Sierra Leone Discovery

Take the early morning Brussels Airlines flight from London Heathrow or selected other UK airports to Brussels, where you connect with the midday Brussels Airlines flight to Freetown. On arrival into Lungi Airport, purchase your visas and clear immigration. You will be met and transferred by water taxi and private car to The Home Suites, for a three night stay with breakfast included.

Your experienced, private guide and driver will meet you at your hotel after breakfast, and they'll take you on a guided tour of Freetown, during which you'll be able to learn about the country's history and its people, while seeing the main city highlights. Afterwards, continue to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary where you'll be able to learn about the inspirational work under way by Bala and his team, to take care of Western chimpanzees rescued from hunters or confiscated from trappers.

After a leisurely breakfast at The Home Suites, your private, experienced guide and private driver will collect you and take you on a day excursion to the historically significant Bunce Island and Tasso Island. Prior to Bunce Island - which had the largest British slave castle on Africa's Rice Coast - becoming the main slave trading centre in Sierra Leone, the English had established three settlements there. Due to its fairly large size and close proximity to the mainland, slaves escaped frequently, and the island was eventually abandoned by the traders. Tasso Island nearby has gained in popularity as an eco-tourism attraction, where visitors come to enjoy birding, forest hikes, local fishing trips, and guided tours exploring the island's colonial past. Founded around 1670, the slave trade was responsible for exporting tens of thousands of African captives to North America and the West Indies, until the British Parliament finally shut it down in 1808. Your guide will deliver a moving account of the history surrounding these two islands. Return afterwards to your hotel for an overnight stay.