Cotton Tree Sierra Leone

Freetown's most famous landmark is the fat Cotton Tree, which looms large over the buildings of central Freetown. Rumoured to be hundreds of years old, it is said to have played a key role in the city's history, when poor black settlers rested in its shadows after landing in Freetown in 1787. Either way, the tree has witnessed a lot, including the sometime occupation by a huge colony of chirpy bats.