Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry

*Dugout canoe in progress in the jungle*

Guinea-Bissau

A small country, Guinea-Bissau still made a huge impression on us. Once again we felt the immediate cultural shift as we crossed the border. People lived in more traditional settings, villages were smaller with houses lined up along the ubiquitous red dirt roads. Outside of of Bissau we never saw an ATM, an indoor market or another tourist. People in the country obviously worked hard, washing clothes in the rivers, hand grinding grain, cooking over charcoal fires and carrying daily water in buckets from the communal wells.

Communication was difficult for us. The official language is Portugese so we were back to knowing our ubiquitous two words, “hello” and “thank you.” The culture was much more reserved than the more northerly African countries we had just travelled through. Gone were the crowds of curious children and teenagers seeking conversation. People stared but kept away, trying to figure out who these strangers were driving by their homes.

As always, our first challenge was the border crossing. On our way to the border we stopped off at the consulate for Guinea-Bissau in Ziguinchor, Senegal, where we were able to pick up visas for $40 each, our easiest ones that were not “visa upon arrival” (VOA) at the border. It was our most remote border crossing to date, just a few buildings. We exited Senegal, drove a brief no-man’s-land, then came to a rope where we stopped and completed the Guinea Bissau entry process. No insurance office, no sim cards, no change makers. No other tourists. Just onlookers resting in the shade smiling and pointing to each consecutive office for us.

*Police building to check out of Senegal side of border*

First check-in building on Guinea-Bissau side: stop at the rope barricade, one door to check passports, next door to check vehicle. Then we were directed to another building to pay a 5000 CFA road tax (we got a receipt and were told police would ask for it later but no one ever did).

*Guinea-Bissau side: recorded passports and stamped in our visas. We were also able to purchase our passavant for the truck on site for 2500 CFA.*

*Our coastal route through Guinea-Bissau and Guinea - approximately two weeks due to waiting an extra five days in Conakry for visas*

Once again as we left the border the police checkpoints started. We passed through a total of four in Guinea Bissau. The first two in this area were straight forward, they looked at our papers and waved us on our way.

Our first night was near the peaceful town of Quinhamel with its shady, tree-lined main street. We found a quiet camping spot outside of town and settled in. Driving through the small villages in the area we encountered our first kids’ rope barriers. They would string a rope across the road in the hopes you would stop and give them money. Sometimes teenagers or adults would also get in the action. We quickly learned to approach the rope and just motion to the holders to put it down with the clear intention that we would just drive through if they didn’t. They always did.

*Calm and safe wild camping stop along the route*

*Typical red dirt roads in Guinea-Bissau*

Then on to the big city. We checked into a business hotel in Bissau with the intention of spending a few days in town taking care of visas - a constant pressure in travelling West Africa. It takes planning ahead, patience with bureaucracy, and figuring out all the hidden tricks and workarounds to be successful. In Bissau we hoped to receive our visas for Guinea-Conakry and the Ivory Coast.

*Turns out there was a big conference at our hotel and the President of Guinea-Bissau was coming to speak. We thought it hilarious that our truck actually had a front row seat to the whole event.*

*The decaying Ministry of Justice on the main street in the old town of Bissau.*

*Lots of construction going on, curious what it will look like in ten years, main thoroughfare through the older section of town.*

For our Guinea-Conakry visa, we had heard it was easiest to apply online with a Guinea-Bissau address. (We think that this is because your application is then routed through the local office which can be quicker and was definitely better for us as we had issues). We completed the application process in our hotel room but were not able to process payment. So set off for the Guinea Embassy to ask for help. The consul was super, he spent hours with us in his office trying to get the system to work. At the end of the day he said we should receive it by late afternoon. (We didn’t and had to go back the next day and wait a few more hours while he sorted the system out but in the end he handed us copies of our visas) $80 each.

For the Ivory Coast we had heard that there was a consulate in town that issued visas. The biggest challenge was finding the office, which was operating very stealthily - no signage whatsoever. The quiet woman inside handed us an example and told us to fill out the forms. We handed them and our passports over and she told us to come back the next day. We did but oops, we had neglected to sign them. We signed and she told us to come back the next day. We did and success! $25 each.

