9 PLACES VISITED: 4) Bandala (Chain River Ferry), 5) Labe, 6) Kinkon Waterfall, 7) Pita, 8) Faranah, 9) Kissidougou, 10) Nzerekore, 11) Bossou, 12) The Chimps of Bossou GUINEA.
9 OVERNIGHTS (Bush Camps unless otherwise specified): 10km south of Tianguel-Bori, Kinkon Waterfall (10km east of Pita, x2), Pettiny, a village 30km south of Dalaba, 5km south of Bania, Loulou 15km east of Guedkedou on Border with Liberia, 5km west of Gama (Lola), “The Institute for Environmental Research” in the town of Bossou, 5km north of Irie GUINEA.
3 UNIQUE WILDLIFE: 1) Monitor Lizard, 2) Capuchin Monkey, 3) Common Chimpanzees.
BLOG TRAILER: This is the last post of 2015 and the “special Christmas and New Year edition” describing our journey through GUINEA and how we celebrated Christmas at huge waterfall and New Year at a bush camp. “UNGOWA CHEETAH UNGOWA”!!! - This is the post that I also meet Cheetah’s relatives for the first time in the wild! We discovered just how friendly the people of Guinea are - always smiling, waiving and greeting us with “Bonjour, ca va (good day, how are you)?” People are also more open to photos. Guinea has forests and ridges reaching above 1000m. It is still hot and dry. Most people are Muslim and all black-Africans (no Arabs). It is much poorer than Senegal but the women's clothing is just as colourful and well-kept. What we noticed as unique was the selling of fuel in bottles by the side of the road mixed together with hair dressing wooden stalls and small mobile phone recharging stalls (ORANGE is the predominant carrier).
Guinea is also famous for its beat-up old small, four-door, French cars that carry 10 people in the cabin, have a 2m towering stack of luggage on the roof and another 5 people sitting on top - the car sways and bends as it goes through potholes - I have no idea how it stays upright! There are also goats everywhere in Guinea, even in the middle of crowded markets. It is normal to see grown men, that are mates, to hold hands in public in Guinea and Senegal - no funny business - there cannot be because of the Muslim faith. There is no cheese in Guinea - I had to load up in Senegal. Christmas Eve and Day were spent within walking distance of a huge 20m waterfall complete with pools for washing ourselves and our clothes - a welcome relief after 4 straight days of bush camping. We exchanged presents that we had each bought in Morocco and Andi/Grant even surprised us with a whole leg of ham! We ate and drank like kings and even danced into the night.Our impressions of Guinea were good ones. I was even able to “sniff out” internet places. Never expected to have access in Guinea. One location was a radio station of all places! I did not exchange or spend any money in Guinea because the currency is grossly devalued and impossible to change back.
Guinea is extreme - super hot and dry in the day and cold and damp at night - a country of extremities. Once again, despite the harsh conditions and very basic amenities and hygiene, people still dress well and have plenty to eat and above all else - always smiling. The highlight was definitely the Common Chimpanzees of Bossou. We saw six of them with the large alpha male passing within 2m of me! Awesome site. Cheetah is no cutey! This male had arms as tall as a person with a chest twice as big as a mans. Hug that and he will probably break all your ribs. It was a scary site and on film! Guinea is also famous for its “stacked cars” - old rickety small Renaults, Peugeots or Toyotas with 10 people in the cabin, 2m of luggage on the roof and 10 more people on top of that! This blog ends with our retreat back into Guinea to make our way up north bound for Mali.
DAY 41, Wed 23DEC15, 120km, Bush Camp 15km east of Gaoual to Bush Camp 10km south of Tianguel-Bori GUINEA (Run2). Today, some adventure. 90min into our journey over the dusty red ridges and forest to Labe we came across a tiny village called Bandala at a river crossing, except there was no bridge - it was being built! Instead we had to put the truck on a rickety old ferry with no engine, just a hand operated winch that ran along a chain to pull it across. We had to walk through the murky water to get on and off the ferry. So many children happy to see us and take pictures with everyone. Adults friendly too. Seems like the simple life of living off the land in relative isolation imparts an innocence that keeps these folks away from the world’s sarcasm and negativity. After our exciting river crossing we entered thick bush towering over the truck and with rising escarpments in the distance that reminded Theresa and I of the Blue Mountains in Sydney.
