the jetty in Freetown from where our speedboat ferry leaves for the airport
Getting to the airport of Freetown is not that easy. You can go by road, some three hours’ drive all around the bay, but the shorter route is to take a ferry across the bay, to Tagrin, and from there a 20 minute taxi ride to the airport. Piece of cake? Hmmm. There are several ferries, at different times of the day. They claim to take flight departures into account, so the schedule varies accordingly. But how, that is not necessarily easy to find.
there are also other boats in the harbour
A slow ferry, the cheap option and most fun, I think, departs at 2 pm, and takes an hour, so in principle with enough time to make our 4.45 pm flight. But we have learned that not everything runs in time here, and we don’t want to take the risk. So we opt for one of the two fast solutions, the water taxi, at US$ 45 a person likely far too expensive for local people. Booking online is a challenge, except paying. We never receive a ticket, but somehow, at the jetty we are allowed on the boat without paying again.
the ferry terminal
and there is our boat
Freetown skyline from the sea
and on the other end, from the airport jetty, blissful peace
and floating fishing canoes
It then turns out that with this company we sail directly for the airport, something we didn’t know either, but never mind. Leaving Sierra Leone is easy, except for the long, slowly moving queue for the obligatory security payment. And after a short, direct flight to Banjul entering The Gambia is equally easy – except for the long, slowly moving queue for the obligatory security payment.
Half an hour later we check in in the Ngala Lodge.
