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West Africa III 2023

trip | 2023-04-01

Our main goal for this trip to Sierra Leone was to climb the isolated ultra peak of Loma Mansa. Any other peaks we could climb would be considered a bonus. And of course we added an extra day or two just in case something went wrong with our plans. We landed at Lungi airport in the evening, and after a smooth immigration and customs procedure, we went to the nearby hotel and had a long drive up to the base of the mountain the next day. The roads were good, but it took time, especially after the tarmac ended.

After successfully climbing Loma Mansa, we spent most of the day trying to reach the base of Sankan Biriwa, another ribu. We were successful in our negotiations with the chief of the first village, but unfortunately were unable to reach an agreement with the locals in the second village. Nevertheless, it was a good day and an interesting experience.

  • Loma Mansa

    Loma Mansa

  • Sankan Biriwa

    Sankan Biriwa

On the way back to Freetown, we quickly drew up a plan to climb the Dublin Island Highpoint and Ricketts Island Highpoint. Together with a third small island, they are commonly known as the Banana Islands (due to their shape). We sailed to the islands not knowing what to expect, but hoping to get more information once we got there. Unfortunately there was not much more information to be found in the nice resort, so we walked as we were. The peaks were not very high and fortunately the jungle was not very dense. We managed to reach both peaks of the island without too much difficulty.

After the Banana Islands adventure we headed for another bonus peak – Picket Hill. There is a marked trail on the maps and we found a local guide and arranged permits. Everything looked promising and we even reached the summit. Until the last moment we hoped that this would be the true summit or that we would find a trail to another one. Hope dies last. Nevertheless, we had a great time and bagged lower Picket Hill North Summit.

  • Dublin Island Highpoint

    Dublin Island Highpoint

  • Ricketts Island Highpoint

    Ricketts Island Highpoint

  • Picket Hill North Summit

    Picket Hill North Summit

  • Leicester Peak

    Leicester Peak

It was only a short week, but we travelled more than 1300 kilometres and I had the opportunity to observe local life. This left me with a very positive impression and good memories. Although the people here are poor, they live a well-ordered life and are able to deal with different religions and cultures in a friendly way. This is much more valuable than money. It was also noticeable that they were very welcoming to tourists and I am quite sure that more will come.

  • Northern Sierra Leone

    Northern Sierra Leone

  • Freetown

    Freetown

The local tour operator “VSL Travel” organised the whole trip logistics very well and we got everything we asked for. All the small and usual travel problems were solved smoothly, so I would like to thank them for that. Special thanks to Alex for his patience and willingness to help us achieve our goal. Needless to say, I had another great time with Denise, Richard and Rob. Thank you very much!

Denise
Richard
Rob
Alex
Me
ranges
altitude
prominence
isolation
distance
elevation gain
time
Leicester Peak Guinea Highlands
590 m
315 m
0.00 km
0.24 km
19 m
0h15
Picket Hill North Summit Guinea Highlands
888 m
93 m
- km
13.7 km
797 m
6h20
Ricketts Island Highpoint Guinea Highlands
246 m
246 m
- km
5.5 km
232 m
2h30
Dublin Island Highpoint Guinea Highlands
167 m
165 m
- km
7.1 km
163 m
2h30
Loma Mansa Guinea Highlands
1945 m
1665 m
1570.80 km
27.3 km
1596 m
29h30
53.84km hiked and 2807m elevation gained in 41h05
  • Trips overview
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Mountain Ranges

Anatolia
Taurus Mountains
Western Anatolia
Andes
Puna de Atacama
Atlas Mountains
High Atlas
Northwestern Atlas
Central America Ranges
Costa Rica-Panama Ranges
Central Central America
Eastern Europe Ranges
Southeast Baltic Plains
Iberian Peninsula
Cordillera Cantabrica
Castile Ranges
Portugal-Galicia
Pyrenees
Malay Archipelago
Java
Nusa Tengarra
Sulawesi
Sumatra
Northwest Europe
Great Britain
North France-West Rhine Area
Philippines
Luzon
Mindanao
Southeast Asia
Malay Peninsula
Southeast South America
Pampas
Sierras de Cordoba
West Africa Mountains
Bight of Benin
Cameroon Mountains
Guinea Highlands

Countries / regions

Algeria
Ain Guezzam
Ain Salah
Aïn Témouchent
El Bayadh
Ghardaïa
Oran
Ouargla
Saïda
Sidi Bel Abbès
Tamanrasset
Argentina
Catamarca
Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Córdoba
Jujuy
Salta
Tucumán
Belgium
Brussels Capital Region
Flemish Region
Cameroon
Southwest
Costa Rica
Alajuela
Cartago
Guanacaste
Heredia
Limón
San José
Czechia
Prague
Denmark
Greenland
France
Hauts-de-France
Germany
Berlin
Niedersachsen
Indonesia
Bali
Jambi
Jawa Tengah
Jawa Timur
Nusa Tenggara Barat
Sulawesi Tengah
Sulawesi Utara
Sumatera Barat
Lithuania
Vilnius County
Morocco
Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Drâa-Tafilalet
Fez-Meknes
Marrakesh-Safi
Souss-Massa
Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima
Netherlands
Gelderland
Noord-Holland
Zeeland
Nicaragua
Chinandega
Managua
Masaya
Rivas
Philippines
Bicol Region (V)
Calabarzon (IV-A)
Central Luzon (III)
Davao Region
Soccsksargen (XII)
Poland
Greater Poland Voivodeship
Masovian Voivodeship
Portugal
Castelo Branco
Leiria
Lisbon
Santarém
São Tomé and Príncipe
São Tomé Province
Sierra Leone
Northern Province
Western Area
Singapore
Spain
Aragón
Asturias
Castilla-La Mancha
Castilla y León
Switzerland
Zürich
Turkey
Antalya
Isparta
Muğla
United Kingdom
England
Scotland
United States
Delaware
Florida
Maryland
New Jersey
New York
South Carolina
Pennsylvania

TRIPS

2023
Philippines 2023
West Africa III 2023
West Africa II 2023
Iberian Peninsula 2023
West Africa 2023
Central America 2023
2022
Andes 2022
Northwest Europe 2022
Malay Archipelago III 2022
Malay Archipelago II 2022
Anatolia Mountains 2022
Iberian Peninsula 2022
Atlas Mountains 2022
North France-West Rhine Area 2022

archaeology (3) climb (86) food (2) hike (85) p30 (7) p100 (13) p300 (10) p600 (13) p1000 (6) p1500 (40) ribu (5) sight (37) summary (12) ultra (40)

1 018 km walked, 77 129 m climbed

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