Banana Islands

The Banana Islands lie off the southern tip of the Freetown Peninsula, and the crossing from the mainland takes 20 to 40 minutes depending on the boat and sea conditions. The largest island is simply called Banana; the two smaller ones are known as Whale Island and Galway Island. On a calm morning the water is a blue that does not look quite real — a turquoise that belongs in travel photographs rather than in West Africa — and the islands rise out of it with a line of white beach and a fringe of coconut palms behind.

Banana Island was settled in the 19th century by liberated Africans and later by Sierra Leone Creoles who established coconut and cassava farms and built stone houses. The traces of that settlement are still visible: roofless stone structures with their walls partially intact, a small stone church whose bell is missing, the foundations of what was described in colonial records as the governor's residence. The vegetation has taken some of them over, with tropical trees growing out of collapsed roofs and vines pulling down walls, but the layout of the old village is still legible.

The ruins have a beauty that is different from the beach beauty of the islands. They are melancholy and quiet, the stone absorbing the heat of the afternoon and radiating it back slowly as the light changes. Walking among them early in the morning before the heat builds, with the sound of the ocean on the far side of the island and birds in the coconut palms, is one of the more unexpectedly moving experiences in the Western Area.

The current island communities are small — a few hundred people living on fishing and small-scale farming of cassava, sweet potato and coconut. Tourism is developing and a small guest house on Banana Island offers overnight stays. The Lobou can be arranged at local restaurants, and the catch-of-the-day from the morning fishing boats arrives at the cook's fire by midday. The islands are not yet on the main tourist trail, which gives them a quality of genuine discovery.

Snorkelling is one of the main attractions: the reef around the islands is healthy and the water is clear enough to see reef fish in vivid colour from the surface. On a clear day you can see the mountains behind Freetown from the highest point of Banana Island. The boat crossing back to the mainland in the late afternoon, with the sun going down over the peninsula, is a good moment to sit at the bow of the boat and consider what you have seen.

The combination of colonial ruins, white-sand beaches and clear water gives the islands a visual range that few destinations in Sierra Leone can match.

The islands are relatively undeveloped for tourism, giving a sense of discovery and genuine encounter with island communities.

Snorkelling and the scenic boat crossing are accessible activities that do not require special equipment or experience.