The small West African nation of Sierra Leone has been working on a new tourism-centred vision. A recent visa on arrival program has already simplified the process of getting there. And, in 2023, a solar-powered airport near the capital, Freetown, opened a new terminal with a fivefold increase in capacity. In the year ahead, new international flight routes are expected to make the country even more accessible, with flights to Nigeria and South Africa first in line.
Perhaps the most exciting development is Sierra Leone’s push to safeguard and showcase its diverse wildlife, with new experiences for travellers. Spearheaded by Freetown-adjacent Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, the initial phase of the country’s first ecotourism circuit opens in 2024 (keep an eye on the Tacugama website for details). It will offer first-ever accommodations at two important sites: A pair of one-bedroom ecolodges are slated to open at southeastern river island of Jaibui, where the elusive Pygmy Hippo lives, by spring 2024, and tent stays at Loma Mountains National Park will follow. Loma is home to Mount Bintumani, the tallest peak in West Africa west of Mount Cameroon, with an astounding array of rare animal and bird species like the bizarre-looking white-necked rockfowl, “the avian Holy Grail” for birdwatchers. In 2024, construction will begin on a world-class research and innovation centre at Tacugama, with an exhibition hall dedicated to Sierra Leone’s national animal, the chimpanzee.
A host of new accommodations elsewhere in the country offers access to Sierra Leone’s coastline. Jethel Garden Eco-Resort opens in December 2023 near Freetown at Tasso Island, an important stop on the country’s slave trade history route. Further south, a previously inaccessible chain of remote sandbar islands in the Atlantic, Turtle Islands, is adding new accommodations and better boat transfers with project Tomatribe, which includes glamping-style bell tents opening by the start of 2024.
More is coming out of Sierra Leone in the next few years: The Peninsula City, a public-private partnership in conjunction with W Hotels, is building a resort and marina city just south of Freetown, and Sherbro Island City, a long-term initiative funded by Sierra Leone’s brand ambassador Idris Elba, has plans to transform this tropical island into the “Afro-dynamic eco-city.” – Yulia Denisyuk
St. Helena
Go for: a rich history, scuba diving, and improved access
