Photograph of Egyptian Plover

The stunning Egyptian Plover by Ian Fulton.

SIERRA LEONE

Best Wildlife in Sierra Leone

Mammals
Western Black-and-white Colobus, Western Red Colobus, Olive Colobus, Sooty Mangabey, Callithrix, Campbell’s, Diana and Lesser Spot-nosed Monkeys. Also a chance of Chimpanzee and an outside chance of Pygmy Hippopotamus.

Birds
Yellow-headed Picathartes, Egyptian Plover, African Pied, African Grey, Black-casqued, Yellow-casqued, Black Dwarf, Red-billed Dwarf, Brown-cheeked, Piping and White-crested Hornbills, Grey Parrot, Great Blue Turaco, Long-tailed Hawk, Narina Trogon, Black Bee-eater, Blue-bellied Roller, Emerald Starling, Crimson Seedcracker, Gola Malimbe, other Upper Guinea Forest endemics Brown-cheeked Hornbill, Turati’s Boubou, Green-tailed Bristlebill, Yellow-bearded Greenbul, Sharpe’s Apalis, Kemp’s Longbill, Rufous-winged Illadopsis, Copper-tailed Glossy Starling and Ussher’s Flycatcher, other Upper Guinea Forest near-endemics Fire-bellied and Little Green Woodpeckers, Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, Red-billed Helmetshrike, Western Bearded Greenbul, Finsch’s Flycatcher Thrush and Buff-throated Sunbird, as well as Hartlaub’s Duck, Hamerkop, Hooded and Palm-nut Vultures, African Harrier Hawk, Crowned and Long-crested Eagles, White-headed Lapwing, African Jacana, Great Snipe (mostly Nov-Mar), Rock Pratincole, Greater Painted Snipe, Afep, African Green and (Western) Bronze-naped Pigeons, Guinea and Yellow-billed Turacos, Western Plantain-eater, cuckoos, Yellowbill, Sabine’s Spinetail, kingfishers including Blue-breasted, Chocolate-backed, Giant, Malachite and Shining-blue, White-throated Bee-eater, Abyssinian, Blue-throated and Broad-billed Rollers, barbets including Yellow-spotted, tinkerbirds, honeyguides including Spotted, Rufous-sided Broadbill, (African) Shrike and Vanga (Black-and-white Shrike) Flycatchers, Chestnut and Yellow-bellied Wattle-eyes, Senegal Batis, White-crested Helmetshrike, Grey-headed, Lagden’s, Many-coloured and Sulphur-breasted Bushshrikes, Blue Cuckoo Shrike, orioles, drongos, Blue-headed Crested Flycatcher, African and Red-bellied Paradise Flycatchers, Western Nicator, Pied-winged and White-throated Blue Swallows, White-shouldered Black Tit, many greenbuls, Green and Tit Hylias, Oriole Warbler, Yellow-browed Camaroptera, Green Crombec, White-tailed Alethe, (Western) Forest Robin, Forest Scrub Robin, Snowy-crowned Robin Chat, Capuchin Babbler, Splendid Starling, sunbirds including Splendid and Superb, Cabanis’s Bunting, weavers, malimbes, Dybowski’s Twinspot and Togo Paradise Whydah. Also a chance of White-breasted Guineafowl, White-backed Night Heron, Olive Ibis, African Fish and Congo Serpent Eagles, Red-chested and White-spotted Flufftails, Forbes’s Plover, Yellow-throated Cuckoo, Greyish Eagle Owl, Standard-winged Nightjar, African Dwarf and White-bellied Kingfishers, and Blue-headed Bee-eater.

Best Sites for Wildlife in Sierra Leone

Best Times for Wildlife in Sierra Leone

The drier season, when Egyptian Plover occurs, usually lasts from September to May and the best time to look for most birds is between December and February even though these are usually the hottest and most humid months of the year.

Recommended Books etc. for Sierra Leone

Mammals of Africa by M Andrews. Collins, due 2011.

The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2003.

The Kingdon Pocket Guide to African Mammals by J Kingdon. A & C Black, 2004.

Birds of Western Africa by N Borrow and R Demey. Helm, 2002.

Birds of Africa south of the Sahara by I Sinclair and P Ryan. C Struik, 2011 (Second Edition).


Kingdon eGuide to African Mammals.

Trip Reports for Sierra Leone

Many trip reports, some for Sierra Leone, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Sierra Leone. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Sierra Leone' below.

Local Guides and Tours in Sierra Leone

The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.

Accommodation in Sierra Leone

Some Organized Tours to Sierra Leone

There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and they are popular with people with partners with different interests. Individuals, partners and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more for a custom tour than an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

Tour companies who run organized tours to Sierra Leone include the following. Many of these also offer custom tours.