Sierra Leone
 

Hello. i'm moving to Sierra Leone next year. The two things that i LOVE to do are rock climb and bike. . . i was wondering what cycling is like. i'm not quite sure where i'm gonna end up in Sierra Leone, i just know that i will not be in Freetown.

if anyone knows anything, that would be great.

why specifically sierra leone? i'm just personally interested.

You know, i'm not quite sure. i'm hoping to work with Invisible Children and i will go wherever they deem most necessary i guess. Do you know the area at all dinsmore? Have you traveled through Africa at all?

you know, i'm not too sure where i will end up there. i have two things that i want to do: 1. i want to travel all of Africa ( i hope to be a professional wanderer for the rest of my life) and 2. i want to work with former child soldiers. So i'm gonna jump into service with Invisible Children first and after than i guess that i will see where i end up. i guess that Sierra Leone is more of a long term goal now. Do you know the area dinsmore? Are you a fellow wanderer?

Hey Yarrr!

Haven't been to Sierra Leone myself, but I have live in West Africa (Ghana) so maybe some of what I have to say may come in handy.

Depending on what type of cycling you want to do, you may want to either bring a bike or buy one there. If you're only planning to commute or do day trips, I'd recommend buying a bike there. It will probably be old and heavy, but the locals will know how to fix it without any problems.

If you do decide to do more extensive travelling by bike, I'd bring my own, but this presents a few issues.

a) finding appropriate components if something breaks might be tough
b) I would personally feel terrible riding around in a bike that cost more than most Leonians make in a year!

Something worth looking into would be to see what the culture of cycling is like in SL. I have heard of a development worker in Yemen who got a bike, but quickly abandoned the idea of getting around that way because all the locals pointed and laughed at him. As it turns out, in Yemen, only kids ride bikes.

Happy travels! And you might also wanna check Thorntree forum on Lonely Planet's site for more advice!

Hey! I watched the Invisible Children videos. Amazing stuff. My wife and I were compelled to help, so organized a charity dinner, showed the video, raised funds, and sent them in. I also have the T-shirt, and get funny looks when I wear it around town.

All the best to your moving to Sierra Leone and in your humanitarian work. People like you are one in a million.