Climate
Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, typified by warm temperatures and high humidity. Night time temperatures rarely drop below 24C and daytime temperatures reach 30C throughout the year. From October to March the weather is generally dry with many fine, hot, sunny days. From April to September, is the rainy season. The rainfall increases to a peak in July and August and then decreases until rain has almost ceased by November.
Terrain
Coastal belt of mangrove swamps, wooded hill country, upland plateau, mountains in east.
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
Highest point: Loma Mansa Bintimani 1,948 m
Understand
Sierra Leone celebrated its 50th anniversary of independence from Britain in 2011. Since the end of its civil war in 2002, the government, with considerable international assistance, has made modest improvements in the country's infrastructure which should help the tourism sector: the highway linking Freetown and Bo is now tarred from start to finish and Bumbuna hydroelectric dam supplies electricity when water levels are high enough both completed in 2009. While the government sector still suffers from chronic shortage of resources, the private sector is booming. The potential for tourism is vast, but largely unrealised. Tourists are starting to return and tour operators are looking closely at what the country has to offer. Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources. It has some of the best beaches in the world, a rich colonial heritage, and some stunning scenery, but its greatest asset is its welcoming, friendly populace, most of whom will go out of their way to make a foreigner comfortable.