eSIM for Sierra Leone

In Sierra Leone this eSIM uses Orange, on 3G and 4G. The country doesn't have nationwide mobile coverage or a public landline network, so your phone matters from the moment you land. Lungi airport is across an estuary from Freetown, so you'll need to book a water taxi. The leone also lost three zeros in 2022, and older prices online can be confusing.

A week based on the Freetown peninsula, where roads are shorter and services better: the capital's history and markets, chimpanzees at Tacugama, the slave fort on Bunce Island, then the beaches of River No. 2 and Bureh and a night on the Banana Islands.

Length

7 days

Bases

3

When to go November to April is the dry season, best for beaches and boat trips; May to October brings very heavy rain, rough seas that can cancel water taxis, and flooding on peninsula roads.

1. 01

   Day 1 Freetown

   Lungi water taxi and Lumley Beach

   → Sea Coach Express and SeaBird run water taxis timed to flights, taking 30 to 45 minutes; the drive around the estuary takes about 3 hours. Do not use wooden pirogues.

   Arrive at Lungi International Airport and take a pre-booked water taxi across the Sierra Leone River estuary to Freetown, with views of the city on its hills as you approach. After checking in, go to Lumley Beach, the long sandy strip on the city's western edge, and walk the promenade at sunset. Use the evening to confirm drivers and boat bookings for the week.

   Signal Orange 4G at Lungi airport and across central Freetown and Lumley. Expect a gap mid-estuary on the water taxi, so message your driver before you leave the terminal.

2. 02

   Day 2 Freetown

   Freetown: the Cotton Tree site and King's Yard Gate

   → Use a driver arranged through your hotel rather than okadas, kekes or poda-podas, as the UK advises.

   Start at the site of the Cotton Tree, the city's symbol for over two centuries until it fell in a storm in 2023, and the National Museum nearby. Walk to the King's Yard Gate, through which freed Africans entered the colony in the 19th century, and St John's Maroon Church, built by Jamaican Maroons. Browse the textiles at Big Market, then drive up to Leicester Peak for the view over the city.

   Signal Orange 4G in central Freetown is usable, though slow at busy times. Keep your camera away from government buildings, including courthouses.

3. 03

   Day 3 Freetown

   Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

   → Tacugama is about 30 to 45 minutes from central Freetown, up a steep road through Regent.

   Drive up into the forested hills of the Western Area Peninsula National Park to the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which cares for chimpanzees rescued from the pet and bushmeat trades. Join the guided tour, booked in advance, and consider one of the forest walks to a waterfall. Return to Freetown for the afternoon and visit the craft stalls on Lumley Beach Road.

   Signal Signal fades on the climb into the hills and is weak or absent at the sanctuary and on the forest trails.

4. 04

   Day 4 Freetown

   Bunce Island

   → Boats from Freetown take around 1 hour each way; arrange through a tour operator, and check sea conditions in the rainy season.

   Take a boat trip up the Sierra Leone River to Bunce Island, a British slave-trading fort from the 18th century from which thousands of Africans were shipped to the Carolinas and Georgia. Walk the ruins of the fort, the cannons and the trading house with a guide, and read the history of the Gullah links between Sierra Leone and the American South. Return to Freetown by mid-afternoon.

   Signal Orange signal drops on the river and is weak or absent on Bunce Island. Save the boat operator's details offline.

5. 05

   Day 5 River No. 2

   River No. 2 and Tokeh beaches

   → Freetown to River No. 2 is about 1 hour by road. Do not drive outside the peninsula after dark.

   Drive south along the peninsula road to River No. 2, where a river meets the sea at a white sand beach backed by forested hills; the community-run beach organises canoe trips upriver into the mangroves. Walk along the shore to Tokeh beach and spend the afternoon swimming where locals say it is safe, as rip currents are common and few beaches have lifeguards.

   Signal Orange coverage is patchy on the peninsula road and at the beaches; expect 3G or one bar of 4G. Use WhatsApp messages rather than calls.

6. 06

   Day 6 Banana Islands

   The Banana Islands

   → River No. 2 to Kent is around 30 minutes by road; the boat to Dublin takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

   Drive to Kent at the southern tip of the peninsula and take a boat across to the Banana Islands. Explore Dublin village, with its old church and the remains of a slave-era settlement, then swim and snorkel off the rocky shore or take a boat round to Ricketts at the far end of the island. Spend the night in a simple guesthouse on the island.

   Signal Very limited signal on the Banana Islands. Treat this as an offline night and tell your hotel in Freetown when you expect to return.

7. 07

   Day 7 Freetown

   Bureh Beach and back to Lungi

   → Kent to Bureh is about 15 minutes; Bureh to central Freetown about 1 hour 30 minutes; then 30 to 45 minutes by water taxi to Lungi.

   Take the morning boat back to Kent and stop at Bureh Beach, Sierra Leone's surf beach, where a local surf club offers lessons and board hire. In the afternoon, return to Freetown, leaving plenty of time for the water taxi to Lungi. Check the departure times with the operator, as crossings are timed to flights and can be delayed by weather.

   Signal Patchy Orange coverage until you reach the city. Freetown and Lungi have usable 4G; download your boarding pass before you board the water taxi.