Meet Peter Momoh Bassie, Sierra Leone’s top tour guide

Much of the history of Sierra Leone – from the slave trade to the civil war (1991–2002) – is difficult. How do you make it engaging without it becoming too heavy?

It’s about how you present it. The civil war, for example, is part of the modern story of our country, along with slavery. I tell our history from pre-colonial times to the present day, but when I get to the war, I explain my own story. When I say that I was a child soldier, everyone wants to know more about it.

You weave your life into tours?

One of the places I look forward to showing people is the province where I was born and where I was captured aged 11. My village is where my mother was buried in a mass grave during the war. I refer to this as impact tourism.

How did you go from child soldier to becoming a tour guide?

After the war, I travelled home to my village. I saw my brothers and they were scared of me. I didn’t even sleep in the house; I slept outside. If you looked at me, I’d be angry with you. At this time there were lots of organisations, missions and programmes to help counsel people. I began counselling and became a practising Catholic. That helped me a lot.

At the age I was captured, I was in secondary school. Six years later, after the war, I went back to school. When I’d finished, a man explained to me the benefits of tourism. Because of the condition of the country then, many people came on behalf of NGOs, businesses and missions, and they needed guides. Now they come for tourism.

What are people’s reactions when they visit historical sites such as the slave fort on Bunce Island?

Curiosity. People want to know our history; they want to know its stories and how Sierra Leoneans feel – especially when it comes to slavery. In some visitors you can even see remorse for what their country has done.

Beyond capital Freetown, where should visitors go?

There is great nature here, in the wildlife sanctuary of Tiwai Island or our highest peak Bintumani Mountain (1,945m). Go to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to see the chimps, or to Gola Rainforest National Park for pure jungle – it’s so big that it spreads over the border into Liberia. There are chimps in Gola too, and it’s also where local people would travel to get traditional medicines.
When I’m in Gola forest, it reminds me of when I was a young boy in the Secret Society (a rite of passage among children in many Sierra Leonean villages). These are traditional schools for training young boys and girls. We were shown how to set traps and take care of the home, and to look for signs in the forest for finding directions.

Any tips for first-time visitors?

Bring disposable cash. There are ATMs here, but they are not all over.

What is the strangest question you’ve been asked as a guide?

Here in Sierra Leone you see people carrying things on their head, such as baskets of charcoal – I’ve seen nine, maybe ten baskets at a time. Guests ask: “Where do they learn this?” But there is no college for that, my friend.

Peter is a guide at Tourism is Life