Dublin to Rickett Hike (Banana Islands)

For this hike, we will set off from Freetown early in the morning to be transferred to Dublin on Banana Island which a beautiful historic island full of backyard gardens, big breadfruit trees and rare and delightful butterflies. It also served as a transit centre for slaves from different parts of the Sierra Leone. Slaves who were deemed fit and healthy to travel were sent on from here. This is the destination for most people who have been to Banana Island, but in reality it is one of three islands which make up this island paradise and is where we will commence our hike this morning.

Ricketts is said to be named after Major H.J. Ricketts who, after retiring from the army, worked in the Liberated African Department of Sierra Leone. This is the second of three islands that make up the Banana Islands. For this hike, we will walk the trail from Dublin going across “The Bridge” which is a stone causeway linking both islands said to be built by early settlers or slaves. The hike is not difficult and the lay of the land is mostly flat, with occasional beautiful views of the sea through the trees as we walk along the trail which lasts a couple of hours.

After some downtime in Ricketts and some discussion with locals we will head back to Dublin by boat going past truly breath taking views as we sail between Ricketts and Mes-Meheux (the third island) before going around Dublin our destination where we will disembark to relax the muscles with some swimming before settling down for lunch.