Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive Freetown — The Lion Mountain
Touch down at Lungi International Airport. Transfer by speedboat across the Sierra Leone River Estuary to Freetown — the dramatic approach gives you your first view of the “Lion Mountain” (Serra Lyoa) that gave the country its name. Check into your hotel. Evening orientation walk through Freetown’s historic center — the Cotton Tree (the ancient kapok tree where freed slaves gathered to pray upon arrival), the State House, and the boardwalk along Lumley Beach. Welcome dinner featuring Sierra Leonean cuisine: cassava leaf stew, groundnut soup, and fresh grilled barracuda. Overnight in Freetown. (D)
Day 2: Bunce Island — The Door of No Return
A profoundly moving day. Travel by boat across the Sierra Leone River to Bunce Island, a British slave-trading fortress established in 1670. This is where tens of thousands of enslaved Africans were held before being shipped to the Americas — many to the rice plantations of South Carolina and Georgia. The ruins of the fort — the slave pens, the gun ports, the crumbling administrative buildings — stand as one of the most important historical sites of the transatlantic slave trade. Return to Freetown. Afternoon: visit the Sierra Leone National Museum and the historic Fourah Bay College (founded 1827, West Africa’s first Western-style university). Walk through the Kroo Bay waterfront community. Overnight in Freetown. (B)
Day 3: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Drive into the forested hills above Freetown to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary — home to over 100 rescued western chimpanzees, Sierra Leone’s national animal. Established in 1995, Tacugama is one of Africa’s most successful chimp rehabilitation centers. Walk the forest trails with sanctuary guides and observe chimps in large forested enclosures — hear their distinctive pant-hoot calls echoing through the canopy. Learn about the sanctuary’s community outreach and anti-poaching work. Afternoon: visit Leicester Peak for panoramic views over Freetown and the Atlantic. Overnight in Freetown. (B, L)
Day 4: Freetown → Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary
Journey east into the interior. Drive through the lush landscapes of southern Sierra Leone to reach the Moa River. Board a canoe and cross to Tiwai Island — a 12-square-kilometer rainforest island and UNESCO tentative site that is one of West Africa’s premier wildlife destinations. Tiwai (“Big Island” in Mende) hosts 11 primate species including the rare Diana monkey, olive colobus, and western chimpanzee, plus pygmy hippos and over 135 bird species. Afternoon nature walk with local guides. Evening: sunset canoe ride on the Moa River, watching fruit bats stream from the forest canopy and listening to the hippos grunting in the river. Overnight in eco-lodge tents on Tiwai Island. (B, L, D)
Day 5: Tiwai Island — Primate Tracking & Canoe Safari
Dawn chorus on Tiwai — the rainforest erupts with the calls of hornbills, parrots, and colobus monkeys. Morning primate tracking walk through the forest. Your Mende guides, who know this forest intimately, help locate troops of Diana monkeys leaping through the upper canopy and the leaf-crunching sounds of chimpanzees. Afternoon: canoe safari through the creeks of the Moa River, watching for pygmy hippos and crocodiles. Evening: night walk to spot galagos (bushbabies) and flying squirrels. Dinner around the campfire. Overnight on Tiwai Island. (B, L, D)
Day 6: Tiwai Island → Kenema — Diamond Country
Farewell to Tiwai Island — cross the Moa River by canoe at sunrise. Drive to Kenema, the center of Sierra Leone’s diamond-mining region. Visit the SK Mining Office where you’ll learn about both industrial and artisanal diamond mining — the glitter and the grit of the industry that shaped Sierra Leone’s modern history. Meet artisanal miners and learn about the Kimberley Process certification. Afternoon: visit Boma Community Village, led by a female paramount chief — one of the traditional women leaders who hold significant power in Sierra Leone’s chieftaincy system. Participate in a community rice-planting or harvesting activity (seasonal). Evening: cultural performance — traditional Mende dancing and drumming. Overnight in Kenema. (B, L, D)
Day 7: Kenema → Banana Islands — Paradise Found
Morning drive back toward the coast. Visit a local market in Bo, Sierra Leone’s second city. Continue to the coast and board a boat for the Banana Islands. These three islands — Dublin, Ricketts, and Mes-Meheux — were named by Portuguese explorers who found wild bananas growing here. Today they offer some of West Africa’s most beautiful beaches, with white sand, turquoise water, and excellent snorkeling. Afternoon: guided walk through Dublin village, visiting the ruined slave-dock, St. Luke’s Church (one of West Africa’s oldest churches), and the old colonial cemetery. Time for swimming and snorkeling in the clear waters. Evening: fresh grilled lobster dinner on the beach as the sun sets over the Atlantic. Overnight on Banana Islands. (B, D)
Day 8: Banana Islands → Freetown & Departure
Final morning in paradise — one last swim in the warm Atlantic. Boat back to the mainland and transfer to Lungi International Airport for departure flights. You leave with memories of chimpanzees in misty forests, slave forts on silent islands, and the resilience and warmth of Sierra Leone’s people. (B)
