Exploring Sierra Leone: Trip feedback

As you probably know by now I had to go off to Sierra Leone for a few days. I was there with an investor from Explore! UK and a production team (Frank and Emily) working on a documentary on the tourism industry. We wanted to investigate the real potential for tourism in Sierra Leone and also the reasons why we have not been able to utilise this potential. The potential for tourism has never been in doubt but we wanted to see in real terms if we’re ready to be marketed as a tourist destination and if not, what we need to do in order to bring our facilities up to a standard where we can take on tourists in numbers.

This documentary will be shown on BBC World probably in October or November. I’ll let you know when I have confirmation of the date on which it will be aired.

It was a fascinating trip and we had fun… for me the most crucial benefit was seeing Sierra Leone through the eyes of a tour operator viewing this potential from a purely business perspective.

You’ll have to watch the programme to get a complete view on the trip but I’ll be a bit brief about our time in Sierra Leone.

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I must admit I was very excited but anxious going to Sierra Leone with a business man who had never been. Would he like it? Do we really have the potential claimed? After all, this is a man who has travelled to over 100 countries worldwide… Do we have anything special to offer?

We got to SL on the night of Friday the 9 th and after clearing the airport headed off to our hotel. I was rather pleased to find out that Derek (our investor) is a bit like me in that he comes alive at night. So we dropped off our bags and headed off to Buggy’s – just because.

Adventure tourism

Sunday morning our adventure started as we headed off to Tiwai Island. The roads are not fantastic but we got there in the end. By this time Derek had started getting a hand of krio. After being rocked to and fro on the bad roads, I asked him: “Derek, how di body?” to which he replied “di body mashed up”.

We get to a village called Kambama from which point we cross by boat to the island – approx 7min boat ride. Tiwai is very tranquil.. we lit up a bonfire and prepared dinner. After which we took a boat ride down the river. It was dark by then so not much to see, but though we could hear the wildlife. In the morning we went on a forest walk and saw tracks of bush hogs and saw some red colobus monkeys… unfortunately we did not see then muched talked about pygmy hippos as it is the wrong time of the year. Anyway Tiwai was cool.. the have an system in place to handle visitors which can be upgraded relatively easily to take on more visitors.

Sailing to the Island	Kambama Village
Night Boat Trip	Forest Walk

We left Tiwai the next morning after camping for the night and headed to Bo via a brief stop to see the Paramount Chief. From Bo we headed north to Magburuka where we spent the night.

Next morning we were off to Outamba-Kilimi National Park (OKNP). So from Tiwai – close to the Liberian border in the south we were now heading to the National Park which is close to the Guinea border in the North.

Getting to OKNP was another mission. By this point it was obvious one issue to tackle would be access. To head off to the park you go by road past Kamakwie, then to another village where you cross with a ferry before completing the final long stretch of your journey.

All aboard the ferry!

OKNP was less ready to take visitors and have their own challenges such as lack of manpower etc. Anyway, on the itinerary was a boat trip down the Little Scarcies (Kaba) River. This was not like the Tiwai boat trip… the river had stronger current and the boats where kayaks – plus I was not so confident the captain had enough strength to paddle for 5 people – we were also accompanied by a Sierra Leonean - Kenneth who was our expert on journey. Kenneth recently returned home from the west to start doing local tours for visitors. Kenneth knows his birds and animals. Anyway, the captain of the kayak proved me wrong but still, that was one scary boat ride.

We spent the night in the huts at OKNP – it was a pleasant evening spent discussing everything from Sierra Leone’s history to shows on UK television. The discussions were fuelled by a lovely meal prepared by Emily and the odd glass of wine… and Vodka. We retreated to our huts and slept rather well that night, it was another peaceful night.

Boat Trip down the Little Scarcies	Dinner at ONKP

Beach Tourism

Next morning we headed back to Freetown. Over the couple of days we did some filming in the city, met with the tourism minister, went to Tacugama Chimpanzee Santuary, Lakka (Pierre’s Beach Bar), No 2 and Francos (Sussex Beach).

Pierre's Resort, Lakka	No 2
Bureh Beach	Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

On Sunday we took a trip to Banana Island. We took off from Aqua sports Club with a speed boat and went past the coastal beaches. One of the highlights of my trip was seeing a couple of whales (mother and child) swimming in the ocean. I had previously been told that whales can be seen along the coast but it was one of those “seeing is believing” moments for me. It was incredible. Sierra Leone has so much variety it’s just amazing!

Banana Island	Banana Island
That my friends, is a whale!

We left on Monday completely exhausted and headed back for London with Derek promising to go back to Sierra Leone – soon. He is convinced that tourism in Sierra Leone will take off again in big style but we need to work towards changing perceptions, bringing some facilities up to standard and also having a clear idea what sort of tourism we want to develop. It was a hectic schedule but it really helps when the people you’re working with are really cool. The crew were working till the last minute and did an interview with the Minister of Trade, Kadie Sesay at the airport on the way out. I listened to her speak and was very encouraged by her interview. Spoke a lot of practical sense. Hopefully government can do their bit to encourage foreign and local investment which couldn’t come sooner for Sierra Leone.

Mariattu Koroma - She is very proud of her rice farm and insisted I take her picture!	Some guys farming in double quick time!
No article is complete without a sunset!

This programme will be aired on BBC World which is seen by over 100million people worldwide. Stay tuned for the date.

Dear Otolo,

An excellent story and cant wait to see this on BBC World. Its about time SL had some positive exposure on the tourism side. I dont think anyone has ever doubted SL's potential as a tourist destination with its natural beauty second to none in the sub region. The questions we have to ask about why it doesnt attract tourists are so many however.

