eco-huts for overnight jungle stays. For a more immersive primate experience, the best starting points are Tiwai Island, Gola Forest, and Outamba-Kilimi National Park.
