Sierra Leone

 

 

 

Reclaiming My Ancestry Tour –  Sierra Leone 2021

MARCH 22 – APRIL 2, 2021 

REGISTRATION IS OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER 1, 2020

This trip will leave from Dulles Airport in Washington DC – please note that it is an overnight flight on both sides. We will limit this tour to the first 10 people who register only!!!

The cost of this trip is $3700 for Double and $4100 for Single 

What is included:
Roundtrip airfare from Washington DC to Sierra Leone
Hotel Accommodations
Transportation in Sierra Leone 
2 meals per day
Tshirt

African Naming Ceremony 

What is not included:

Gratuity of $100 per person
Visa fee from the Embassy of Sierra Leone (www.embassyofsierraleone.net)
Transportation to Washington DC
Travel Insurance (www.squaremouth.com/22411)
Vaccinations (Yellow Fever Vaccine is required to enter Sierra Leone www.passporthealthusa.com)
Spending money
Camera fee for some attractions

A deposit of $500 is due at the time of registration. A payment of $1550 is due by September 1, 2020. The balance of $1550 is due by November 20, 2020. If using credit cards for payments (via Square) there is a fee of 4% to use this service.

REFUNDS ARE GIVEN WITHIN 30 DAYS OF INITIAL DEPOSIT ONLY. NO REFUNDS WILL BE ISSUES AFTER 30 DAYS!!!

Payments can also be made with check or money order to Roots to Glory Tours P.O. Box 92, Stevenson, Maryland 21153.

Prices are not guaranteed after the final payment due date of November 20, 2020.

Payment Plan is available, please send us an email at roots@rootstoglory.com

*Our tours require a moderate amount of walking. Our tours are not recommended for people with serious medical or mobility challenges.

ITINERARY:

Day 1. Arrive, overnight in Freetown
Arrive to Freetown’s Lungi International Airport, which is one of the world’s most uniquely-situated airports, located on the northern coast of the Freetown Estuary. Transfer by boat to hotel.

Day 2. Freetown

After Breakfast travel to Bunce Island which is considered the largest Fort owned by the British during the slave trade.

Freetown City Tour

Day 3. Freetown/Makeni

After breakfast, travel to Makeni which is the headquarters of the Temne Ethnic group.

Check into hotel

Rest

DAY 4: Makeni/Karina

After breakfast travel to visit the headquarters of the Mandingo in Sierra Leone located in the Karina district.

DAY 5: Makeni/Rogbonko Village

After breakfast travel to Rogbonko cultural village to experience the unique rice culture of the Temne which supports a lot of their activities today including basket weaving.

(For more info on Rogbonko as well as the cultural experience please visit www.rogbonkovillage.com) We will learn how to make the baskets which are closely similar to the sweetgrass basket woven by the Gullah/Geechee of the Sea Islands of Georgia and the Carolinas.  This skill is widely believed to have been retained by enslaved Africans from West Africa but especially Sierra Leone.

DAY 6: Makeni/Bo

Leave Makeni after breakfast to travel to Bo which is the headquarters of the Mende Ethnic group. There we will visit with the Mende women in their village to learn the culture, history and most importantly how to cook like a Mende BOSS!!!

DAY 7: Bo

More cooking and learning the culture of the Mende

DAY 8: Bo

Culture and history of Mende

DAY 9: Bo/Tokeh Beach

After breakfast leave Bo to travel to the coast to the world famous Tokeh Beach. Spend the afternoon relaxing in the sun.

DAY 10: Tokeh Beach/Freetown

After breakfast travel to Freetown for last minute shopping before getting on a boat to Lungi Airport and returning to Washington DC. 

END OF TOUR

Day 6. Bo

Bo is the second city in Sierra Leone, and home to the Mende, the largest Ethnic Group in Sierra Leone. It is quieter, more tranquil and hotter than Freetown. Bo has some hidden gems and activities that make it a place worth exploring whilst visiting Sierra Leone. 

(At Bo visitors can visit country cloth weavers, Sande Mask carvers as well as a rice farm. Visitors can also witness some Mende cultural performances.)

Day 7.  Bo 

After breakfast we will travel to a local village to participate in a Naming Ceremony for those whose DNA are Mende.

DAY 8. Bo/Tokeh Beach
(Tokeh is a small coastal village settled on the Western Area Peninsula and has one of the most beautiful beaches Sierra Leone has to offer. The long, white-sand beach stretches all the way to River Number 2 and the seawater is calm, making it a popular and safe spot to swim. Tokeh beach has a backdrop of lush, green mountains and the old wooden pier that runs into the sea makes this place a visual spectacle.
Much of the village is still actively involved in fishing. Others make a living with woodcutting, coal burning, harvesting sea cucumber, driving taxis and selling vegetables and other foodstuffs.)

 

Day 9. Tokeh Beach

Relax on the beach

 

Day 10. Transfer to Freetown/Airport

END OF TOUR

We recommend that before you register for one of our tours you make sure that you are able to get the yellow fever vaccine. This is mandatory to enter in any African nation.

Registration Form Sierra Leone

  • Deposit Required / Refundable within 30 days of the initial deposit only. After 30 days, there will be no Refund!
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  • Waiver and Release Agreement ~~

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    I am physically capable of participating in the event and I acknowledge that I alone, am solely responsible for my personal health and safety, and the personal property I bring with me. I agree to conduct myself in a safe and prudent manner while participating in the event. if, for some reason, I am having difficulty continuing with the event, I am solely responsible for making the determination either to stop or continue on with the tour and do not rely upon Roots to Glory Tours to make that determination for me.

    I give Roots to Glory Tours permission to use my name and any photograph, voice, or likeness of me during the event in any promotional materials or publications. I consent to and authorize in advance such use and waive my rights of privacy I have in connection therewith.

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    I know conditions in my destination(s) may change rapidly and will stay informed of current events on a frequent, at least daily, basis by obtaining updated security and health information from, and registering with, the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate General and from the DoS, CDC and WHO websites. I will also enroll in the warden system with the U.S. Consulate(s) nearest my destination(s). If I am not a U.S. citizen, I will register with my home country’s Embassy or Consulate and get updated information from the U.S. and my home country’s Embassies or Consulates, and the DoS, CDC and WHO websites Expressly agree that the Waiver and Release is governed by the State of Maryland and is intended to be as broad and inclusive as is permitted by Maryland law. In the event that any portion of the Release is determined to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remainder of the Release shall be severed from that portion determined to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, and shall not be affected or impaired in any way and shall continue in full legal force and effect.

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    I HAVE READ THIS RELEASE AND I UNDERSTAND THE CONTENTS.

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