Qualla: Bonthe https://qualla.com/bonthe en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:09 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Bonthe https://qualla.com/bonthe Bonthe: Introduction https://qualla.com/bonthe/ There are no cars in Bonthe. Walk its grid of streets and the loudest sound is birdsong, the wash of the tide, and perhaps a bicycle bell. A century ago this was different: Bonthe was a working port on the south end of Sherbro Island, its waterfront lined with trading houses and warehouses, its harbour busy with ships carrying palm oil out to the wider world. Then in the 1960s the trade moved to Freetown, the ships stopped coming, and the town simply slowed to a stop. What it left behind is one of the most atmospheric places in Sierra Leone: a quiet, friendly settlement of crumbling grandeur that takes barely an afternoon to cross.

Read more: Bonthe on Qualla

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/9/r/4/bonthe-wk/e9r4-bonthe-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Bonthe: The Villas of Better Days https://qualla.com/bonthe/ Bonthe's great pleasure is its decay. Grand 19th-century houses still line the streets, their wooden verandas sagging, their masonry softened by tropical damp and creeping green. These are the villas of the town's glory days, when Bonthe was a thriving British trading hub and the...

Read more: Bonthe on Qualla

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/9/r/4/bonthe-wk/e9r4-bonthe-the-villas-of-better-days.mp3 0:06 2 full Bonthe: Graves of the Slave Patrol https://qualla.com/bonthe/ Bonthe was settled in the 17th century by the Royal African Company, which used the island as a trading base - and later, after abolition, as a staging point for operations against illegal slave traders working this coast. A graveyard in the town holds the remains of British sold...

Read more: Bonthe on Qualla

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/9/r/4/bonthe-wk/e9r4-bonthe-graves-of-the-slave-patrol.mp3 0:06 3 full Bonthe: Getting There Is Half the Story https://qualla.com/bonthe/ Reaching Bonthe is an adventure in itself, and a slow one. From Bo you take a shared taxi or minibus to Mattru Jong on the mainland, then wait for the next day's transport boat out to the island. There is no rushing it. Once on Sherbro there are no roads beyond the town, so a gui...

Read more: Bonthe on Qualla

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/9/r/4/bonthe-wk/e9r4-bonthe-getting-there-is-half-the-story.mp3 0:06 4 full Bonthe: Birds, Boats, and the Edge of the Map https://qualla.com/bonthe/ Beyond the town, Sherbro Island unfolds in rice paddies, mangroves, and astonishing birdlife. Storks and pelicans wade the shallows; tropical species flit through the trees. Hire a boat and you can drift between fishing villages that see few outsiders, the whole island wrapped in...

Read more: Bonthe on Qualla

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/9/r/4/bonthe-wk/e9r4-bonthe-birds-boats-and-the-edge-of-the-map.mp3 0:06 5 full