Rock My Sierra Leone Adventure
15 Nights from £3,785*
Tour Overview
Join us on an immersive adventure in Sierra Leone, an amazing, safe and misunderstood country.
Sierra Leone has stunning landscapes, varied wildlife, and vibrant traditions, yet is pretty much untouched by mainstream tourism.
Sierra Leone is one of the safest countries in West Africa but also one of the least travelled countries in the world (there were only 71,000 visitors in 2019) – which makes it ideal for an intrepid traveller.
Plus, it’s an English-speaking country which means that Sierra Leone is a great introduction to West Africa travel, especially if you don’t speak French!
Since we did our first trip to Sierra Leone trip in 2019, this has been one of our most fondly talked about adventures!
So if you’re looking for an adventurous and very different kind of holiday, come and experience ‘Sweet Salone’!
Freetown
Tacugama Chimps
Rogbonko Village
Tiwai Island
Gola Rainforest
Turtle Islands
Banana Islands
Freetown Peninsula
Essential Info
Tour Dates
- 11 – 26 November 2024 1 SPACE – FEMALE ONLY – BOOK NOW
- Please register interest for future trips here
What’s Included
- 15 nights accommodation
- 15 breakfasts, 9 lunches & 11 dinners
- All activities & park fees as per the itinerary below
- Rock My Adventure group leader & local guides
- Comprehensive pre-departure information & support
- All transportation as per the itinerary & included activities
- Airport transfers (including boat taxi)
- Tips for local guides
- All activities & park fees as per the itinerary below:
- Freetown City Tour
- Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
- Rogbonko Village
- Village Activities
- Scenic Boat Tour
- Cultural Dancing
- Morning Forest Walk
- Community Visit
- Moa River Swimming
- Evening Forest Walk
- Masked Devil Dance
- Bo Town Market
- Boat Ride to Bonthe
- Turtle Islands Expedition
- Turtle Islands Boat & Village Tour
- Banana Island Historical Tour
- Peninsula Beach Tour
What’s Not Included
- Flights
- Visas (if needed)
- Medications, antimalarials or vaccinations
- Travel/health insurance (required)
- Drinks & meals not mentioned
- Optional activities
- Transport & tips for optional activities
Cost
Total – from £3,785 (subject to current USD to GBP exchange rates)*
- Deposit: £500 (non-refundable)
- 2nd Payment: £2,510 (due 62 days before the departure date)
- 3rd Payment: $1,000 (local payment, paid on arrival)
The local payment is part of the overall cost of the trip. You pay the local payment to your tour leader in US Dollars (unless specified otherwise) upon arrival in Africa.
This includes the on-tour expenses that we cannot pay prior to arrival, such as national park entry fees, meals, local transport, and some activities.
The local payment is NOT your spending money.
Notes
- Start: Freetown, Sierra Leone.
- End: Freetown, Sierra Leone.
- This isn’t a cheap trip – this is because Sierra Leone isn’t very developed for tourists and the logistics of visiting certain destinations (the Turtle Islands) are very expensive – but it’s the best Value Sierra Leone trip I’ve seen and I know you will love this trip.
- Maxiumum group size of 10 – to ensure we can have a real immensive experience.
- This is one of our more rough and ready trips, so is best suited to more adventurous, laid-back travellers who will go with the flow and don’t mind getting a bit dirty and roughing it.
- We will stay in really nice hotels at either end of the trip, so there will be a little luxury. But you must be prepared for the camping/village life in the middle.
- This is not a vacation – it’s a life-changing adventure that you will likely talk about for years to come.
- A light sleeping bag is required for this trip.
Itinerary
Day 1: Freetown
Arrive in Freetown and transfer to your accommodation for the night.
Relax and get to know your fellow travellers during a meal and a local Star beer or two! Welcome to ‘Sweet Salone’, your Rock My Sierra Leone Adventure starts here.
* If you have the time and can arrive earlier, we can organise any other activities you wish to do. Additional accommodation and activities charged separately.