We track our expenses closely and to date in West Africa our biggest expenses on a daily basis have been gas and travel documents.

*Ivory Coast consulate building in Bissau*

*Dawn’s face appreciating restaurant food after several days of hard driving, two days of bureaucracy, and hours in waiting room plastic seats.*

We walked a lot of Bissau, especially from our hotel to the embassies. Very little of it was paved. Shopping consisted of bartering for fresh fruit and produce from sidewalk markets. We went to two “supermarkets” both of which stocked mostly random canned goods, cleaning and baby supplies and alcohol. We have not braved the butchers yet so have been eating many variations of rice and beans and pasta.

We left Bissau, visas in hand for two more countries and set out for Parque Nacional de Cantanhez to find chimpanzees. Google said the drive was four hours. Google was very wrong. It was a long day with our second two police barriers - much more insistent about a payment than the first two. Andy had to accompany them into separate buildings… It was stressful and unpleasant. But in the end we got through with no “payments”.

We carry a huge folder in the front seat with a ream of paper copies of everything anyone could ever ask for (fiches, health and travel and auto insurance, drivers licenses, vehicle registration, Covid and Yellow Fever vaccines, color passport copies, visas, passavants, etc.) Often once the police see the amount of paperwork we have they start to give up, knowing they are not going to be able to fine us for anything. At the end of the day, it is a bit of an intricate dance and game. They know they are not legally allowed to make us give them a gift but they are invested in trying to wear us down or find an infraction they can legally fine us for. We know that is their objective and it is counter to our objective to have positive interactions and not support a system of corruption and random targeting (locals get targeted too). Funnily enough, usually our conversations end on a positive note and there is a sense of a game well played as we leave. We had to pass back through both of these check points a few days later when we returned and at one of them the woman remembered us, laughed and just waved us through. It is interesting to note that when you research Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry, the biggest societal problems that come up are corruption and a lack of government stability. One man we spoke to said there is not a reliable system of loans for locals who want to either start a business or farm or build or buy a house. People want the government to care about the future and support economic growth but it is not happening. The people want and deserve more than the current system.

So back to our drive… It was getting dark and we hate driving in the dark in Africa. Potholes wait in the shadows to swallow you up, kamikaze goats, pigs, sheep, donkeys and cows all wait to dash in front of you, and people in dark clothing walk the edges of the roads. We pulled into a staffed gas station at a village to ask about camping and the wonderful young man told us we could camp behind the station. It was not our most beautiful site, but sometimes safe is good enough. We were even parked right by the all-night security guard’s station.

*Desperate camping behind the gas station*

The next day we waved to our friendly hosts and made it to the national park. We were headed to D’Unan Camp which was listed on iOverlander as a campground. We drove up and down the village looking for the camp with no success. An older man came up to ask if we were OK and we showed him the name of the camp on our phone. He smiled and waved for us to follow him. We followed behind him on a bumpy driveway past several homes and ended up in a clearing behind a family house. Using Google Translate on our phones we communicated with the teenager of the house who said we had arrived at the camp and could stay for $8 a night. We were shown to the toilet, which seemed to be in an abandoned house next door. All good. He also reached out to a guide for us to go into the park the next morning and see chimpanzees. We had arrived!

*Camp D’Unun at the edge of Parque Nacional de Cantanhez (in actual fact we were camping in a family’s backyard)*

*Our plastic egg box purchased in the Balkans, super useful in Africa*

Once we had set up camp we set off into the village to find food. Everywhere we have been so far we have been able to purchase excellent fresh bread for about $.25-$.50 a loaf - baguettes are everywhere and a staple food. This time we thought we would also buy eggs. With our trusty plastic carton we showed it at the first house on the street and they smiled and pointed us down the street. We made our way to another house selling bread, bought a loaf and showed the egg box. They smiled and pointed us further down the street. Finally success and a young man filled our box and we were on our way. The little shops in the villages seem to sell fresh bread and often a random assortment of dry goods. Sometimes you find eggs but we have never seen a cold section in the small towns.

