Makeni is not a tourist town and does not pretend to be. The sights are modest: a market, a cathedral, a university, and the granite hump of Wusum Hill rising at the edge of the city. What rewards a visit is the texture of an ordinary West African provincial capital — busy streets, Friday prayers spilling out of the central mosque, students walking back from class, traders unloading produce.
Most travelers spend half a day in town before heading out to the north of Sierra Leone. Bring stout shoes, drink only bottled water, and ask before you photograph anyone.