Category: Travel

Back in Conakry for Louisa’s visit to the eye doctor today. Results tomorrow.

While sitting outside the pharmacy, we got in a conversation with two university students. One is studying law and the other political science. We were surprised. But he said in the university they were free to discuss everything. He also said the young of Guinea and Africa see things differently than the old first generation leaders. The young understand the need to improve the infrastructure. They are hopeful for the future. I hope it’s not the the naivitie (sp.) of the young. Time will tell. Against most logic, I feel that Africa is turning the corner, or more appropriate to say bottoming out. It’s only been a generation since they got independence. And they didn’t have countries before that. One book said something like one percent of Guineans were literate when they gained independence. And the French trashed Guinea when they left. Hi to Abdoulaye and Amadou!
I may have said this before, but Guineans claim to be Guineans first before their tribal groups (we of course are primarily speaking to younger educated people).

Other impressions: The Guineans are a little reserved and rarely speak to us first. But once they are engaged they are friendly and helpful. Yesterday on the taxi ride from Labe to Conakry (another story, towards the end of this post) we asked to borrow a cell phone to call and it was freely offered. We then said we wanted to get off before the station, but we didn’t know the name of where we wanted to get off. With the guide book map and a couple of helpers, they figured it out. Someone who was getting off at the same place waited to make sure we got ourselves (bikes and luggage) together and knew the way before he left. Then the taxi driver (who had also made sure we found the lunch place) had us follow him through the intersection to make sure we were going the right way.

It may be their nature or the lack of tourists, but we are not hassled. When we are unloading at the taxi stop people offer to help or help when asked but leave us alone otherwise. Very pleasant especially compared to places like India (and it’s a whole lot cleaner than India. I’m not picking on India, it’s just a country many of us have visited.). We pay the posted price for long distance taxi tickets. We may be paying a higher price for luggage, but it’s not much in any case.

Much of my reading had lead me to believe that West Africa hadn’t advanced in twenty or more years. Net that may be true, but here there are signs of progress. Roads being built. Decent cell phone service (poor land line). New motos in the more distant towns. People seem healthy. Nonetheless, poor and working hard to survive. People carrying wood for fuel. Many small (tiny) “businesses.” Electricity non-existent or erratic.

Another third world taxi ride: To see the good eye doctor we had to return to Conakry–400km and 9 hours away. We had tried to hire a taxi for ourselves, but something went wrong, he didn’t show up at the hotel and so we left for the taxi station. We were the last two to sign on for a nine passenger 20-30 year old compact station wagon. (Same as described in an earlier post, but this ride was in a smaller Renault 21, not the larger Peugeot 504.) We opted for the middle row with four people hoping for fresh air for both of us and head room for me. I thought a nine hour ride would be excruciating particularly with back problems. But it was barely tolerable. And we kept moving fairly well in the hotter country near Conakry (it’s pleasant in the mountains were we were). After loading the roof including two chickens tied by their ankles, we took off 100m to get gas. The usual suicidal passing of other cars and taking advantage of momentum to go fast down the mountain (car accidents are probably the most dangerous thing for foreigners). We stopped for lunch, and when it was apparent we didn’t have a clue where to go, the driver took us to a restaurant and helped us order. The difficulty for us was that the restaurant is kind of hidden behind other street vendors and was a couple of doors down from where we had stopped. We haven’t gotten used to what street side restaurants look like in these “truck and taxi” stop towns. We saw three other Westerners while eating and they had a guide and an AirCon Land Rover. Lunch was rice with beef (like pot roast but better seasoning). Another stop for the driver to buy a large bag (gunny sack size) of something from a road side vendor in the country–maybe sweat potatoes that he will resell, a wild guess. Then a detour to take two guys back a few miles to the their destination, some kind of communication error. As we approached Conakry the driver made a short detour to perform some kind of errand. Then people started getting off as we approached town (this all within the last 5km or so, we’re in the “suburbs”), and as I mentioned earlier we got off early too, which saved us at least half and hour of travel and the dirt and noise (and minor concerns of stuff disappearing) of the large taxi stop. Loaded our bikes and went looking for a hotel. We had phoned the only small nice pension we had found in this area, but was booked. But there are several tourist hotels in this area (seems to be the only area with them except the nearby off-shore islands), and the second one we went to had a decent room. Clean, large, air-conditioning, hot water, shower, toilet, electricity in the evening, nice courtyard. Relatively expensive, $45 per night. This is compared to $12 for a room and two meals a day in Dalaba.

A side note. The driver and car we originally planned to ride with found us in the station, but we were busy loading and all and couldn’t find out what had happened.

