Getting your Leones in Freetown – Foreign Exchange

It can be a bit complicated to get your Leones and payment options are limited. Not many enterprises accept credit card payments and debit cards are almost useless. The best way to go around is to have Leones in cash that you either get through exchanging on the black market or withdraw from ATM’s. Black […]

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Getting around Freetown; your one and only transportation guide

Getting around Freetown can be challenging and frustrating. Endless traffic jams at Lumley roundabout, trucks crashing in the narrow streets downtown, taxi drivers overcharging you because you’re a foreigner, police officers hungry for bribes at checkpoints; sometimes it pays to hire an SUV plus driver and leave the wahala behind. Still, taking local transport can […]

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Bureh Beach Surf Club – a laidback paradise in Sierra Leone

Bureh Town Named after the hero Bai Bureh, Bureh town is located along the coastline between Tombo and Kent, about a 1.5 hour drive from Freetown. The people of Bureh town are gems. They have faces carved with hard work, the sea inhabiting their eyes and smiles ready for anyone willing to receive them.  It […]

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The wonders of Outamba-Kilimi National Park

Paddle down the mirror-calm Kabba River, get up close to majestic hippos and hike the wildlife-filled trails of Sierra Leone’s first National Park. Over the coming weeks, VSL Travel (Visit Sierra Leone) is touring the country to set up new day trips, short-breaks and tours for you to enjoy come the dry season. We’re on […]

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The Rogbonko-Bumbuna Experience

The brainchild of Sheka Forna, brother of celebrated author Aminatta Forna, Rogbonko Village Retreat is unlike any other accommodation available in Sierra Leone, offering not just the chance to wind-down in a truly magical forest setting, but also to live and immerse yourself in all aspects of rural village life. Following a stop for lunch […]

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York

York is a distinctly Krio village with a rich history though the village also comprises of various other tribes. Prior to the arrival of the liberated slaves, the Sherbro were settled in the area and the village as called Momimi. York village is over 200 years old, predominantly Christian with old churches and beautiful layout […]

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St John’s Maroon Church

This church was built by the Maroons who arrived in the colony in 1800 as black returnees from Jamaica who were reputed to be accomplished stone masons. It is thought they converted to Christianity through the influence of the Nova Scotians who were already in the Colony. The church erected in 1822, was seen as […]

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The Wharf Steps and Old Guard House

These flights of stone steps are one of the stone architecture erected during the governorship of Governor Charles Macarthy. They lead down from Wallace Johnson Street and were completed in 1818. They are often wrongly referred to as the “Portuguese Steps”. The Guard House at the top of the steps was built in 1819.

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St Charles’ Church, Regent

As the Liberated African Villages grew, it was decided that structures had to be established to cater for the spiritual and educational welfare of the emerging communities. The government agreed to finance the construction of schools and churches. In 1816, the government financed the building of a stone church the Regent, one of the Liberated […]

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The Martello Tower

Due to frequent attacks on Freetown in the 19th century by the Temne under the leadership of King Tom, the government became nervy about future attacks on the colony. The governor of the day instructed that a Martello Tower be built on the top of Tower Hill as a defence mechanism. Similar structures were a […]

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