- Meals: Dinner
- Accommodation: Hotel (Ensuite)
- Activities: None
Day 2: Freetown
Today we’ll take a tour of Freetown with a local guide to see all of the main historical sights and get a feel for the city. As part of the tour, we’ll explore Bunce Island, one of the most significant ports of the Transatlantic slave trade.
Freetown is so called because this is where many freed slaves were brought or settled the British brought freed slaves whose ships were intercepted on the way to the Americas, as well as where freed slaves from elsewhere returned to.
This has resulted in a capital city that is ethnically, culturally and religiously divere – which makes it an extremely interesting place to visit.
For lunch we’ll try some local food, then after you will be able to do some souvenir shopping at the Big Market, where you can buy locally made hand-woven baskets, wooden carvings, fabric, jewellery, home furnishings, paintings leather sandals and bags.
Freetown is an exciting place with a great atmosphere, so after dinner, those who want to can sample the local nightlife scene.
- Meals: Breakfast
- Accommodation: Hotel (Ensuite)
- Activities: Freetown City Tour
Day 3: Rogbonko Village Retreat
In the morning we’ll make the short journey to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary where we’ll take a guided tour of the centre to find out about the important work that they do, caring for and rehabilitating almost 100 rescued chimpanzees, as well as doing community outreach, wildlife field research, environmental sustainability, conservation education and alternative livelihoods programs.
From Tacugama, we’ll make our way to Rogbonko Village Retreat, a Temne tribe community-based initiative, where we’ll learn what it’s like to live in a rural village in Sierra Leone.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Traditional Huts or Camping*
- Activities: Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary Tour
* Please Note: They are renovating some of the huts at Rogbonko. They should be ready, but ‘this is Africa’ so if they’re not, we may camp here instead. The rooms will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.
Day 4: Rogbonko Village Retreat
Today you will have the opportunity to meet, interact, learn from the local people in the villlage and live like them too.
You’ll also take part in a number of activities whilst we are here, such as walks through the bush, canoeing, visiting the local school, basket weaving, traditional dancing and making local food.
Just be aware – there are no shops, so if you need soft drinks or alcohol – we’ll have to bring them with us – we learned the hard way last time!
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Traditional Huts or Camping*
- Activities: Village Activities (of your choice)
Day 5: Tiwai Island
From Rogbonko we’ll make our way to the Tiwai Island Wildlife Sanctuary which lies on one of Sierra Leone’s biggest inland islands on the River Moa and is part of the Gola Rainforest National Reserve.
Tiwai Island has one of the highest concentration of primates in the world with 11 different species and is home to around 80 rare and endangered pygmy hippos. The Sanctuary also supports the 8 communities living around it.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Camping
- Activities: Scenic Boat Tour on the River Moa, Cultural Dancing
Day 6: Tiwai Island
Whilst we are here, we’ll go on a guided hike through the Tiwai Forest where we may see some of the rarest & most colourful primates in the world, we’ll take a scenic boat tour on the river and we’ll visit some of the local villages where we’ll get to see (and take part in) traditional dances.
Those who want to can take an optional night tour to search for the pygmy hippos!
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Camping
- Activities: Morning Forest Walk, Community Visit, Swimming, Evening Walk
Day 7: Gola Rainforest National Park
Today we’ll transfer to Lalehun in the Gola Rainforest National Park where we’ll enjoy a guided walk following the network of nature trails leading into the forest.
If we’re lucky we might spot birds (Lalehun is ideal for bird-watchers offering opportunities for spotting rare species such as the Gola malimbe, and the enigmatic white-necked picarthartes), the resident groups of Diana Monkeys or hear chimpanzees calling to one another.
Night walks are ideal to spot nocturnal species, like the elusive pygmy hippo or pangolin (although don’t get your hopes up – they are rare to spot, but maybe we’ll be lucky).
