Freetown's most famous landmark is the fat Cotton Tree in the centre of the old part of town. Nobody's sure if it can be quite that old, but some say the city's Black Poor settlers rested in its shadows when they landed in Freetown in 1787. Either way, the tree has witnessed a lot, including the invasion of a huge colony of chirpy bats that were kicked out by authorities in 2010 – rumour was right, they returned in 2013.
