Sierra Leone - Travel & Accommodation

Travel & Accommodation

Travel

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A passport and visa are required for travel to Sierra Leone. Visitors to Sierra Leone are required to show their International Certificates of Vaccination (yellow card) upon arrival at the airport with a record of vaccination against yellow fever.

Citizens of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) do not require a visa to enter the country. Citizens of Kenya can obtain a visa on arrival to Sierra Leone. Nationals of Iran issued with diplomatic and service passports can stay a maximum stay of 1 month without a visa.

The international airport is at Lungi, the other side of the estuary from Freetown. Since 2009 there has been a proliferation of “water taxis,” small yacht-like boats that cost around $40, offer free bus connections from the airport terminal, and serve various destinations in Freetown, including Aberdeen, Murray Town, and Kissy. The hovercraft service has resumed operations under the K&K company. It runs from Man of War Bay in Aberdeen.

Three often-overloaded car ferries run to the east end of Freetown from Tagrin at the southern tip of Lungi, docking at Kissy Ferry Terminal, which cross the water in 45-70 minutes, but can take several hours including waiting/loading times. For those with a light load, local speedboats (US$1.25) and larger, slower “pampa” boats (USD0.50) are by far the most affordable, if not safest, option. They run fairly frequently, when full, on the same route as the car ferries. The landing in Lungi is wet, but porters wait to carry you in or out of the boats for a small fee (USD0.25).

By road, it is 5+ hours to the city, via Port Loko using some poor roads. This would probably be the most miserable route, and it’s not clear that anyone uses it.

Safety concerns have been expressed over all of the different transport options from the airport to Freetown.

British Airways is well established, with three direct flights per week to London Heathrow. Air France flies to Paris (via Conakry). Brussels Airlines flies to Brussels. From November 2012, McPhillips Travel has two direct flights from London Gatwick per week.

Flights to Nairobi (Kenya Airways), Casablanca (Royal Air Maroc), Accra (ASKY Airlines, Fly540 Ghana, Kenya Airways), Lagos (Arik Air), Banjul (Arik Air, ASKY Airlines, Gambia Bird), Conakry (ASKY Airlines), Monrovia (Royal Air Maroc) and Bamako (ASKY Airlines) are available.

Unfortunately, thefts from hold baggage are very common at the airport, especially on the way out of the country. Carry anything of value in your cabin luggage. Luggage is searched with trained dogs on the way in and out, so do not carry any drugs or other illegal substances.

Getting Around

Poda-poda is the Sierra Leonean term for minibusses. The vehicles seem to be stitched together with thread, always nearly at the breaking point, five people for each row of three seats, blaring hip hop, turning off and on with the application of the gas pedal, never sure whose sweat that is, never sure whether it will make the next hill. They are really cheap, though. Intercity trips cost less than bush taxis (Makeni-Freetown is Le15,000 for instance), and any trip within Freetown from just 1,000. Shared taxis are marginally more comfortable, but still packed to the gills, and only slightly more expensive (Makeni-Freetown Le17,000, Bo-Kenema Le10,000, Port Loko-Lungi Le15,000). Delays, flat tyres and breakdowns are fairly common so leave lots of time especially if you have a flight to catch.

Moto-taxi is a very efficient way of getting around, with low prices, decent mobility on bad roads, and the ability to skirt past traffic. But they are dangerous. And when traveling on dirt roads, you will wind up covered in dust, often choking on the stuff kicked up by larger vehicles. The driver is required to wear a helmet and to have one to offer to the passenger. Yeah, right. It’s also against the law nowadays to have more than two people on one motorcycle. So if you have three people on one bike, and you are approaching a vehicle check, one person will have to get off and walk through the checkpoint…

Buying your own motorcycle is probably the ideal mode of independent travel. Even the worst roads will be passable in dry season, and you won’t have to worry about being transported by careless drivers. Be aware that driving your bike inside the major cities is dangerous due to the crazy traffic, but outside the cities, you should be OK as long as you wear a helmet with a visor to protect yourself from dust.

Accommodation

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Accommodation in Sierra Leone is expensive by comparison to many other African countries. This is probably due to a lack of local competitivity. Our first experience with local options (non-branded accommodation) was a shock to the system with $100 buying very little in terms of quality. Our recommendation is, therefore, to stick to international brands such as the Radisson Blu in Yoko, Freetown ($150-$250).

Having said that, Hotel Barmoi, Home Suites Boutique Hotel and Bintumani Hotel are great candidates for the “local experience”.