*Walking with our guide in the jungle - found a canoe!*

The next morning we set off with our guide before light to find the chimpanzees. We found where they were sleeping in trees and saw them climbing down, but they were fast! We failed at pictures. But it was still a magical experience.

*Our best wildlife photo, yellow chimpanzee butt to the left of the tree*

Guinea-Conakry

Time to move on to another country, from Portugese Guinea-Bissau to French Guinea Conakry. The legacy of European colonization of the continent lives on in the official language spoken in each country.

We had thought the border crossing from Senegal to Guinea-Bissau was remote but it was nothing compared to the one from Guinea-Bissau to Guinea Conakry!

*Main approach to border between Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry, coming from Gabu*

Simple crossing, 30 minutes, soft ask for money which we declined. No passavant at the border, we had to drive 13 km north to Sambailo to the customs officer there for the paperwork. The officer told us it was 100,000 CFA ($160 USD). We told him the embassy said it was free. He was not happy but handed us our paper and told us to go.

We were looking for some hiking adventures so drove into the Fouta Djalon mountain region to meet up with Hassan Bah in the village of Doucki. He had been recommended to us by a family friend who had lived in The Gambia. We were feeling upbeat and happy, leaving visa woes behind for the time being and ready to see a new country. But wow, the roads to get there were really challenging. Steep, rocky, rutted…

*Beautiful scenery on the way to Fouta Djalon*

And then the truck started clunking. Andy got out to inspect and saw that we had broken a control arm on the front anti-sway bar.

*After removing the anti-sway bar, Andy duct taped the control arms to get us back on our way*

Feeling anxious and chagrined, we messaged Hassan to say we had broken down and had to get to Conakry to a mechanic.

*Varied and beautiful landscapes coming down from Fouta Djalon*

*After a long challenging day of driving we found a spot by a reservoir at dusk*

*Even for car repairs in Conakry, everything is cash. We had to stand at an ATM for 20 minutes taking out money in the maximum $20 increments to get the full $400. Each bill is worth $2 USD.*

*But we appreciate this crew at CFAO in Conakry, they got us back on the road*

Guinea (also known as Guinea Conakry for clarity) had a different personality all its own. The people felt lighter, happier, more smiles and music. They went out of their way to help us when they saw we were lost or having trouble navigating a tight fit with the truck. The country has more mountains and ecological variety than Guinea-Bissau which was very flat in the coastal areas we made it to.

*So many kind helpers like this gentleman in the plaid shirt who helped guide us through crowded streets*

Conakry was a tough town for us though. The geography alone makes it difficult - the city of 1.6 million people is built on a peninsula with few main roads heading in and out. Aside from the main roads (which are often closed off or switched to one way traffic based on a secret system only locals know) you end up either in streets that get progressively tinier going by peoples’ houses and then come to a dead end, or you can run into a major street market where maximum travel speeds are 1-2 km an hour. On one frustrating Sunday afternoon of gridlock it took us two and a half hours to go 15 km.

*Pedestrians taxis and motorcycles compete for street space in Conakry*

*And thoroughfares shown on mapping programs (OSM or Google) as major roads are regularly taken over by outside markets*

*Throughout Guinea, almost all food goods are bought at market stalls*

As a side benefit, entrepreneurship rules the day with people walking up and down the traffic lines selling just about anything you can think of. Fruit, plastic chairs, razors, toys, shoes, Kleenex, baked goods, clothing, towels… Most of the goods are stored on peoples’ heads in buckets, on trays or attached to hats and with an eye to design and marketing. It provided us endless entertainment and the ability to unexpectedly buy some products we had been needing.

