Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sierra Leone means "Lion Mountain"—named by Portuguese sailors for the thunderstorms roaring over the Freetown Peninsula. The country was founded as a haven for freed slaves, creating the distinctive Krio culture that blends African and British influences. The Freetown Peninsula hosts some of West Africa's most spectacular beaches—River No. 2, Tokeh, Bureh, and Lakka—backed by the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve, one of the last coastal rainforests in the region. The country has rebuilt tourism since its civil war ended in 2002.