Here, you’ll also experience the ‘Gola’ masked devil dance performed by Lalehun villagers who are members of the Mende tribe. This is quite the sight to behold.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Lodge (Ensuite)
- Activities: Masked Devil Dance, Forest Walk
Day 8: Bonthe Island
From Gola, we’ll make our way to Yargoi, passing through Bo Town, Sierra Leone’s 2nd biggest city. We’ll stop here to explore the local market (different from the craft market in Freetown) and pick up supplies for the Turtle Islands.
When we reach Yargoi, we’ll take a boat to the coastal town of Bonthe on Sherbro Island, the jumping off point for the remote Turtle Islands.
Once you arrive at Yargoi the boat ride takes two hours and offers you a stunning view of the villages along the estuary.
This is the type of place where the pace of life is slow and the locals are very welcoming to tourists who are few and far between! It’s time to relax and get on island time.
In the evening, we’ll enjoy dinner and watch the sunset.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Tented Camp (Ensuite)
- Activities: Bo Town Market, Boat Ride to Bonthe
Day 9: Turtle Islands
Today we’ll head out on an expedition to one of the most remote places in West Africa, the Turtle Islands, an archipelago made up of 8 islands (Baki, Bumpetuk, Chepo, Hoong, Mut, Nyangei, Sei and Yele) in the Atlantic Ocean.
We’ll spend two nights camping on these remote tropical islands, which are full of natural beauty, yet very untouched by tourism or indeed, the outside world.
Whilst we’re there, we’ll get a rare glimpse into a very different and traditional way of life as we visit some of the communities that call these islands home.
This will be a true adventure!
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Camping
- Activities: Turtle Island Expedition
Day 10: Turtle Islands
Today we’ll explore the villages of Baki and Sei, where we’ll meet people from the local community, including some of the local Chiefs (there are many of them).
In the afternoon we’ll swim, relax on the beach and enjoy being in the middle of nowhere in a place that has barely changed in hundreds of years – paradise.
At night we’ll watch the stars and see the crabs scuttling along the beach.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Accommodation: Camping
- Activities: Boat Trip Around the Islands, Village Tours
Day 11 & 12: Banana Islands
You’ll be sad to leave the tranquil Turtle Islands, but we’re sure you’ll love our next destination – the Banana Islands, a popular weekend getway from Freetown.
The Banana Islands are made up of 3 islands – Dublin, Ricketts and Mes-Meheux. We’ll be staying on Dublin, however you will have the chance to visit the other islands if you wish.
Here we’ll take a guided walking tour of the village and see old lamp posts, canons, the island’s first church, and its famous cotton tree at the main wharf.
You can take part in a number of optional activities including a jungle hike, canoeing, kayaking, boat tours, snorkelling, spearfishing, humpback whale watching (August to December), scuba diving and various watersports such as water skiing, wakeboarding and ringo rides!
Or you can just relax on the beach whilst the palm trees sway, it’s totally up to you! Last time we were here, we got invited to a boat launch, got baptized by a local vicar and partied at a local bar – so who knows what may happen.
The people of Dublin are very hospitable so you may not want to leave!
- Meals: 2 x Breakfast, 1 x Lunch, 1 x Dinner
- Accommodation: Glamping Tents (Non-Ensuite)
- Activities: Historical Walking Tour
Day 13 & 14: Freetown Peninsula
From the Turtle Islands, we’ll head to our penultimate destination of Tokeh Beach on the Freetown Peninsular.
We’ll be staying at THE TOP hotel in Sierra Leone, located on a beautiful beach. It’s also only a short walk or boat ride away from the famous River No. 2 beach which is a fun local hotspot, very beautiful and run by the local community.
This is the perfect place to unwind, soak in mesmerizing sunsets, and indulge in the freshest seafood and refreshing coconut water.
Whilst we’re here, we’ll take a tour to visit the different beaches along the coast, but there will also be some free time to take part in some of the activities on offer such as surfing, snorkelling, massages, swimming and windsurfing.
