Why Go?West Africa’s secret beach destination rises from the soft waters of the Atlantic, dressed in sun-stained hues, rainfor-est green and the red, red roads of the north. Sierra Leone: the land so-named because it’s shaped like a mountain lion. Sweet Salone, the locals say.

In Freetown, colourful stilted houses remember the days when freed slaves from the Caribbean were resettled upon these shores. Some landed on the peninsula, blanketed with sands as white and soft as cotton wool.

In the north, the Loma Mountains form the highest point west of Cameroon. Further east, streams cut national parks and mangrove swamp water swathes rainforest that shelter endangered species like the shy, waddling pygmy hippo.

The curtains have been drawn on the painful past, and it’s time for a new act in Sierra Leone. Join the island-hoppers and sun-seekers, swim in the clear blue waters, explore the archipelagos and crack open fresh lobster in the shade of skinny palms and rope-strung hammocks.

Best Places to Eat¨¨ Seafood at Franco’s

(p449)

¨¨ Oasis (p446)

¨¨ Picnic at Turtle Islands (p451)

Best Places to Stay¨¨ Tokeh Sands (p449)

¨¨ Tiwai Island (p451)

¨¨ Tribe Wanted (p449)

When to Go

Nov–Jun The dry season is marked by mild, dusty harmattan winds from December until February.

April The average daytime tempera-ture is 32°C.

Jun–Nov The rainy season sees spectacular storms and up to 3200mm of precipitation.

F DNOSAJJMAM

Freetown°C/°F Temp Rainfall inches/mm

0

40/1000

16/400

24/600

32/800

8/200

0/32

20/68

40/104

10/50

30/86

Freetown ....................442Beaches .....................448Banana Islands ..........449Bunce Island ..............450Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary ..................450Makeni ........................450Mt Bintumani .............450Outamba-Kilimi National Park ..............451Bo ................................451Turtle Islands ..............451Tiwai Island .................451Kenema ...................... 452

Sierra Leone%232 / POP 5.4 MILLION

©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd

Sierra Leon

e Free

TOw

N

FREETOWN%022 / POP 1.1 MILLION

Strung between the mountains and the sea, Sierra Leone’s capital is a cheeky, quicksil-ver capital bubbling with energy, colour and charm. One minute it’s calm, offering up quiet beaches, friendly Krio chat and warm plates of soup and rice. The next it’s fren-zied and playing dirty, throwing you into the back of a shared taxi and hurtling you up and down its pretty little hills.

And it might just be the only capital in the world where when you emerge from the air-port, blinking after an overnight flight, you find yourself standing on the wooden deck of a port flanked by a backdrop of moun-tains, beaches and palm trees so idyllic you wonder if it’s real. Well it’s all real, all of it – the chatter and the chaos and the colour and the dirt and the lush lobster dinners and the devastating war history – and those lovely white sands too.

442

(30km)To Monrovia

O C E A NA T L A N T I C

KleRobertsport

Sileti

Yagoi

Lalehun

FieldTongoYele

SinikoroBanda-Karafaia

Hérémakono

Tombo

Mattru Jong

OulaMedina-

Yifin

Mongeri

Masingbi

Kayima

Fadugu

Pendembu

Beudu

Bumbuna

Tubmonburg

WaterlooSongo

Masiaka

GendemaBo (Waterside)

Kongo

Pamelap

Forécariah

Gberia-Fotombu

CONAKRY

Yana

Firawa

Koinadugu

Kurubonla

Falaba

Faranah

Koidu-Sefadu (Kono)

Yengema

Magburaka

Makeni

Mile 91

Lunsar

Port Loko

Tagrin

Kabala

Kamakwie

Kambia

Kindia

Boajibu

Mano

Koindu

Kailahun

Pendembu

Bandajuma

Potoru

Sumbuya

TumabumPujehun

Sulima

Fairo

Zimmi

Joru

KenemaBlama

Bo

Moyamba

Bonthe

Shenge

Kent

FRMountains

Loma

Gola South FRFRNorthGola

(Kilimi)National Park

Outamba-Kilimi(Outamba)

National ParkOutamba-Kilimi

Hills FRKambui

(1945m)

Hill

s

Gola

Mt Bintumani

Hill

s

Kam

bui

sniatnuoM

amoL

IslandsTurtle

Island

Islands

Sherbro

Banana

PeninsulaTurners

LakeSonfon

RiverSierra Leone

Riv

er

Scarcies

Littl

e

River

Pampa

na

Riv

er

RokelR

iver

Sew

a

Rive

r

Moa

LakeMabesi

MapeLake

River

Morro

RiverMano

G U

I N

E A

L I B E R I A

G U I N E A

BeachBureh

Park HQ

BeachRiver No 2

SanctuaryChimpanzeeTacugama

Mount Bintumani

WSIslandTiwai

Freetown

FR Forest ReserveWildlife SanctuaryWSNational ParkNP

0 50 km0 30 miles

1 Feeling the white sand between your toes on River No 2 Beach (p448) and other Freetown beaches that line the stunning peninsula.

2 Tracking colobus monkeys and joining the search for the elusive pygmy

hippo on Tiwai Island (p451).

3 Pushing through the cool mist as you scale, Mt Bintumani (p450) west Africa’s highest peak this side of Cameroon.

4 Soaking up the spirit of Freetown (p442), the colourful, cheeky capital.

5 Sleeping in tree houses in Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary (p450) while rescued chimps chatter in the rainforest below.

Sierra Leone Highlights