Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
'Big Island' in the Mende language, 12-sq-km
Tiwai Island
( 076-755146;
www.tiwaiisland.org
;
day-trip/overnight US$10/20)
certainly packs a punch when it comes to its primate population.
Set on the Moa River, the entire island is run as a conservation research project. There are
more than 700 different plant species, 11 species of primates - including Diana monkeys
and chimpanzees - 135 bird species, plus otters, sea turtles and the endangered, elusive
pygmy hippopotamus.
From Bo or Kenema, the departure point for Tiwai is Poturu; from Freetown, head to
Kambama (eight hours). Speedboats (US$10 per person including island entrance fee)
carry you the short distance to the island, where you can stay overnight on canopied plat-
forms (US$20 per person) and drift off to sleep, listening to the midnight chatter of the
rainforest.
Guided forest walks cost between US$4 and US$6 per person, depending on the size of
the group. Canoe tours cost US$10 per person.
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Gola Forest Reserve
Part of the same tract of rainforest as Tiwai Island, the
Gola Forest Reserve
( 076-420218)
is
home to an abundance of creatures great and small, from rare, intricately patterned butter-
flies to lost, lumbering forest elephants having a hard time locating the rest of their spe-
cies (as in most parts of West Africa, their numbers are critically low). The reserve, which
has been declared a national park, runs from Tiwai Island in the south (a short boat ride
away) up to the rocky Malema hills in the north (an hour's drive from Kenema).
There's a simple, reasonably priced guesthouse at the southern tip in the village of
Belebu, or you can rent camping equipment (US$25) and rough it in the rainforest. The
park entrance fee is US$10, and the forest guides charge US$10 per day (plus a tip).
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Kenema
POP 160,000
Unless you're caught up in the murky world of diamonds there isn't much to bring you to
the red roads of Kenema, although the surrounding countryside is pretty and a visit to the
area will give you an idea of what life is like upcountry. It's also a good stopping point on
the way to the Gola Forest Reserve or Tiwai Island.
