HERITAGE

Bunce Island was considered "the most important historic site in Africa for the United States" because higher prices were paid for enslaved African rice farmers sent to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to build rice plantations. As a result, many African Americans whose ancestors are from these states have roots in Sierra Leone. Historians have shown that captives from Bunce Island were also taken to Virginia and other North American Colonies.

LEGACY

Tasso Island was the first transit depot for enslaved Africans who were subsequently conveyed to the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean. However, due to its relatively large size and proximity to the mainland, slaves escaped frequently, and the island was abandoned by the traders, Bunce Island became the location of the largest British slave castle on the Rice Coast of West Africa.

From 1670, tens of thousands of African captives were exported to North America and the West Indies until the British Parliament ended the inhumane practice of chattel slavery in 1808.

Tasso Island served as the principal plantation due to its greater size and ability to produce agricultural and essential supplies.

TRIUMPH

Sierra Leone is the ancestral homeland of both freed Africans from the United States and the United Kingdom, and those once shackled aboard ships like the Amistad after slavery was abolished.

More than 50,000 freed Africans from around the world settled here, giving rise to a city proudly named Freedom Town, one that pulsates with life and diversity. Freetown became the epicenter of Britain’s naval operations to stop the transatlantic slave trade after slavery was abolished.

Today, Sierra Leone is home to sixteen ethnic groups, including the Mende, Temne, Limba, and Kono, each offering a rich tapestry of traditions, music, cuisine, and warm-hearted hospitality.

This is not just a destination—it’s an immersion into the soul of Africa.