The road was pretty bad and the truck was rolling and wobbling all over the place - I reckon only doing an average of 15-20km/h. At one stage a slid of my seat, laptop in hand!Thank goodness I do not get motion sickness because it is today that I decided I would start making my movie! Have plenty of time on the truck - too much for the blog and I do not fancy sleeping or staring into space. Andi and Grant spotted a big freshwater, rapid flow, river so we stopped to fill up the jerry cans and have a bot of a wash. Most of us just cleaned feet, hands and face but Roberto, Vit and I decided that a full body bath was in order. I knew I was running this arvo so no point doing the full body version. After a quick lunch off the side of the road it was not long until we saw a monitor lizard cross the road.
The orange, dust-ridden, pot-hold ridden road slowed us down to an average of 10km/h.Everything and everyone inside the truck was covered in orange dust - looked like one of those fake tans - too bad about the full-body showers! Passed some cascades and then the thick forest opened up and along came bitumen to take us up higher onto a wide plateau at 648m passing the larger village of Tianguel-Bori. I reckon we did approx 40km in 4hrs on the orange dirt road. The surrounding hills were masked in a heat fuelled haze and barely photographable. We kept climbing but gradually. We topped 1091m passing many smaller villages before we decided to bush camp at 988m. Tonight’s dinner was the worst to-date: fried spam with powered mashed-potato - I did not eat. Stuck to my olives and cheese and some pretzels. Our camp-fire conversation was great - talked about what we would do after the trip...
DAY 42, Thu 24DEC15, 85km, CHRISTMAS EVE, Bush Camp 10km south of Tianguel-Bori to Bush Camp at Kinkon Waterfall via Labe GUINEA. I cannot believe that today is Christmas Eve! For us it is just another day on the road and in the bush. No work functions. No shopping. No hype. Good and bad. What sucks the most is the absence of any internet to call home and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hear a familiar voice. It will be at least another 5 days before we can talk to anyone - we will have to celebrate the Russian Orthodox way - Christmas on 7JAN.Our drive to the main town of Labe only took 30min. Another chaotic place full of traders, people, motor bikes and stalls.
Every second stall was either a barber (“coiffure”) or a place that sold mobiles, SIMS and top-ups. This another incongruity that hit me - no matter how poor or tough, everyone seems to have a mobile phone! My mission was to find WIFI in this town. Another miracle. The first place I walked into, only meters from he truck, was a like a Telstra shop and one of the salesmen kindly offered to let us use the WIFI HOTSPOT on his phone! What a bloke! Riza, Roberto and I made calls to home to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and sent a ton of emails to friends. I was very happy I had the chance to do this on Christmas Eve - it was the best gift for me! I was even lucky enough to catch Nick, Patsie, Antonia and Orlanda in their car driving home from the cinema, having just watched “The Force Awakens”. Can’t wait to see this in Gold Class or my projector when I get back… that seems “light years” away!!!
Lunch was just outside Labe but what it made it interesting was the visit of a grandfather, his grandson and granddaughter and their families. We took photos of each other! Just as we were leaving I found out that the grandkids both spoke English! Bugger! I could have used them as interpreters in my very first “tribal” or “ethnic” interview! This will “neva” happen again! Andi surprised us again after leaving the town of Pita, announcing that we would visit a huge waterfall and find out if we could spend Christmas there - that meant washing ourselves and our clothes! We were like kids eyeing out the presents under the Christmas Tree, wondering what we would get.
The good news came around 3:30pm after we arrived at the falls - we would be camping 10mins walk from the fall. What a fall! 20m in height and lots of cold running water to swim, bath and clean clothes in. The truck would move to the camp at 4:30pm so I decided to grab all my dirty clothes and a bar of soap and head to the fall now so I could wash and clean alone and beat the crowd the next day. It was terrific. I washed and cleaned clothes all alone and it felt like I was in one of those freshwater pools in Kakadu of Australia’s Northern Territory. I walked into camp at around 5:30pm, clean as a whistle and ready to celebrate Christmas Eve. It was a blast. Cooked ham and a cabbage, potato and carrot soup. The music then broke out and we celebrated into midnight knowing that we were here all day, Christmas Day!
