Going All Out: Real Party Itineraries
Hen Party in Freetown
This hen party in Freetown, Sierra Leone was organized by the bride-to-be, Karen, but was wonderfully intercepted by her friend who surprised her with a limo and a photographer. The surprise changed the entire mood of the party from a regular weekend out to a boisterous celebration. Fifteen girls and the bride-to-be partied hard on the ocean-side of Freetown in the popular bar strip between Aberdeen Beach and Lumley Beach. This hen party is a one-night affair that began with a sit-down dinner at one of the nicest eateries in Freetown and ended with a bar crawl complete with dancing on bar counters.
Karen had emailed her girl friends to invite them to Bliss, one of the fanciest restaurants in Freetown that serves Lebanese and international cuisine. Dinner was to be followed by a highly-anticipated pub crawl on the stretch of bars and clubs from Aberdeen Beach to Lumley Beach. The instructions in the email were “to wear little, drink lots, and invite female friends.” Karen arrived at dinner with strings of whiskey shots in individual packets, which are sold widely in Sierra Leone. The party of seventeen girls had wine and a great dinner.
After dinner, Karen’s friend Jess, “a boisterous blonde,” surprises her with a stretch limo to pick everyone up for the pub crawl, and all fifteen of the girls were in on the surprise. It was the first limo Karen had seen in Sierra Leone. In addition to the limo, a professional photographer followed the group of girls around all night, documenting their celebration. Penis-shaped candies were passed around for dessert.
The limo made its first stop at Roy’s, a cozy bar on the beach that, according to Karen, is “a favorite among the Lebanese community in Freetown – they play music and you can order food, drinks, or hookah.” Karen recalls their rowdy arrival to the place, “generally there is no dancing happening there. That is until we arrived, already drunk on Tyson [whiskey] and our sweet ride!” A stranger ordered them champagne with a sparkler to highlight the special occasion. After this, the party moved to Q bar, “a more rowdy bar with pool tables and dancing that’s more favored by locals.” The girls continued on to O’Casey’s, “the most popular expat hangout in Aberdeen” then to The O Bar, “the most popular Lebanese dance club on the beach, where we finished the night dancing atop chairs and tables into the wee hours.”
7:00pm: Dinner at Bliss on 110 Wilkinson Road.
9:30pm: Pub crawl begins: Roy’s on Lumley Beach Road, Q Bar on Lumley Beach Road, O’Casey’s on Off Cape Road and The O Bar at 7 Lumbley Beach Road.
The girls played lots of drinking games, such as Twister, but with shots.
ABOUT GOING ALL OUT
Going All Out is a weekly column by Nicole Kwoh that investigates real party itineraries. Each week, the column features a real bachelor/ette party itinerary from a different city around the world. While other columns may provide advice, this is the first one dedicated to what actually happens.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicole Kwoh is a travel lover and blogger.