Passport/Visa Requirements: Citizens of Canada and the U.S. need passports (valid for a minimum of six months), visas, sufficient funds and proof of onward passage. Business visas require a guarantee letter from your company. There is a departure tax of US$20 payable in cash at the airport. Reconfirm travel document requirements with your carrier before departure.
Population: 5,883,889.
Languages: English (official), Mende, Temne, Krio, various other tribal languages..
Predominant Religions: Islamic, Animist, Christian..
Time Zone: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Daylight Saving Time is not observed.
Voltage Requirements: 220 volts.
Telephone Codes: 232, country code; 22,Freetown city code;
For More Information
Tourist OfficesFreetown: National Tourist Board, Cape Sierra Hotel, Room 100, Aberdeen, Freetown (mailing address: P.O. Box 1435, Aberdeen, Freetown). Phone 22-272-520. Fax 22-272-197.
Sierra Leone does not have tourist offices in Canada or the U.S.
Sierra Leone Embassies
Canada: The embassy in Washington, DC, handles inquiries from Canada.
U.K.: High Commission for the Republic of Sierra Leone, Oxford Circus House, 245 Oxford St., London W1D 2LX. Phone 020-7287-9884. Fax 020-7734-3822. http://www.slhc-uk.org.uk.
U.S.: Embassy of Sierra Leone, 1701 19th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20009. Phone 202-939-9261. Fax 202-483-1793. http://www.sierra-leone.org.
Embassies in Sierra Leone
Canada is represented by its embassy in Guinea: Corniche Sud, Conakry. Phone 224-462-395.
U.S. Embassy, corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens streets, Freetown. Phone 226-481. Fax 225-471. The embassy offers only limited, emergency consular operations in Sierra Leone. U.S. citizens in Sierra Leone should contact the embassy in Guinea for assistance: U.S. Embassy, corner of Second Boulevard and Ninth Avenue, Conakry. Phone 224-411-520. Fax 224-411-522. http://freetownusembassy.gov.
Additional Reading
White Man's Grave by Richard Dooling (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). The story, which centers on the kidnapping of a Peace Corps worker by Sierra Leone rebels, provides good descriptions of Sierra Leonean life, including traditional witchcraft.
Against All Odds: Escape from Sierra Leone by Phil Ashby (St. Martin's Paperbacks) follows the author's misadventures as a major in the British Army assigned to the U.N. Peace Force in Sierra Leone.
Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene (Penguin). Written in a Freetown hotel during the author's stint with the British Colonial Service in World War II, the book describes the more seedy aspects of Sierra Leone.