DAY 43, Fri 25DEC15, 0km, CHRISTMAS DAY, Bush Camp Kinkon Waterfall GUINEA (Run3). Santa came to Guinea today. He left us a big leg of ham from Spain and Quince Pies! I woke up sometime after 9am with the sun in my eyes and clear blue skies all around. We were camped at 900m so the evening was cool but the day quickly heated up. I hung up my washed clothes and set out for my run towards Pita. There is a big blue lake with a dam and a piped run-off that heads towards the waterfall and a hydro-electric station at the bottom. I took my soap with me on my run so I could head straight for the waterfall to wash up. The water was icy cold but a welcome relief after what was a hot midday run. I then walked down to the hydro station which was built by the Chinese in 2005. It comprises three turbines and a local let me go inside.I returned just in time for our Christmas Lunch at 1:30pm - more ham and quince pies! The truck was decorated in tinsel and so were the entries to our tents! Some Christmas spirit had arrived. Couldn’t help thinking of my mum and brother & family and the big seafood lunch they would have had just a little earlier at Theo and Lea’s. I felt distant but not alone. Christmas in Guinea. Who would have ever thought. The afternoon was very relaxing. Blogging and even sunk in a nap given the heat. Roberto and I had our last wash in the freezing waters of the fall and got back in time for afternoon drinks with the rest of the group. Tonight was the best night. A huge Christmas dinner of real garlic potatoes and BBQ chicken, half from USA and half from Brazil.As usual, the Americans pumped their chickens full of hormones because they were twice the size of the Brazilian pieces - more like turkey! Eat these for too long and even the men will grow breasts!
After dinner, Chris came out in a Santa suit and we all gave each other presents that we had bought in Morocco - but with a difference. We played a game where you can pick an unwrapped present or steal someone else’s which is better. Much to my surprise I was the last which means I had the best pick of presents because I could take the best one (a coupon for lots of wine and beer with Roberto) but there was no one after me to take it away! I elected to leave everyone with the present they had chosen to pick the last one - a shot glass and lucky charm keyring which I wore as an earring for the rest of the night. Then the music started. I was fortunate to get Modern Talking, Abba and Boogeyland playing and we danced our way to midnight. Roberto, Riza and I were the last standing at almost 1am - a thoroughly enjoyable night for the “Culture Club” - that is what we call ourselves since we are the only ones having wine, olives and cheese every evening before dinner...
DAY 44, Sat 26DEC15, 106km, BOXING DAY, Bush Camp Kinkon Waterfall to Pettiny (Elev 802m), a village 30km south of Dalaba GUINEA (Run4). We were all sad to leave our Christmas waterfall. We enjoyed it so much and truly relaxed. It also united the group a lot more. We spent the whole morning in the nearby town of “Pita” because Grant had to replace a broken leaf-spring over the trucks rear driver-side tyres. An operation that started at 8:45am and ended at 12:30pm.
Most of us did the 15mins walk into the town centre. It was then that I realised that I have discovered a new hidden talent - finding WIFI!!! I did it in Labe and now again in Pita. Just 10mins into our walk and I spotted a Radio Station with antennas on top. I suggested that we walk in and check it out. The place was open but no one was home. There was a huge blackboard full of courses, including Ebola treatment and all sponsored by Canada.As we were walking out, a very well dressed local met us at the door. I introduced the four of us and asked if it was possible to use the internet - all in French.
The well dressed man simply smiled and invited us into his office and asked me to help him activate the hot spot on his mobile. Presto. We spent the next hour madly emailing loved ones. What a stroke of luck. We then took photos with Mr Alpha Oumar and exchanged emails. Alpha was the manager of the facility reporting to a government minister - we saw this on an org chart behind his desk.
I told him I would call the President of Guinea and put in a good word for what he did for us - we all laughed.The town of Pita had the best fresh-food market to date. So colourful. So plentiful. So full of activity. 6 varieties of rice, heaps of fruit and veg. Even meat. Very impressive. What we also noticed was how many women and girls were carrying things on their heads - much more than in Senegal. People were also more curious and friendly. Judging from all the stares and invites to take photos with them, I reckon that Pita does not get tourists at all. Pita also has many hair-dressing and petrol stalls - another unique feature of Guinea.
