Cockle beach, River No 2

5 January 2023

A visit to Sierra Leone has to include a visit to it's amazing beaches. These have been the draw of the tourist trade and host crowds of local families every weekend.

Cockle point is a Sierra Leone owned simple resort set amongst trees on the edge of the river at River No 2 beach. The river is edged with mangroves and flows into the sea at this point.

I took a private taxi to reach the resort, for Le200,000 and paid Le300,000 for a comfortable hut looking out over the fields and hills. It was peaceful and quiet; an opportunity to wade across the river and walk along the length of un-spoilt beach. By the beach there are numerous dilapidated or half finished properties; signs of a struggling economy and previous years of a more lucrative tourist trade. I stopped at one resort on the beach front that is giving it a go - providing up market packages for short term European holiday makers. The owner said it was taking up a huge external investment and daily on-the-job training to keep the quality of service and accommodation working. He was optimistic and was going to give it two more years.