Tony Blair announces the launch of Bradt’s new guide to Sierra Leone!

Although the civil war’s been history since 2000, if you mention travelling to Sierra Leone it’s assumed you’re either an NGO worker or a trooper in the SAS. Even in Freetown, Europeans are inevitably greeted with the polite enquiry ‘What project?’ in anticipation of a multisyllabic acronym response starting with U and N. However, Bradt has been here before with its Mozambique and Rwanda guidebooks amongst others, proving that the right sort of tourism can be an effective means to support a shattered economy and build firm foundations for future development. Cecil Williams, manager of the national tourist board, says, ‘We need people to know that Sierra Leone is a destination that is safe, in spite of the fact we have come out of war. There’s no mayhem on the streets.’

Though the concept of leisure travel to Sierra Leone remains incredible to many, it’s worth noting that around the time Kenya’s political deadlock erupted into inter-communal violence, Sierra Leone held ‘free, fair and credible elections’ resulting in the transfer of power to a successful opposition presidential candidate. None other than Tony Blair, visiting Sierra Leone in April 2009, noted in the Guardian that ‘Bradt is bringing out the first dedicated guidebook to Sierra Leone’, and pointed out that the country ‘is thriving and tourists are returning… You can now fly here direct from Europe in six hours. Other post-conflict countries such as Mozambique and Rwanda have shown that tourism can generate revenues of well over $100m. Sierra Leone has a chance to follow in their footsteps, with tourism potentially overtaking diamonds as the country’s largest foreign exchange earner.’ Bradt’s Sierra Leone, written by Reuters reporters and former Sunday Times staffers, Katrina Manson and James Knight, sees through a long-cleared fog of war and describes brilliant white-sand beaches, warm and genuinely welcoming people, an energetic and animated local culture and a surprisingly rich wildlife. As the country’s first and only dedicated travel guide, Sierra Leone is essential reading for intrepid adventure tourists, business travellers, development workers and diplomats, as well as increasing numbers of returning Diaspora.

Katrina Manson reports for Reuters in West Africa, her work also being published by the BBC, the Independent, the FT, Spectator Business, Africa Investor and others.

James Knight is a freelance journalist who previously worked for Reuters, the Sunday Times and ITN. Together they have also co-authored Bradt’s Burkina Faso.

Title: Sierra Leone
Authors: Katrina Manson & James Knight
Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides
Publication: May 2009
Price: £16.99
ISBN: 978 1 84162 222 4