Then the impossible happened. We found a cafe that served real espresso coffee, all done on a professional machine. What a find. Not only did we get internet that day but a strong, tasty coffee for $0.30AUD. This was going to be a great day.By noon we were back at the truck and by 12:30pm the spring was fixed and we had lunch before heading off towards Mamou.
Unfortunately we ran out of time for Mamou and stayed in a little village called “Pettiny” just 25km short. I reckon the whole village turned up at our camp to observe us. Many of us played with the kids and I was surrounded by kids of all ages when I warmed up for my run and after I returned for cool-down. It was nice having some company. When it was revealed that we would be having spag-bol for dinner, Riza, Roberto and I were dumfounded - Pita had the best market to date and was that all they could manage? Didn’t they see the 100 varieties of veg?
The spag-bol was good but it was “a missed opportunity”! We usually do a spag-bol when we cannot get to markets - it is stored on the truck. Where is Lucy when you need her - she would be so so good at cook group - she would body try to make local dishes! Let me tell you - this trip is one huge “carb voyage”! Get ready for bread every meal and potato or pasta or rice almost every day! I reckon anyone who does not exercise will double their weight by the end of the trip - our cook group does its best to eliminate the carbs and keep the vitamins up. The night ended with a movie since everyone went to bed at 8:30pm. This was the 7th Bush Camp night in a row (4 without showers in a row).
DAY 45, Sun 27DEC15, 279km, Pettiny to Bush Camp 5km south of Bania GUINEA (Run5). We have a lot of ground to cover today. We are still 3-4 days away from the border with Ivory Coast and the chimps! Yes, we are going to see chimps at the border - hopefully close-up! Today’s journey continued along the 800m ridge surrounded by thick bush to Mamou. The area around here was very hazy with a chill and some damp in the air. It looks like a sub-tropical forest like New Guinea or Fiji but without the humidity. After Mamou we began to descend. First to a steady 450m and then down to 300m. I noticed more brick houses now with tin roofs and few, small windows.Once we had a “peanut butter and jelly” lunch (more sophistication) we had only 40km until Faranah for cook group shopping, Faranah was nowhere near Pita for food - slim pickings but you could still do a decent stir-fry or even salad.
The surprise of Faranah was meeting twelve year old “Adacabah” or “Adaba” for short, who spoke very good English. He was born in Sierra Leone and sadly he is an orphan and has been in Guinea for 2yrs living with his mum’s sister. His mother taught him English. His favourite subject at school is maths but he is not sure what he will do when he grows up. He and his friends gathered around our truck and I interviewed him. Adaba said “I have never seen a truck like this before” - he was blown away by its size. Dan gave him some running shoes and the little guy cried when we left.
Then the third drama of my trip hit - my cigarette lighter charger for my laptop stopped working! I used it all the time to charge my laptop in just one hour to give me 8-9hrs of blog/email or 5hrs of iMovie. I tried everything to revive it. Roberto even re-wired it and it did not work. My backup was to use the two cigarette chargers reserved for my two external batteries - no go. This meant that I would have to start using my three batteries (one solar and two hard cell) - the last resort. I used part of my solar cell battery and then part of one of the two hard cell batteries.
I then tried to re-charge them both from the truck’s cigarette lighter plug.They worked for a while and then stopped. I could not get them re-recharging again. Bad news. I am in new territory. I would now find out just how long I could keep my laptop going from the batteries. My theory is that the voltage varies in each plug (there are 8) depending on what items and how many are plugged in the other sockets. If there is not enough voltage then it will not work. The solar battery takes about 10-14hrs in direct sunlight to recharge and gives me only one full charge on my laptop. I would then need to use the other two hard calls that take 5hrs to charge in the mains.
My challenge is that we still have at least 3 days more of bush camp. I would have to stop doing iMovie and only my blog (text and iPhoto). Our bush camp sites are all random - Andi/Grant pick whatever is suitable around 4:30-5pm. Tonight’s was amongst dry hay and very cosy. I ran back to Banian, the last village we drove through and tonight Riza and her cooking group put on a good dinner with plenty of eggplant and pumpkin from Faranah. Tonight’s fore was good so we stayed up - I called our camp fires “the bush TV” and tonight’s fire put on a good show. This was the 8th Bush Camp in a row.
