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VISA
My God, it has been a real pain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I trusted an Italian visa agency who told me I didn't
need any proof of reservation to get the visa. So
I was quite surprised when my passport got rejected
from the SL consulate in Milan. Then it started a
two weeks long struggle to manage to have a damned
'proof of reservation'. I contacted a lot of agencies
and I even tried to convince the consulate to bypass
the normal procedure for my case, but unsuccessfully.
At the end, few days before the departure, I managed
to have a letter of confirmation from the 'Family
Kingdom hotel' in Freetown thanks to the site www.visitsierraleone.org.
Don't think that sending a mail could be enough; at
least I didn't get any answer so I called the office
in London (+44 20 7193 4532) and begged them to work
on my reservation. Of course it's not for free, in
fact a night in a single room cost me 80$, although
the website claims 70$! However the Family Kingdom
is the cheapest hotel I found in the website and I
paid directly to them after having slept there. Following
my pushing action, they sent me a email with a 'reservation
number' (I guess I could have faked by myself) that
in turn I faxed to the Consulate with a letter explaining
I booked just one night since I wanted to visit the
beautiful country, Regards, Best Wishes, Merry Christmas,
Happy New Year and bla bla bla...
After one day I got my single entry 3 months valid
visa for only 100 euro+ 30 euro for the idiots of
the agency!!!
Another opportunity is to get the visa
in Conakry in Guinea. I took this as the very last
chance, since being very short of time and in a holiday
period I risked to wait my SL visa for days in the
'beautiful' town of Conakry. If you have more time
I had, the following thread can turn out very useful:
LonleyPlanet_Thorn_Tree-About_Sierra_Leone_visa_in_Conakry
As I know forget to get the visa at
the airport unless you aren't part of an organised
tour or you have the support of some organisation.
MONEY
The Leone is the local currency and
the change ratio at the time of the travel (Dec07)
was:
1 USD= 2910 SLL. (buying SLL)
1 EURO= 4100 SLL (buying SLL)
You can change money almost everywhere and you can
pay bigger amounts (i.e. accommodation) directly in
$, but you risk to loose money with the change ratio
HEALTH
The yellow fever certificate is mandatory
to get the visa. I had it attached to the passport
so I cannot say if they border guards really require
it, anyway I wouldn't' see the point to take the risk
to travel without being vaccinatinated.
I took Lariam against Malaria. Be aware that, being
one of the most humid tripical climates in the world,
it's also one of the most risky as concerns Malaria.
On the other hands if you travel in the dry season
(Nov- April), having a mosquito net, wearing long
pants, long sleeve shirts and abounding with insect
repellent, you can avoid the famigerated Lariam profilassys.
Take into consideration to buy Malarone instead of
Lariam, although it's a daily dose (Lariam weekly)
and more expensive, it doesn't give Lariam side effects.
If you r gonna staying for a long period in the country,
obviously you have to do your counts on risks, money
and side-effects!
Morevoer I had the usual vaccinations:
Ephatite A, B, Typhus, Tetanus, Meningitis.
I hadn't any problem with the food or the drinks,
never drinking tap water, obviously.
TIWAI
ISLAND
Tiwai Island is a protected area on
the Moa river. It's an island around 4x3km where many
monkeys, chimpanzees, small hippos and crocodiles
live.
How to get there:
By public means of transport it's a tough job, but
feasible. From Bo take a shared taxi to Potoru (3h),
here pay a lift on motorbike to the village of Kambama
(17km, 30min). At the village take the boat to get
to the Island (the boat trip is included in the entry
price)
Kambama is connected also directly to Kenema without
passing through Bo, and while I was on the jeep, I
saw some minibuses and shared taxis passing on this
way. If you have time and patience I'm sure you can
do it by public means of transport, anyway by jeep
it took the best of 3 bumpy hours.
Accomodation
A community based organisation rents some nice
and sheltered tents on the island. They even have
solar lamps, running water toilets, showers and a
kind of veranda with seats and table.