Once you are in Salone there is so much to explore its incredible, but getting there is a challenge in itself, visas, travel restrictions, airport hassles, etc etc... all these are "anti-tourist"... the average tourist is always looking for value for money... he/she wants to start enjoying himself/herself from the moment they step off the plane because their trips are typically 7-10 days long at the top end... if you take an entire day just to get to SL, via via via, arrive at Lungi and and then go through the rigmarole there, have to cross the ferry, take a vehicle down the coast etc etc... it almost becomes too much to bear.. The Adventure Tourist may love that sort of thing, but that is a very niche market...

Hotel accomodation is another thing... you end up paying London prices for Bangladesh service!!!

So I think again the gov has a major role to play in helping to attract tourist... Cecil at NTB is an excellent guy who is very positive minded but of course he cant do anything without the support of the gov in implementing the necessary regulations to support tourists or promoting the private sector to provide the necessary infrastructure... lets hope in the coming few years this will all change with more and more pressure from the private sector...

Good work my man. You're right, Sierra Leone is amazing, too bad many of us never got to explore it fully. As long as we continue to spark the interest of investors, I'm certain that the tourism industry  will grow.

Make sure you tape the program for those of us across the pond.

Hi   I am married to a Sierra Leonean who has gone back after the war he lives in freetown I am English and I live in England.  We have bought some beautiful land at No2 and want to build a house there so we can spend time together.  We would like to build a couple of small guest houses.  I love the place it took my breath away when I first went there its a really spiritual place. I love reading all your comments cos when I am there I feel so isolated. There are big problems to overcome  before anyone I know would want to go there on holiday.  I hope I have enough money to do the things I want but would hate it to become overrun with tourists. Is BBC world on sky?

Nice wan me man....Just sparking the interest is job well done already.

On my last trip to salone i got a jeep and did the whole peninsular trip, village by village....and i got the impression that time is running out....

The potential is there and like someoone else mentioned, management is lacking...
I am not faulting anyone for this, but the building of shacks, mosques, beach huts, guess houses and private residents should be banned along the coast of the peninsular...
I was most dissapointed with Africana Tokeh Village....
There is a small village right on the sand where there used to be a Beautiful resort, with all the poor village trappings. Pan lamps, grannat trays, fulla man shop, mosque, pan body, ben bode hose, stray dogs, naked pikins, matta odo etc....right on the sand....
And i see this replicating all over the peninsular except No2 river which has a village completely seperated from the beautiful sand and sea....

I really am not looking forward to the day the Peninsular road is fininshed..
If Gov dosent restrict and manage the coast properly, I
fear we are going to have another upgun at lumley, kissy at goderich, shell junction at sussex, foamex at no2. 
We are going to have a replication of the FT waterloo road on the Goderich to Waterloo rd, with all its trappings.. lorries, gas tankers, Bottle petrol stations, traffic, sell brade nar street, grannat nar junction with panlamp..etc....

I am in no way elitist and everyones got to earn a living and all.. but it will be a shame when tourists have no where to go to in freetown except lumley beach.. and even that one.. most beach bars are eyesores........and it would be better to either build better structures with toilets et all or just let it be natural and open with no bars.......

Just an observation...

 

Otolo,

I appreciate your comments which are very valid and I hope I didnt come across too sceptical with mine. Cecil is indeed an extremely dedicated man who has very little to work with but tries his absolute best because he believes in SL.

Your pictures and story are very refreshing and we crave more stories showing positive things about Sierra leone and the potential there. I believe in a way with more and more global interest in SL the government will be forced to get their thumbs out and actually make an effort to improve the decadent regulations that restrict visitors to the country... why do 250,000 people choose to go to Gambia every year instead of salone??? Have you seen their beaches?? Not even comparable to Goderich which is only for fishing in SL...

Next time you should extend the trip to the Turtle Islands off the Bonthe coast.. you wont even believe you are in SL when you get there.. desert islands with white sand protected by sand bars.. their beauty is out of this world... the locals there dont often come into contact with foreigners and when they do, they are incredibly hospitable.. when I say foreigners I mean people who dont live on the islands!!! Last time I went there quite a few years back, they still thought Momoh was the president!!!

Bonthe and Sulima also offer fantastic scenery and good beaches... You can even go surfing in Sulima!!

SL has lots of whales and a few varieties as well.. you sometimes get humpbacks between Oct/Nov and January when the sea is a bit colder..

All this to offer and still people dont come...

a) no one wants to sit in an embassy all day or wait for 3 days for a visa... theyd rather go somewhere where they dont have to go through that sh*t...

b) No one wants to be hassled at the airport

c) Everyone wants choices, convenience, freedom and security... the key ingredients to having a good time...

.....SL doesnt offer these right now Im afraid to say and no matter how much is invested by the private sector if the gov does not set the basics in motion, we wont really get very far and will only attract the real hard nosed tourist and there are very few of those...

Cheers

Tejan

If these are the major reasons why folks are going to Gambia, Senegal, etc over SL, then I say let's (as one voice) sumamrize and channel these actionable plans for the Minsitry of Tourism, etc.

On a similar note, I met with another 'newly appointed' Minister yesterday, and believe it or not some these guys are very receptive and open to OUR ideas about Sierra Leone's development. Not only have I subscibed him to Leonenet per his request, I also gave him a link to the VSL forums...  If only we had a CENTRALIZED MEDIUM to channel our recommendations to the GoSL (Ministries, Parliament, etc), which they would turn use to communicate with us, most of our development issues will begin/continue to be resolved!

Let's hope u didn't meet with Okere, coz we are pretty sure all necessary parties involved in Tourism/Marine  etc etc are aware of VSL. Right?

The CENTRALIZED MEDUIM will only work if there's bi-directional communication.