Sierra Leone

Destinations

Four regional circuits, the way Tourism Is Life already frames the country, plus the places published on the public catalogue.

Western Circuit

Freetown’s peninsula beaches, Banana Island, Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, and Bunce Island: the gateway most travelers meet first.

Highland trekking and savannah parks: Wara Wara, Bumbuna Falls, and Mount Bintumani, West Africa’s highest peak.

Wildlife sanctuaries and island coasts: Tiwai Island, the Turtle Islands, and the southern riverine towns.

Gola Rainforest National Park, home to pygmy hippos, hornbills, and one of West Africa’s last lowland rainforests, plus Kenema and Kono.

Freetown
Sierra Leone’s capital: Krio heritage, Cotton Tree, and the peninsula gateway.
Banana Island
Three islands off Yawri Bay: Dublin (beaches), Ricketts (forest), and uninhabited Mes-Meheux, settled by freed slaves in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
Freetown Peninsula
Eleven beaches along the Western Area peninsula, from River Number Two to Black Johnson.
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
A forest sanctuary above Freetown protecting chimpanzees rescued across Sierra Leone.
Bunce Island
A former slave-trading fort in the Sierra Leone River, a pilgrimage and history site.
Bumbuna Waterfalls
A day-trip waterfall and hydro landscape north of Freetown.
Wara Wara Mountains
Highland trekking in Koinadugu District.
Makeni
The northern commercial hub and a base for Outamba-Kilimi and highland trips.
Mount Bintumani
The highest peak in Sierra Leone and West Africa’s Loma Mountains.
Bo
Sierra Leone’s second city and the southern circuit’s inland gateway.
Tiwai Island
A wildlife sanctuary in the Moa River known for primates and forest birds.
Turtle Islands
A remote archipelago of beaches, fishing communities, and turtle nesting shores.
Gola Rainforest
Transboundary rainforest, pygmy hippos, and 300+ bird species.
Kenema
Eastern Province hub and a base for Gola and diamond-country travel.
Kono
Kono District, diamond country and a window on eastern Sierra Leone.