*Marketing goods for sale with an artistic flare*

Streets also double as soccer fields and mosques with people praying. And the motorcycles are off the charts. As far as we could tell, motorcycles were exempt from all traffic rules, ignoring stop signs and lights and frequently travelling against and around traffic. They reminded us of water with droves of them always finding the path of least resistance.. Even though the traffic is some of the worst we have ever seen, there are not that many private cars. Taxis, motorcycles, tuk tuks and delivery trucks rule the roads. The city is also constantly veiled in a layer of smog - vehicles sometimes pour black and blue smoke and the red dust is constantly blowing in the wind. Although surrounded by coast, the water’s edge is mostly covered with densely-populated, poorly-constructed housing. All in all, not our favorite place to be waiting for paperwork. But it was not all negative, the people were amazing. Even when we were lost and blocking the way in a small neighborhood, we felt welcomed and assisted. Street music and street soccer provided entertainment and buying supplies in the market felt like a fascinating scavenger hunt.

*Scrumptious dinner at Le Patio, beautifully decorated restaurant in Conakry*

*View from our Conakry hotel -impromptu soccer game down below*

*Typical gridlock - yellow cars are all taxis*

The other challenge with Conakry was that we had to stay longer than we wanted to. It was a big center for obtaining West African visas. Our goals were Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, and obtaining our Ivory Coast laissez passer (LP - pass to drive a private vehicle through). For Liberia it was easy at their embassy to obtain both visas and an LP. Nigeria flat-out denied us - said we were too far away and to try in Benin. We got stuck waiting for our Ghana visa and our Ivory Coast LP. The Ghana online visa portal has quite a few hidden tricks. Luckily the West Africa Facebook group was super helpful getting us through it (for instance, you cannot check the “arriving by land” box even if you are, it then refuses to accept your following information, you have to check “arriving by air”). We received several requests for more information from the Ghana embassy a day apart but finally made it. The LP for Ivory Coast was denied so we will have to keep trying.

We knew traveling West Africa would be challenging. We were prepared for difficult roads, limited water, food and infrastructure, lack of communication, and remote village life. We were not prepared for totally chaotic, polluted cities and constant anxiety about being able to get the paperwork needed to continue our journey in a timely manner, or even at all. There are still multiple points where we know we could be forced to turn back or try to find a way to ship our vehicle around.

*Dramatic mountainous terrain outside of Conakry*

*Passenger vans maximize the passenger space and double as goods transport*

We had heard about African ingenuity and saw it everywhere in Guinea Conakry. People used everything to the utmost– if a vehicle was traveling on the road burning fuel, it was going to be fully used. In addition to the traffic jam entrepreneurship we saw in Conakry, people in villages were all producing something. Along the roads in front of their houses people were making and selling charcoal, firewood, honey, fruit, fence posts, clay bricks, woven fencing, the list goes on. Products were set out for sale or pick up completely on an honor system (as far as we could tell).

*Definitely no wasted space on this vehicle!*

*We escaped Conakry for weekend and camped at a village watering hole. Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.*

*Then went up the coast, Andy made a friend*

Our last day in Conakry was our best. We had been feeling discouraged and were still waiting for our Ghana visa, not being sure if we had one or three more days to wait. We made our way to the Centre d’Art Acrobatique Keita Fodeba that we read about in our Lonely Planet guidebook. Listed as a highlight for the country, we thought it would be a popular experience for visitors.

We parked the truck and started walking to where we thought the school was. We got lost in University grounds and stuck behind huge cement walls. Finally we walked by a deserted stadium with an Olympics logo on a wall. A young man standing out front asked if we were looking for the acrobatics and we said “yes!!!” He smiled and guided us into a huge warehouse and introduced us to the leader of the school. He explained that they recruit children from the streets and train them in various disciplines in the performing arts. After a couple of minutes, he said they were going to put on a show for us. Just for us. And they set out two chairs. Wow, the performers were amazing. The whole experience was so inspirational that we left Conakry with warmth in our hearts and hope for the youth that are committed to changing their lives

*Performances accompanied by live music - the drum section*

We made our last journey to the Conakry peninsula - more crazy car loads and roadside entrepreneurs -and heaved a sigh of relief that we had experienced the city and were now on our way. Next country: Sierra Leone - visa and LP available at the border (we hoped, you never really know). Thank you for reading, and as always please let us know if you have any questions at all.

Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry

Sierra Leone

Senegal and The Gambia