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Freetown, Sierra Leone

Jeremy Blackwood

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The most accessible part of Sierra Leone is the Freetown Peninsula. From Leicester Peak, superb views of the city between the sea and the mountains unfold below, and a narrow, steep road through the mountains leads to the old Creole villages (dating from 1800) of Leicester, Gloucester and Regent. The area was chosen as a resettlement area for liberated slaves who built the villages of Sussex, York, Kent, Waterloo, Hastings and Wellington. Freetown itself, surrounded by thickly vegetated hills, is both a colourful and historic port. Attractions include a 500-year-old cotton tree; the museum; the De Ruyter Stone; Government Wharf and 'King's Yard' (where freed slaves waited to be given land); Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa; Marcon's Church, built in 1820; and the City Hotel, immortalised in Graham Greene's novel The Heart of the Matter. The King Jimmy Market and the bazaars offer a colourful spectacle and interesting shopping. A boat trip up the Rokel River to Bunce Island, one of the first slave trading stations of West Africa, makes an interesting excursion. More info on: travel-island.com