We are getting comfortable here. We are getting used to things as they are. Such as recognizing restaurants and realizing that the people are not used to poor French speakers and don’t know how to simplify what they say for us. And we really liked being in the small town in the mountains, Dalaba. The weather and scenery were good, the town was quiet. Not much air pollution, because not a lot of traffic. And we were looking forward to exploring the country-people in the small villages and the scenery–mountains and waterfalls.

We’re now in the noisy dirty city of Labe. We are staying a nice hotel (hot water, shower, nice setting, 1 km out of town). I don’t think they have the typical budget tourist hotels here. The city is large. We just left Dalaba which was a few thousand people. Quiet, slower pace. And a bit higher and cooler. We had planned to spend a few days in Dalaba doing some riding and vistiing some of the smaller nearby villages. But Louisa has a problem with one eye and we wanted to come the hospital here in Labe. It turns out there is an opthamology center with the hospital. They seemed to know what they were doing, so we’re hoping the diagnosis is correct. According to them it’s not serious.
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We did spend about ten minutes this morning talking to a corner street vendor. A man and his wife. They were very friendly. Louisa was the one involved in the conversation, but it gave me a chance to take some photographs of the passing traffic. People here don’t want there photos taken in general. The best information we’ve got so far is that is it mainly why should you take my photo; it benefits the taker, but not the subject. But the nurses and doctors in the clinic were happy to have their photos taken as long as I send copies. My street technique now is to use my tiny camera and keep it covered in my hand, then quickly take a picture using the screen to view. The large camera is a non starter. The guide books said this was to be expected in Guinea, but Mali should be different.

The men in Labe are mostly wearing western clothes, jerseys, T-shirts, and shirts. Some of the officials and people like doctors are wearing khaki pants and shirts. The women run the whole gamet (sp.)–traditional shirt and top of matching large print to full on western. Very few short shirts and bare shoulders, but occasionally. Mostly short hair, usually in corn rows. Some scarves, once every couple of day, full on chador. Except for the occasional beggar, all clean and neat. Tennis shoes to flip flops. Some camo wear.

To get from Dalaba to Labe, after waiting 45 minutes for the taxi to fill and no new customers had shown up, we realized we needed to hire the whole cab. Around $15 for the 50 mile ride. Was a treat after being squeezed into normal shared (bush) taxis. Squeezed means a minimum of 3 in the from seat (four if they pick someone up along the way), four in the second seat and three in the third row. The vehicle is usually a Peugeut 504 wagon. Small children don’t count, so we had 15 in and on our vehicle on our previous ride. Two children in our second row, another child in the back and two standing on the rear bumper holding onto the rack. And they have to deal with swerving around pot holes. And these vehicles are old and very well used.

The poverty is evident, but there are signs of prosperity. Private cars, lots of motos. Here in Labe, the motos are used as taxis. One Peace Corps volunteer told us that Guinea is the most corrupt country/government in the world. But people don’t generally try to cheat us. We get street food at the same price as everyone else. Not sure about the taxis. Suspect we get nailed for our bikes and luggage–about $4 extra. Most things are cheap. Our Dalaba hotel was $6 each per night with breakfast, dinner, and bottle drink at dinner. Our fancier hotel here with bidet, etc. is about $20 with breakfast.

We’re now up at about 3000 ft. Runs from jungle like to more like California foothils, but more variety of plants. Plenty of fruit growing, but they work hard to get manioc, corn, and rice. Also seem to hauling cooking wood from long distances. In Kindia young boys were hauling heavy loads of wood on there heads down a trail that almost required us using our hands at times to decend.

For now.

We took the bush taxi approx. 100km (60 miles) from Conakry to Kindia. Kindia is inland and maybe 1000 ft. elevation. The ride was fine except being squeezed four across in a Renault 21–a compact. Upon arrival we put our bags on our bikes and rode about 4 km out of town to what was supposed to be the nicest hotel. The hotel is fine–quiet, nice rooms, electricity at nice for the AC. We napped and then took a short bike ride back away from the road. We found a village and people working in the field. Unfortunately while talking to about 20 people in the village square (where the well is. There is very little running water here), my GPS disappeared from my bike. There were many little kids around. We told the village major what happened and he said he would look. To make a long story short we later enlisted (they volunteered) some French tourists who enlisted their local connections to make a visit to the village and offer a reward. The fear is that the little kids have destroyed it trying to get the phone/radio/game boy working. We will find out this evening. Yesterday we took a 20 mile round trip bike ride to some a nice waterfall. We were the only tourists.

 (Monday. Apparently part of this got cut off and was not posted. I’ll try again now.)

