Sierra Leone: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Sierra Leone feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 30 written places.
Warmth is the default setting; every exchange starts with a handshake and 'how di body?'.
✓ Considered polite
- Shake hands often and ask after family before any business - skipping the greeting is the real rudeness
- Learn a little Krio - 'how di body?' and 'tell God tenki' earn instant smiles
- Eat with your right hand when sharing rice and plasas from a common bowl
- Accept hospitality graciously - guests are fed first and it is meant sincerely
✗ Better avoided
- Hand over or receive anything with the left hand
- Skip the small talk in markets - haggle with a smile and a chat, not a hard face
- Photograph people without asking first
- Refuse an offered kola nut or taste of food without at least a token try
Worth knowing
- Cash rules - carry new leones in small notes; prices are sometimes still spoken in old thousands
- Mobile money such as Orange Money often works where cards do not - only some Freetown hotels and supermarkets take Visa
- Friday afternoons pause for mosque and Sunday mornings for church - both rhythms are respected everywhere
- Star beer and poyo palm wine are sold openly across the country
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.