- Meals: 2 x Breakfast
- Accommodation: Hotel (Ensuite)
- Activities: Peninsula Beach Tour
Day 15: Freetown
After a leaisurely breakfast, we’ll head back to Freetown where you can finish up your souvenir shopping or take a wander down famous Lumley Beach.
In the evening, we’ll grab a sundowner on Lumley Beach and toast to new friends and great adventures as we enjoy a farewell meal.
The rest of the night is free to get an early night before the journey home or you can enjoy the Freetown nightlife.
- Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
- Accommodation: Hotel (Ensuite)
- Activities: Goodbye Dinner
Day 16: Departure Day
Today is always a sad day as we say goodbye to our new friends, but the memories and shared experiences of Sierra Leone will last a lifetime!
We can arrange your transfer to Freetown International Airport or you can continue your Africa travels from there.
If you need any support with your pre or post-tour Africa travels, please don’t hesitate to contact us. It’s all part of the Rock My Adventure service.
- Meals: Breakfast
- Accommodation: None
- Activities: None
Please bear in mind that the itinerary is subject to minor changes, ‘This is Africa’! But whatever happens, we’ll ensure you have an amazing trip!!
Have a question? Feel free contact us here or take a look at our FAQ’s page.
Testimonials
“I urge everyone to go and see this hidden gem.”
“This trip is a true “off the beaten path” adventure. It was everything I hoped for. I loved absolutely everything we did! I loved the variety of the landscapes we visited, from chaotic and colourful Freetown to the steaming jungles of Tiwai to the glorious warm waters of the shoreline, there is so much to experience in Sierra Leone. Some of the places felt truly remote and due to the lack of tourism it was a very authentic experience. I will never forget my dance-offs with the Temne women of Rogbonko and the Mende of Tiwai. Without speaking we understood each other and had fun. Those are truly precious moments. Nature was stunning and because we had camping and ecolodge accommodation, I could feel really at one with the world around me. I will never forget the glorious full moon lighting up the midnight clouds over Tiwai Island, or the lazy green River Moa snaking its way through the jungle flanked by yellow sand. Sierra Leone is lucky to have a good amount of untouched nature preserved and I urge everyone to go and see this hidden gem.”
KATJA | GERMANY
“The Rock My Adventure Sierra Leone tour was truly special.”
“I had an amazing time on the Rock My Adventure, Sierra Leone trip. I generally love to travel solo, but I knew a country with as few tourists as Sierra Leone would be lonely to travel and difficult to plan (especially in a limited time frame). Rock My Adventure was unique because it seemed more like a bunch of adventurous friends traveling together to a place where no one else we know wanted to go, rather than on a strict inflexible tour. Helen made the impossible possible: creating a fun, adventurous itinerary for a small group of people in a country that is not yet ready for tourists. We were not only able to see a lot of the country but also to experience the kind of “unexpected adventures” more common to solo travel – all within a two week period, a feat that would likely have been almost impossible to accomplish alone. I think you really nailed the “Flashpacker” concept. The Rock My Adventure Sierra Leone tour was truly special and I can’t wait to try the next destination. This is a unique tour and I highly recommend it.”
PAMELA | USA
“This isn’t just a holiday it’s a lifetime experience.”
“This is the third Rock My Adventure tour I have done. I keep coming back for more because Helen delivers exactly what I want from travel, to immerse myself in local culture and experience what that country has to offer. This isn’t just a holiday it’s a lifetime experience, a chance to challenge yourself and really see the real “Africa” of whatever country you decide to visit. Sierra Leone was my top bucket list destination for personal reasons and what a country to visit. I can not recommend Rock My Adventure more, I’ve met some amazing people, made friends for life, experienced the highs and lows of African travel and loved every second. Don’t think about these trips too long, just book one, I promise you won’t regret it!”
KAREN | UK
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Email: [email protected]
Whatsapp: +447809710257
Address: 353 - 355 Station Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston PR5 6EE
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