Holidays Sierra Leone – Activities: Historical Tours
Between the late 16th century and mid-19th century the slave trade was one of the main export of Sierra Leone. The European powers have created strongholds to assemble large numbers of slaves and kept them there between the time of capture and the time of sale. The remains of the setup to receive slaves can be seen at Bunce Island and Banana Island. Bunce Islands is 20 miles upstream from Freetown and houses the remains of one of the major slave trade operations in West Africa where as many as 74.000 slaves were exported annually. In Banana Island (where it is said that up to 2000 slaves could be awaiting sale at one time) are the ruins of the Old Fort, the Slave Hole, old st. Luke’s as well as a small museum with tools and chains from the slave trade.