DAY 46, Mon 28DEC15, 175km, Bush Camp 5km south of Bania to Bush Camp at Loulou (15km east of Guedkedou on Border with Liberia) via Kissidougou GUINEA. Another damp morning. Headed off south-east almost parallel to and only 20km from the border with Sierra Leone. What a pity we did not go there - this trip usually does but the Sierra-Ivory border was closed. I know Father Themi Athamopoulos, former rock singer turned Orthodox priest, who started a missionary in the capital Freetown some 12yrs ago. Luckily, I met him in Sydney just before this trip and he invited me to visit with our group but sadly I had to email him that we would be missing Sierra Leone once I found out over here. The small villages on the way to Kissidougou were very cosy, tightly packed and close to the road with more grass-thatched dwellings than brick.
Cook shopping in Kissidougou was mad.Once you buy something from one person, 50 others gather round to heckle you for their products. It was reasonably good - plantain banana for frying, eggplant, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, roma tomato and even lettuce. Meat was too expensive. The cheapest was this huge rodent - not too sure cook group would approve. A show-shiner followed me around the whole time I was shopping trying to shine my shoes.
Another thing I noticed was the little plastic kettles in the gas station toilets to deal with your rear end! As usual, there was a huge crowd of kids back at the truck. I am ashamed that I did my final deal with what money was left with an 8 year old for 7 oranges instead of 5. The scenery out of Kissidougou was spectacular - wide orange dirt road surrounded by thick tropical forest. We passed an amazing small village with literally hundreds if not thousands of people crowded against the only main road selling everything under the sun - this would have been excellent shop stop! Lunch followed then it was back to the dust bath on the truck.
The town of Guedkedou at the GUINEA-LIBERIA river border was interesting. Lots of little street-side bars starting with “Chez” so-and-so (name). This evening we struggled to find a campsite due to the many rice paddies or thick grass and bush. The road after Guedkedou was terrible - dirt and very uneven! Started averaging 10-15km/h again. Andi/Grant rejected three candidate campsites until finally at 6pm (our latest arrival to date) we pulled into the soccer field of the tiny village of Loulou. The only problem was that a soccer match was in progress! We received permission to stay but had to wait until the game was over. The local kids were playing and Roberto’s Brazilian genes did not hesitate to join the game. I was lucky that Grant suggested that I try my chargers in the sockets of the driver’s cabin which are connected to a separate battery.
I did so and no luck - none of cigarette lighter plugs worked. They all worked at home plugged into my car or my mum’s car. Go figure. Golfin luck!At 7pm my cook group cooked up a storm invented by me. Dan did Spanish Rice and I knocked up a thick stir-fry of cabbage, eggplant and carrot dressed in a tomato puree with oregano. For brekkie we pre-cooked deep-fried plantain bananas which I dusted with flour and cinnamon using a metal bowl and saucepan lid which I twirled over my head - calling it “the bush centrifuge”! We had an audience of 50 men, women and children from Loulou watching, laughing and always commenting - if only we knew what they were saying - what were they thinking Once combined it was like a cabbage Paella! TonightI slept on the beach under an open sky given my brekkie call at 6am. This was the 9th Bush Camp in a row (3rd without washing).
DAY 47, Tue 29DEC15, 242km, Bush Camp at Loulou to Bush Camp 5km west of Gama (Lola) GUINEA (Run6). One of the benefits of sleeping on the beach is that you can wake up at any time of night and pee without leaving your sleeping bag! The beach has a very low lip and no one tents on the passenger side of the truck! Unreal. We served up our plantain for brekkie. I also served it to 5 onlooking locals along with green tea and milk - they approved. We set off at our usual 8am and after a couple of hours reached bitumen laid down by the EU. Passed a small village made entirely of wood, full of smiling and waving locals. Then much to our surprise a truck overtakes with a Capuchin Monkey sitting on top of the driver’s cabin! Too sudden to photograph but hilarious - neva seen an hitchhiking monkey before!
