Forest this tall and this old is rare in West Africa now, and the Gola rainforest in eastern Sierra Leone is one of the largest pieces left of the Upper Guinean belt that once ran from Guinea to Ghana. Gola North is the northern block of the national park, which was formally established in 2011 and runs along the border with Liberia, where the forest continues into a matching protected area on the other side. It is a place where conservation has been built on top of a very hard recent history, because the civil war of 1991 to 2002 passed through this region and left deep scars.
The wildlife here is secretive. Western chimpanzees, Diana monkeys, forest elephants and pygmy hippos are all resident, and the white-necked picathartes, a bald-headed bird that builds mud nests on rock faces, is the species birdwatchers travel for. Most visitors will see far less than that: butterflies the size of saucers, hornbills crashing through the canopy, and the constant noise of insects and frogs. Under the trees the air is warm, wet and dark, and it smells of rot and flowers at the same time.
Riding here means laterite. The roads in the east of Sierra Leone are red earth, graded in the dry season and slick as grease in the rains, which run from May to October. December to March is the sensible time, though harmattan dust can fog the horizon. A dual-sport bike is the sensible choice, and river crossings may be simple wooden bridges or none at all.
The nearest place of any size is Jojoima, about sixteen kilometres off, with a population around three thousand. Do not count on reliable fuel there; Kenema, a large town farther west, is the realistic place to fill the tank, and a spare can is wise. They know the trails, and they know which bridges are safe.