So much to tell. But first the really important stuff 😉 We slept last night with a blanket. The weather here at about 4000 ft is quite pleaseant. Maybe 80 during the day and 60 at night. And the humidity is reasonable. We also had two vegetables at dinner last night. Canned peas and cooked onions and tomatos. Went well with the BBQ chicken. The taxi ride here was OK too. People don’t hassle tourists here as much and that makes it easier to rearrange ourselves at the taxi stops. We take our panniers and odds and ends and load them into a large duffel which we brought almost by accidentm but it means only one thing to keep track of. As well as the bikes and small backpacks.

Miracles happen or people are really helpful. With the help of the French running groups organizers and their assistant Aisha (umlaut over the i), the GPS was returned without any damage. The major made an announcement at the school that when the batteries went dead the GPS would blow up. A child dropped it off at the major’s house and ran. Aisha made three or four trips to the village to connect with the right people and spread the work. The major is a very nice guy too. He runs a CD “boutique.” He has maybe 200 music CDs in stock. But that is apparently enough to afford a moto. But his village still depends on well water.

The French group started their five day run today–don’t know if explained this before.

To answer a question: why are we here? Louisa got interested in West African art–fabrics and masks in art school. And then she came to enjoy all the world music from West Africa. Since I’ve known her she said she wanted to come to West Africa. I had no particular interest, but about two years ago, I agreed to consider the idea and read some travel guides and decided many things would interest me here and travel was possible (barely). We had planned to go at this time last year, but visas and shots take a while to organize, and we put it off a year; established a schedule to make sure we got things arranged in time. So here we are. One of my interests in going to second and third world countries is that they will change rapidly, so I have to visit them now. The element of adventure must be part of it and getting away from all the comforts. I think I learn more than I would from other means too. Louisa likes bicycle adventures too.

For you peak baggers (and you know who you are), we bagged the highest peak in the Kindia area Saturday. And our thighs are still reminding us.

And we just found out what all of you have known for almost a week. The election results. Fantastic, wow!  What can we say, but the country can now be turned around. This makes my day, my week, my year.

The internet cafe we are in is supposedly the only one in town and is in back of a private house, not in the main part of town, down some back streets. It may be that these people are well off and somehow and associated with an African American who set up a program here to teach English.

Time to sign off. My previous post may not have been posted yet, so these may come out of order.

Wednesday we took the bush taxi approx. 100km (60 miles) from Conakry to Kindia. Kindia is inland and maybe 1000 ft. elevation. The ride was fine except being squeezed four across in a Renault 21–a compact. Upon arrival we put our bags on our bikes and rode about 4 km out of town to what was supposed to be the nicest hotel. The hotel is fine–quiet, nice rooms, electricity at nice for the AC. We napped and then took a short bike ride back away from the road. We found a village and people working in the field. Unfortunately while talking to about 20 people in the village square (where the well is. There is very little running water here), my GPS disappeared from my bike. There were many little kids around. We told the village major what happened and he said he would look. To make a long story short we later enlisted (they volunteered) some French tourists who enlisted their local connections to make a visit to the village and offer a reward. The fear is that the little kids have destroyed it trying to get the phone/radio/game boy working. We will find out this evening. Yesterday we took a 20 mile round trip bike ride to some a nice waterfall. We were the only tourists. Louisa talked to the trinket vendor and he said the French mostly come in December and the American’s in January and February. 

Aïsha, the young lady who helped in the village became our guide for some fabric shopping. Only two pieces so far. Well, a third that was made into a shirt. We missed the bargaining because Aïsha took care of that. A good change of pace to have a guide. I suspect we will use them more here in Africa, but time will tell. It is not a problem being hassled like Asia. No is understood, but it is more difficult to accomplish some things.

Martin asked about motos as transportation in Conakry. They don’t exist there. There are a few private ones. And many shared taxis, but not enough for rush hour. In Kindai there are many motos (small motorcycles) both private and I think also to hire. We’ve been on bikes or with guide, so not positive. The motos in Kindia are quite new, so I suspect a new addition to the area. The city to city taxis are in fairly good condition, the local ones are very well used. The main roads are very good. Smooth and wide enough. Our bike ride yesterday was OK because not much traffic, a car every few minutes, occasional truck, and also motos and bicycles. Evidence of many accidents though.

At our nice hotel there are three choices for dinner, brochette (shish kabab), steak, and chicken; all with French fries, no vegetables. There are plenty of vegetables in the markets. Local fruit is practically free.

We are now in an area with mountains and forest. Some of it is quite beautiful. Tomorrow we’re going to climb Mount Gangan, something like 3000 ft. We will leave early to avoid the heat. Cooler here, but still hot and humid. It’s been partly cloudy just about every day. They come and go. We had thunder storms at night in Conakry.

We still are having some problems sleeping, not sure if it’s the bed’s, the humidity, the Malarone.

