Things to Do in Sierra Leone in March

March is arguably the best month to work your way down the string of beaches that line the Freetown Peninsula's western coast. Start at Tokeh, where the sand is packed firm enough to walk barefoot without sinking. The water runs warm and calm. The Atlantic here behaves more like a lake than an ocean. From Tokeh at low tide, you can walk south along the shoreline for about 2 km (1.2 miles) to reach River Number 2 Beach. This is the crescent of white sand backed by a freshwater lagoon where the Bounty chocolate bar advertisement was filmed decades ago. The lagoon is warm, shallow, and fringed by palms that throw enough shade to make the midday heat bearable. Further south, Bureh Beach draws a small community of surfers to its 4 km (2.5 miles) of golden sand. The breaks here are consistent enough in March to make it worth renting a board from one of the local surf outfits. The dry-season clarity means the water is at its least murky. The absence of the heavy swells that arrive with the rains makes Bureh's waves approachable for beginners. Go early, before 10 AM. The sand is still cool enough to walk on then. The light catches the water at its best.

Perched in the rainforest canopy above Freetown, roughly 20 minutes by car from the city center but a world removed from its noise, Tacugama is home to over a hundred rescued western chimpanzees living in semi-wild enclosures under a dense green canopy. In March, the dry conditions mean the forest trails that wind through the sanctuary are firm and walkable. They become slick mud channels by June. The chimps tend to be active and visible in the morning hours before the heat drives them into the shade. The soundscape is the thing that stays with you. The deep, resonant hooting of the chimps carries through the trees and mixes with the call of hornbills overhead. This is a layered chorus that no recording captures properly. The sanctuary also offers marked hiking trails ranging from 30-minute loops to a three-hour forest trek that climbs through primary rainforest thick enough to block out the midday sun. Arrive for the earliest morning tour slot. The chimps are feeding then. The air still carries the cool dampness of the night.

The Banana Islands sit about 3 km (1.9 miles) off the southern tip of the Freetown Peninsula, a cluster of three small islands where the pace drops to something approaching stillness. The boat ride from Bureh Beach or Kent takes roughly 30 to 45 minutes depending on the vessel, and in March the sea is flat enough that even open wooden boats make the crossing comfortably. Dublin Island, the largest, has a colonial-era church, the ruins of a slave-trading warehouse, and a handful of guesthouses where the sound of waves against volcanic rock is the loudest thing you will hear at night. The snorkeling off the western shore is best in March: visibility reaches several meters, the water temperature hovers near 28°C (82°F), and a Portuguese-era shipwreck sits in shallow enough water to explore without dive gear. The islands have no mains electricity and limited provisions, so bring a headlamp and enough water for your stay. That austerity is the point. You eat grilled barracuda on the beach by lantern light while the Milky Way stretches overhead in a way that Freetown's generator-powered glow never allows.

Bunce Island sits about 30 km (19 miles) up the Sierra Leone River from Freetown, a low, overgrown ruin that was one of the largest slave-trading fortresses on the West African coast from the late 1600s through the early 1800s. The boat ride upriver takes roughly 45 minutes by speedboat, and the journey itself is part of the experience: the mangrove-lined banks narrow as you leave the harbor, the air turns thick and green-smelling, and the water changes from the grey-brown of Freetown's harbor to a clearer tidal flow. On the island, a guide walks you through the remains of the castle, the holding cells, the cannon emplacements, and the area known as the yard where captives were held before being loaded onto ships. The World Monuments Fund has been working to stabilize the ruins and build an interpretation center. In March, the ground is dry enough to walk the full perimeter without the mud that makes wet-season visits difficult, and the reduced vegetation gives you clearer sightlines of the fortification's layout. This is not a comfortable visit. It is not meant to be. But it is essential history, and standing on that ground in the river silence gives it a weight that no book can replicate.

The rainforest that cloaks the mountainous spine of the Freetown Peninsula is one of the last fragments of coastal West African primary forest, and March is the sweet spot for hiking it: dry enough that the trails hold firm, cool enough in the early mornings that the climb is bearable, and green enough from the residual moisture of the previous wet season that the canopy is still dense and alive. Picket Hill, the highest point at 880 m (2,887 ft), demands a three to three-and-a-half-hour ascent through unmarked forest trails where a guide is not optional but essential. The reward at the summit is a panorama that stretches from Freetown's harbour across to the Banana Islands on clear days. Sugarloaf Mountain has a shorter but steeper alternative, with rocky scrambles through forest that transitions from closed canopy to exposed laterite near the top, where the wind finally hits you after hours of still, humid air beneath the trees. Even Leicester Peak, the easiest option at roughly 40 minutes from the trailhead, puts you above the city noise in a forest thick with birdcall and the rustle of colobus monkeys in the upper branches. Start any hike before 7 AM. By 10, the heat turns a moderate trail into a slog.

Tiwai Island spans 12 sq km (4.6 sq mile) of rainforest in the Moa River, roughly 300 km (186 miles) southeast of Freetown. It joined Sierra Leone's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025 as part of the Gola-Tiwai Complex. Eleven primate species inhabit the island. The endangered Diana monkey and western red colobus live here. The pygmy hippopotamus appears at dusk. March brings lower river levels. Boat crossings stay simple. Forest trails remain passable. Knee-deep mud waits for the wet season. Guided night walks deliver the real experience. You move through darkness. Your headlamp cuts a narrow beam. Tree frogs call in layers. Nocturnal primates rustle overhead. Pygmy hippos splash downstream. The camp is basic. Tented platforms. Mosquito nets. Shared facilities. You sleep inside a UNESCO rainforest. The dawn chorus rewards every inconvenience.