Although it's recommended to book in advance in their
office in Freetown or in Bo, you can pop up directly
in Kambama and they will manage somehow to find a
tent for you. Of course booking in advance you minimise
the risks (address and telephone on the Sierra Leone
section of the West Africa 6th edition, 2006 Lonely
Planet)
Food
You can find all the beers (and bottled water)
you want, but forget having some choice of food. They
didn't even manage to find some bananas for us in
the nearby villages. At the end they found a chicken
(so bad!), but the best it's you buy your own food
in Bo or at worst in Potoru.
What to do there
Basically enjoying the peace and the sounds (or noises)
of the animals. Boat trip and walks will let you see
a lot of chimpanzee jumping among the trees, crocodiles
tracks and, if you are lucky, the small hippos.
Fix tariffs (Dec07)
| |
Tarif [$]
|
| Entrance, sleeping, boat / each
day |
20
|
| Entrance each day |
10
|
| Boat tour to the hippos (1-2 hours) |
10
|
| Canoe tour (but there was no canoe
still) |
7
|
| Cooker (food not included |
2.5
|
| Walk in the forest with guide (2-3h) |
8
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GENERAL
TIPS
Diamond mines
To visit a "diamond field" is a must for
a travel in Sierra Leone, but at the moment there's
nothing organised, so you have to work by your own.
My suggestion (at least what I did) is to go to Tongo
(50km north of Kenema by an awful dirty road by there's
also some shared taxis) and once there, ask around
avoiding making people suspicious. Don't go to the
market shouting: 'I want to see the diamonds!".
For sure shortly you'll find somebody who has a friend
who works there and can take you.
Once there ask for 'the boss', however he will reach
you before you find him, and recognise his authority:
speak him, explain who you are, ask if you can take
snaps...
The fields are very near the town and theoretically
you could walk there by yourself, but I don't think
it's a good idea.
At the end I gave a 10.000 SLL (2$) tip both to the
guy who took me there and to the boss; I know it can
be less but, for the best experience of the whole
travel, I think it's the right amount.
Kabala- Faranah by motorbike
Kabala (SL)- 50km- Kwendu (SL)- 10km- Heremakono (border
town, GU)- 45km- Faranah (GU)
Tot distance= around 100km
Kabala to Heremakono: road completely unpaved and
terrible
Heremakono to Faranah: the first 10km unpaved but
quite flat the last 35km a wonderful tarred road
Read the funny
story I wrote to get more details and a link to
the TT LPlanet that turned out very helpful to me:
- SL
entry from Faranah to Kabala without motorbike
Bottle water
Always check if the bottle is well sealed. Twice
it happened to me to get an already opened bottle,
I guess they refill with normal water.
Generators
If you r sensitive to the night noises, take into
account the location of the generator choosing your
room. Nevertheless your window can probably be next
to the neighbour generators, so ear plugs could be
the only solution
Guide and info
The best source of info I found is the Sierra Leone
section of the West Africa 6th edition, 2006 Lonely
Planet; it's 30 well done pages. Also the 14 pages
of the Africa 2007 Lonely Planet are concentrated
but fundamental. Then it comes the TT forum, essential
to be updated about the safe areas in the country
Bribes
Bribes from soldiers at the check points turned
out to be not as bad as I thought. For sure border
points are the shittest places from this point of
view (from every point of view) but keep always some
change with you. Corrupted soldiers don't give change
:-)
Local language
The communication couldn't be easier in Sierra
Leone since most of the people speak some sort of
English. The local language is mainly Krio, a transformed
form of English that often sounds funny.
Greeting the locals using their forms will be very
rewarding; the most used ones are:
"How di body?"
"How di day?"
Photo of the mosque
After having been annoyed the all three times
I took a snap of a mosque (quite far outside), the
only thing I can recommend is to avoid handling your
camera in front of the Holy Places
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