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The Atlas Obscura Guide To Sierra Leone

9 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Sierra Leone

Updated November 22, 2021

Unusual Attractions in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Tiwai Island

This river island in Sierra Leone is home to impressive biodiversity and the country's first community conservation program.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary

A rehabilitation center for confiscated, orphaned, and abandoned chimpanzees.

Kupr, Sierra Leone

Bunce Island

Home of the ruins of a British slave castle.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

National Railway Museum

After Sierra Leone's railways shut down in 1974, a collection of engines and other artifacts spent decades hidden away in this old workshop—now a museum.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Cotton Tree

The oldest of its kind in the country, this tree sits where formerly enslaved people are said to have founded the city of Freetown.

Sierra Leone

Outamba-Kilimi National Park

This national park is home to unique vegetation known as woodland savannah.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Old Fourah Bay College

The first European-style university in western Sub-Saharan Africa.

Freetown, Sierra Leone

Old Wharf Steps

One of the oldest brick structures in Freetown.

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Stories About Sierra Leone

How DNA From a 200-Year-Old Pipe Connects Maryland and Sierra Leone

Genetics has many stories to tell about enslaved people.

by Evan Nicole Brown

The Victorian Traderess Who Battled Colonialism and Crocodiles in Africa

Mary Kingsley collected fish and insect samples, poked a hippopotamus, and climbed one of Africa’s tallest mountains—all while wearing a skirt.

by Tao Tao Holmes

September 16, 2015

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