My magical experience
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan learns about a beautiful African country with a troubled past and amazing wildlife...
Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in the world and has a tumultuous history, yet this West African country is rich in natural resources, rare wildlife and spectacular beaches.
Now, comedian Romesh Ranganathan joins local musician Gwyn Jay Allen to delve deeper into the real Sierra Leone for the first of a two-part series.
‘In terms of challenging preconceptions, Sierra Leone is possibly the country with the most textbook negative connotations,’ admits The Weakest Link host Romesh.
The country has faced its hardships, not least the decade-long civil war that broke out in 1991 and left 50,000 dead, one million displaced and many the victims of brutal amputations, child sex slavery and rape. Yet Romesh meets a football team comprised of amputees who fought on both sides of the war. ‘They’ve all decided that they need to forgive the things that were done to them and they need to move on,’ says Romesh. ‘You can’t help but be moved by that.’
Discrimination
He also visits a former slave fort from which 30,000 slaves were shipped to the Americas, and he hears that the Creoles, descendants from freed slaves, are still unable to buy property anywhere other than the Freetown peninsula, which was designated for former slaves.
‘This is discrimination that exists today as a legacy of what happened all that time ago,’ says a shocked Romesh.
The country is teeming with amazing wildlife and Romesh ventures through spectacular national parks searching for pygmy hippos.
‘This has been a magical experience,’ he says. ‘I love Sierra Leone as a country.’