Situated off the coast of Yawri Bay, south-west of the Freetown peninsula, the Banana Islands are a group of three islands. The name comes from their shape, which resembles a banana. Dublin and Ricketts are connected by a stone causeway, while Mes-Meheux is privately owned and used as an adventure tourism destination. Dublin Island is…
Situated off the coast of Yawri Bay, south-west of the Freetown peninsula, the Banana Islands are a group of three islands. The name comes from their shape, which resembles a banana. Dublin and Ricketts are connected by a stone causeway, while Mes-Meheux is privately owned and used as an adventure tourism destination. Dublin Island is known for its beaches and Ricketts Island for its forests. The islands are home to around 900 people.
Kent port (left) Beautiful sandy beaches (right)
At Kent beach, we took time to look at how local boats are built and were asked by locals to pay for a picture of the ocean and the island. They said it was “a little money”, which turned out to be ten US dollars or more. I think it is not that little. Nevertheless, we left them with their ocean pictures and sailed to Dublin Island.
Rob, Denise, retired meteorologist and Richard in the boat
Richard in the boat (left) Our port of arrival on the island of Dublin (right)
Once on the island, we were given a short warm welcome and escorted to our luxury tents on the seafront. Looks like a very nice place to spend a day or two. We quickly repacked, leaving most of our stuff in the tent, and set off for the top of the island.
The tents on the seafront look very attractive
We set off from our camp and walked through a small settlement before heading out onto a few kilometres of flat track in the forest. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a path to the summit, so when we reached the highest and closest point to the summit we decided to go straight for it. The forest wasn’t too dense, so it was a fairly quick walk, despite the afternoon heat.
We had limited visibility at the top due to the vegetation. However, we were surprised to find a square concrete trig pillar. We took a short break and measured the altitude before descending back to the trail. We then continued up towards Ricketts Island Highpoint.
