Freedom in Freetown

August 31, 2009 4:44 AM

Moving to Sierra Leone, or thereabouts. Freetown? Bo? Where to go? Any first hand suggestions?

I've been in Africa for 10 months, and I'm looking for a change from the oppressive desert and the cultural conservatism.

I want to go someplace where I can live cheaply, focus on my writing, music. I've been to a lot of the big African capitals, and I'm normally put off by the crushing chaos. How is Freetown - or the other, semi, mid sized cities? How is the ambiance? Is there much of an arts scene? What would be a good quarter to live?

posted by iamck to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

You've probably been already, but Bamako, Mali is a FANTASTIC place. Lots of life, and fantastic music/arts scene. And it's close to the Malian music festival up near Tombouctou (I forget the name of the town)

Avoid Guinea-Conakry like the plague, though. While I did fall in love with it while I lived there, it's NOT a very inspirational place for creativity. The Boké region of Guinea, though, has some fantastic drummer groups, as well as traditional traveling dance and theatre groups. An actor/dancer friend of mine took some classes with them for awhile, if you're interested in more info, send me a message, and I can try to get you contact details.
posted by hasna at 5:17 AM on August 31

You might try Lightstalkers.com it's a bulletin board for journalists and photographers. The people there generally seem to know about wherever you'd want to go. There's always like...what's the best hostel in blah blah, Malaysia threads. These people get around.
posted by sully75 at 7:37 AM on August 31 [1 favorite]

St. Louis in Senegal, or Kumasi in Ghana, both the second-largest cities (but actually pretty smallish, compared to, like, Lagos or something insane like that) in their respective countries, are each culturally potent centers.
posted by mdonley at 8:09 AM on August 31

I can't offer anything useful, I just want to introduce you to this great song by New Zealand band Coconut Rough from the mid-80s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0M_sBU3QwI

Hope the move goes well.
posted by sycophant at 5:23 PM on August 31

Lightstalkers IS a fantastic resource...a bit difficult to join however, you have to be invited. I was actually able to find people living there and get info via Couchsurfing, with a few members living in Sierra Leone...
posted by iamck at 9:22 AM on October 9