Man to Korhogo, direct, in 17 hours

Why I even wanted to go to Korhogo. Not sure. There is the name which is unusual. I had a student in Abidjan, named Ferhana (another unusual name) who was somehow different from all the others female students, apart from also being beautiful – I guess you’d call it je ne sais quoi – and […]

Tiwai Island to Jendema: bike bike bike

I woke up before 7am. The rain was heavy. I just lied down waiting for it to be over. It was quite chilly. Very often here you don’t get anything to cover yourself with in bed as it’s too hot and such was the case here. I covered myself with towel and it was enough. […]

Freetown to Bo: how it is to be an alpha male

The cleaning day – which prohibits any movement unless you have a “pass, people stay at homes, cars don’t drive, businesses stay closed – didn’t in my eyes do much cleaning. It ended at 12pm. I set off to find bus to Jui, a junction where I was told to find transport on to Bo. […]

Bo to Freetown: sorry we’re full

The caretaker of my guesthouse in Bo said there are two government busses going to Freetown in the morning: at 5am and at 8am. If I miss them, there are other vehicles though. Bradt Guide says government busses are the best mode of transport because they’re the cheapest, fastest (!) and they have a beautiful […]

Mamou to Kankan: when not to use your phone

It’s been transport to transport in Guinea. It’s going to be like this tomorrow, too. It’s expensive and maybe that’s why few people use it but I guess it’s also expensive because few people use it or can afford it (I also have ideas about making the routes more effective, i.e. don’t send a separate […]

Dalaba to Mamou: I’m just killing time

I wait and wait… sleepwalk the hourglass This way and that… the pendulum swings Yes, there’s plenty of time… always time left to kill Does time stand still or hurtle on by? My day in four verses explained. I left the Tangama Hotel in Dalaba around 8am. There was no water in the morning and […]

Koundara to Dalaba: coffeeland

I didn’t sleep very well in Hotel Armand in Koundara. The fact that the hotel was running the bar and that the power went on until 2am, and the window of my room was out onto the front, above the bar, meant the music – however nice it was at times – didn’t allow me […]

Bafatá to Koundara: no sight of Guinness

The electricity in my Bafatá room went off around 5:30am and I almost immediately woke up. It does get quite cool at night, the temperature drops 20 degrees from +40 to +20 yet it’s still hot. I think this may be due to to house walls retaining the heat. Shower water on the other hand […]

Visa no. 6: Guinea in Bissau

The bus came at 3:02am. The previous day I spoke to someone who looked like a driver of a very good-looking blue van. What appeared in front of me didn’t look anything like it. Only one front light was on, there were no rear lights. I was packed into the front seat with one other […]

Janjanbureh to Zinguichor: moving with goats

It’s been a transport day. The Baobab Lodge didn’t let me sleep. People live in that compound and they didn’t care for one passing guest. Music till 11pm, then some hammer sounds at midnight, then at 1:23am heavy stuff being moved from side to side, then more conversation. Roosters wake up at 7am at that […]