Today I discovered the root cause of why my battery vehicle chargers worked for a while then failed. The fuses in the charging cable blew! The truck must out out more current (amps) than the fuse is rated for. Alex told me that all vehicle chargers have fuses. I opened up the two battery vehicle charges and behold - both fuse wires had melted. I then opened up my Mac vehicle charger and discovered it had a dude that you could not see into.My hypothesis here is that I must have overloaded the charger when I used to charge my Mac with watch, camera or phone attached until it finally could not handle it - it is a cheap Chinese copy anyway since Apple Sydney and Bondi Junction did not sell them! So it is confirmed. I now cannot charge my Mac or batteries from the truck - only my iPhone, watch and camera batteries, direct, using USB adapter to car socket. Whilst on the truck and away from mains power, my Mac can only charge from my solar battery and two hard cell batteries. I have no idea how long I can go for but I am not taking the chance so I will only use my Mac for blog (text and pictures).
Enough of that. I am depressed. I will stop writing this blog at this point since my Mac is at 36% battery and I half only 50% in the solar and 50% in one cell and we are 3-5 days away from power! I am back now because I plugged into power at an internet cafe in the town of Nzerekore. I did it again. Found the internet when no one else could. I am like a pig that finds truffles. Anyone who walks with me will get internet. I sent three emails to three separate people to attempt to source a new Mac charging cable that I can pick up in Accra GHANA on 12JAN15. I hope it works. In the meantime I will plug into power at every village we stop at to do shopping. Our campsite today was nothing special. Just off the road and amongst a lot of tall dry grass. Tonight I spent another long evening speaking with Yuki from Japan. This was the 10th Bush Camp in a row (4th without washing - equalling two others).
DAY 48, Wed 30DEC15, 33km, Bush Camp 5km west of Gama (Lola) to Bush Camp in the grounds of “The Institute for Environmental Research” in the town of Bossou GUINEA (Run7). Today was “chimp day”. We would reach our first wild animals (Common Chimpanzees) just after midday. This morning was unusually warm. Very hazy. Bossou was small and crowded. Not much variety by way of food and only 3 mobile phone shops that sold only 2G SIM cards for internet - no go. They did however charge my Mac for free. We found out that the best time to see the chimps is in the morning so we stayed overnight in the grounds of “The Institute of Environmental Research” which is funded by the Japanese and has a big well with water - ripper - we were able to wash clothes and have a shower breaking our four-day straight, equal third record. First thing we did was to meet the Director of the institute, a local PhD black African by the name of Dr Aly Gaspard SOUMAH, a softy spoken, polite man who’s English was great. A few of us gathered in his small office to get a briefing of the institute, the chimps and what we would see. Refer special feature below "PPS: A LITTLE ABOUT CHEETAHS RELATIVES”. The chimp above IS PICKING HIS NOSE!
14 of our party of 19 decided to pay the $75USD to see the chimps at 8:30am the next day. For now it was off to wash clothes, read my book “Dark Star Safari - Overland from Cairo to Cape Town” by Paul Theroux - my brother gave me this book to read but I forgot to pack it and to my surprise, Riza had brought the same one and lent me hers. It was early afternoon and too hot to run so the book and a nap came in handy until it was cool enough to run. The run was great but very dusty and bumpy - bad road. I ran past a military post given that Bossou is located where 3 countries meet - Guinea, Liberia and Ivory Coast. In the distance I could see the Nimba Mountain range which contains Guinea's highest peak at 1670m. My shower under the well spout driven by a German built hand-lever was very welcome - I was filthy after 3 days straight of running with no shower! Dinner was great - a Brazilian Fried Rice with Quacamole.
At dinner we found out that Andi had gone to the Guinea-Ivory Coast border by motorbike and indeed it was shut. No reasons. We were prepared for this possibility and already equipped with Mali VISAS thanks to Andi/Grant. Tomorrow we would back-track through Guinea towards the north and then enter Mali to the east, travel south through the bottom of Mali and enter Ivory Coast along its northern border with Mali. Grant had never done this before and estimated that we would enter Ivory in 6-7 days depending on roads. Many of us, including me were happy with this outcome since we get to restore our total country count having missed Sierra Leone. Time to ready ourselves for another round of bush camps with more wine and some excellent gossip up to 12:30am. This was the 11th Bush Camp in a row.
