Sierra Leone – 148th Country

Sierra Leone – 148th Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Sierra Leone is my 148^th country.

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Sierra Leone is another West African country on the Atlantic Ocean. Over 8 million people live here with over 80% of the country practicing Islam. While this area was inhabited, the Brits established a colony in 1808 for returning Africans who were freed slaves. The country gained its independence in 1961. Sierra Leone was subject to a brutal civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s and then one of the centers of the Ebola outbreak in the 2010s.

I crossed into Sierra Leone on my 6 country West African road trip and ended up in the capital Freetown which sits in the hills set on the beach. I was provided a introduction to the city via a tuktuk. I also visited both Banana Island and Bunce Island, to learn about the tragic slave history. And on the eastern side I visited Tiwai Island, a wildlife sanctuary.