I know this is all a bit disjointed, as I’m on a slow connection, can’t see what I wrote yesterday, and I can’t remember what I wrote here and what I wrote in my notebook.

For now.

Melting. We are not used to the heat. We did finally make it to the US Embassy. It was moved a few months ago to the “suburbs.” We were looking to see if a women who worked for her uncle twenty years ago here was still working here. Her uncle, Gary, worked for USAID. As one would expect she no longer was still here.

Then we took a shared taxi to the bus station. We are leaving Conakry tomorrow. And all of you who been in third world bus stations know they are hectic. And most buses (although it looks like here it will be a shared taxi) leave relatively early in the morning. We both wanted to know where it was since we’ll probably bicycle here and also to get an idea of what we’re up against taking our bikes.

 The interesting part was that we entered by walking over a bridge, and Louisa decided to take some video. That almost immediately brought on the  (pseudo) military guy looking tot throw his weight around/collect a bribe. We tried to explain that we had a paper from the government that said it was OK to photograph. We had stopped at the tourism bureau to get the form and the guy there said it wasn’t necessary, but he zeroxed a letter saying it was OK. Our military friend couldn’t even read it, but didn’t care as it wasn’t getting him his bribe. Several people came to our aide. They are not intimidated. One guy negotiated the bribe from about $8 to about $5. It appeared as if the military guy was going to make a scene, so we gave the guy the
$4. One of our helpers pulled us aside to explain it all. He’s an accounting student. We decided to let him show us a place to eat and later where to find an internet cafe. Restaurants aren’t plentiful until evening and not always well marked, at least to the American eye. The menu was fish and rice, and a Fanta. Then to the Internet Cafe, which is somewhat airconditioned which is very nice.  i think we’re only eating about half of what we should be because of the heat and difficulty of finding a sit down restaurant.

 Yesterday we found the failings of the transportation system. We are staying about 5 km out of town, and we were ready to return about 6 pm. Crowds at every corner trying to catch shared taxis. We talked to one guy who said it was worse than usual. And we knew if a taxi showed up for our location, it would be full by the time we gained that information. We tried a few other corners and then got the idea to find a good hotel where they would certainly find us a taxi. A doorman flagged what appeared to be private car which was willing for about ten times the normal price, which considering that was about$8 and would save us at least two hours of standing around in the heat.

Last night we stopped by the apartment where the women who helped us from the airport is staying. She is shaying with a women from Dallas who is a coordinator for the Peace Corps. A very nice and large apartment. Guess one needs that if you’re working in a third world country. It would be hard to function if one was staying where we are now. No running water. No screens. Bed, but no tables. Electricity at night to run the fan.

We have seen markets for fresh fruit and occasionally bread. But little else. Obviously not a whole lot available, but there has to be more available somewhere. And the richer buy goods somewhere.

The people are friendly and helpful. I think their French is enough different from our poor French to cause us some difficulties. Some English spoken. Our student assistant and others speak good enough English to communicate.

PS. I was reminded of the setting for English keyboard which is helping.

We are in Conakry and I am typing on a French keyboard which is similar, but enough different to be confusing. I should probably use hunt and peck. We had a 16-hour layover in Casablanca. When to a large relatively new mosque on the seashore. Then to a hotel for a shower and nap. The flight took its toll, particularly on Louisa. A young women we met on the plane, here for a six week work stint gave us a ride to a hotel. We had not been able to make a reservation. The good was that we saved about two hours at 2 in the morning leaving the airport, the bad was that the hotel was twice what she thought it was going to cost andmore than we planned for. OK for adjusting to West Africa. Hotel is a sterile compound. We put the bikes together with lots of volunteer’s help. Good to be out on the street in the real world. We probably aren’t in the poorest neighborhood, but typical third world poor construction. However mqny of the women are dressed up in very colorful outfits. Shirt and top of matching pattern. Don’t know if it’s everyday or because it’s Sunday. All our baggage made it here checked straight from LA. Remarkable because on our last trip to NY, my bag was lost in both directions. Even got a full meal on our 11pm Royal Air Maroc flight. Hot and humid, but not quite as bad as I expected. More later–the keyboard is definitely breaking my train of thought. That and 8 hr time shift.

Since many of you have responded we’re now obligated to post. And since I should be packing, I’ll post. My excuse is that I was looking for information on creepy crawlies (bed bugs) and ran across some quotes.

~ And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more. –Erica Jong
~ The only risk is a risk not taken……–Unknown

The question I was trying to answer is are Silk bed liners more effective against bed bugs than cotton or fleece ones. I came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter and that silk was pushed because it sounded more luxurious.

We just received our passports back from the Malian embassy in today’s mail. Took longer than two weeks because of a payment problem.