Things to Do in Freetown in March

Tacugama sits about 30 minutes uphill from central Freetown, tucked into the rainforest canopy of the Western Area Peninsula at roughly 200 m (650 ft) elevation. March is ideal. The access road is dry enough to drive without a 4x4. The forest floor under the mahogany and cotton trees stays firm for walking. The chimps are active and visible in the cooler morning hours rather than retreating deep into shade. The sanctuary rehabilitates orphaned and rescued western chimpanzees. Watching a troop of juveniles wrestle and screech through the branches while the forest hums with cicadas and hornbill calls is the kind of encounter that stays with you longer than any beach. The conservation work here, sometimes referred to locally by supporters as the greenchimps effort, has made Tacugama one of the most respected primate sanctuaries in West Africa. Go early. Arrive by 8 AM when morning mist still clings to the canopy and the air smells of damp leaves and overripe figs. The guided walk takes about two hours.

Bunce Island is a small fortified island in the Sierra Leone River estuary, about 30 km (19 miles) upstream from Freetown. It is one of the most significant and least visited Atlantic slave trade sites in existence. The ruins of the British slave castle, its walls now strangled by fig roots and vines, sit on an island you can walk end to end in fifteen minutes. The weight of the place holds you longer. March's calm river conditions make the boat ride smooth, typically 45 minutes to an hour each way in a covered motorboat. The dry weather means you can walk the crumbling ramparts and the overgrown cannon placements without sinking into mud. The silence on the island is striking. River birds and the occasional splash of a jumping fish break it. This is not an easy visit emotionally. It is essential for understanding Freetown's founding story, and the connection between this island and the Gullah Geechee communities of the American South.

The beaches south of Freetown along the peninsula are the reason the city's coastline earned its reputation, and March is arguably the best month to reach them. River No. 2 Beach, about 40 km (25 miles) south of Aberdeen, is a crescent of pale sand pinched between forested headlands where the Sierra Leone River meets the Atlantic. The drive down is half the experience, a winding road through fishing villages where the smell of smoked bonga fish drifts from drying racks beside the road. In March, the water is clear and bathwater-warm, the sand hot enough underfoot by midday that you will want sandals for the walk from your vehicle. Tokeh Beach, slightly closer to town, has a longer stretch of sand and a few more facilities. At either beach, local fishermen will grill the morning's catch, usually snapper or barracuda, over charcoal right on the sand, the smoke curling up against a sky so bright it hurts to look at without sunglasses.

The Western Area Peninsula National Park is Freetown's backyard wilderness, a thick belt of tropical rainforest rising sharply from the coast to peaks around 800 m (2,625 ft). In March, the trails to Sugar Loaf Mountain and Leicester Peak are at their driest and most accessible, the red laterite paths firm underfoot rather than the ankle-deep mud that the rainy season produces. The hike to Leicester Peak takes about three hours round trip from the trailhead and delivers panoramic views over Freetown's corrugated rooftops tumbling down to the harbor, with the Banana Islands visible offshore on clear days. The forest itself is dense and loud: colobus monkeys crashing through the upper canopy, the metallic whir of forest insects, and the occasional deep hoot of a chimpanzee carrying from somewhere deeper in the green. Bring at least 2 liters (half a gallon) of water per person. The humidity under the canopy is noticeably higher than in the city, and the trail gains elevation quickly enough that you will be soaked with sweat within the first thirty minutes.

Freetown's founding story is written into its streets if you know where to look, and a walking tour of the old city center in March, when the heat is manageable in the early morning, is the best way to read it. Start at the Cotton Tree, the massive kapok tree at the intersection of Siaka Stevens Street and Pademba Road that the original freed slave settlers reportedly gathered beneath in 1792. The trunk is enormous, easily 15 m (49 ft) in circumference, and fruit bats roost in its upper branches by the hundreds, their chittering audible from the street. From there, the old Krio board houses of the eastern neighborhoods, some with their original carved gingerbread fretwork still intact on the upper galleries, tell the story of a community that built a distinct architecture from Caribbean and Nova Scotian influences. St. George's Cathedral, consecrated in 1828, is one of the oldest in West Africa, its stone walls cool and dim inside even when the street outside shimmers with heat. The Big Market near the old wharf steps has been operating in some form for over a century, and the ground floor stalls selling country cloth, gara tie-dye fabric, and carved soapstone figures are worth an hour of browsing.