DAY 49, Thu 31DEC15, 150km, NEW YEAR’S EVE, Bossou to Bush Camp 5km north of Irie GUINEA (Run8). Today was really chimp day and very satisfying. We trekked a total of 2.5km over 90min with 20min of “chimp time”. We had two local guides take us that worked at the institute. The bush was now looking more like a jungle and we wore long pants and sleeves to avoid the scratches. We saw 6 of the 9 individuals in the Bossou area on one very tall huge tree. One of the younger chimps (the equivalent of a 10yr old human) entertained us, running up and down a large branch, beating it with his hands, throwing smaller branches at us and even peeing on us! The others were lying down on other branches, motionless.Then without warning, the large adult male comes down the main truck and stares at me, only 2m away (Photo to left).
It was huge! Arms as tall as a man and a chest twice as big! Here I am thinking that chimps did not grow any bigger than Tarzan’s cute little “Cheetah” but UNGOWA to that - hug this guy and he would probably break every rib in your body! It was a satisfying viewing and I caught a lot of it on video besides the photos - the Lumix 30x optical zoom did a fine job and you can see. After our return I managed to squeeze in one more run and shower before our next long stint of bush camps taking us back up Guinea towards Mali. I even made time to interview Dr Aly Gaspard SOUMAH.
Around noon, after many “Aurevoirs” and photos we back-tracked to Nzerekore. Visited the same internet place and to my surprise I discovered some white wine from France. Mission accomplished: wine for me and power for my Mac.Our camping ground was the same place we had lunch at two days earlier! New Year’s Eve started out slow and dull. It was a combination of a very basic meal (“Dutch Hot Pot” - potatoes, lentils, beans, carrot) and my new wine had started to turn. It was also quite cool and damp and the fire struggled to keep us all warm and visible!
But things picked up. Fire got better, changed wines and the music came on. Also had a decent conversation with our youngest traveller from England, Alex.Many had gone to bed earlier so the conversation was focused - we talked about what we usually do on NYE back home. I got a little depressed at that moment thinking of home, family, friends, seafood and steak and incomparably better wine! At the same time it was amazing to be in a forest in Guinea Africa with a blood moon to welcome a new year. At one stage I thought it would be a struggle to get to midnight but the wine and beer kicked in and it was not long until we were up dancing! Thank goodness.2016 entered with a bang and not a whimper! 2016 was finally here - I yelled out and called it: “the year of our triumphant entry into Cairo”!
We all knew already that 2016 would be a “happy” new year since we would be travelling and not working for most of it - it is hard to imagine this - by the time we finish we will be preparing for the next Christmas and New Year. Overwhelming. One day at a time. This was the only way to digest it.By 1am we were all sufficiently sweaty from our dancing and conscious of our sleepers so it was time for our first 2016 sleep! This was the 12th Bush Camp in a row (1st without washing).
PS: A LITTLE ABOUT GUINEA:The Lonely Planet only devotes 3.5 pages to Guinea and all of them summaries history and culture - there are no write-ups of any cities, towns or places of interest. Guinea (Pop 10.8m) is 85% Muslim and comprises three main black African peoples. It was part of the Empire of Mali between the 13th and 15th Centuries until the Portuguese came and it finally fell into French hands in 1891. They set up in the capital, Conakry. The end of French West Africa actually began in Guinea and it finally became independent in 1958. From here to 2012 was a constant procession of military coupes and corruption. Finally in 2010, elections were held but arguments over the winner continued along with attack as late as 2013. Guinea has 30% of the world’s bauxite reserves and several military dictators took advantage of this. I also found out that the Chinese are sealing the road we drove on through Guinea and this reminded me of the Chinese building infrastructure in Laos in exchange for Laotian gold - could they be doing the same in Guinea for their bauxite? Guinea is also famous for its cocaine distribution. Guinea is mainly forest with some mountains, plenty of waterfalls and pristine but hard-to-access Atlantic beaches. It is famous for its chimps and even has some elephants. It is mainly visited by four-wheel drivers who want to brave its tough roads and unvisited landscapes. PHOTO ON LEFT: “Which way do I go?”
PPS: A LITTLE ABOUT CHEETAHS RELATIVES (A summary by Dr Aly Gaspard SOUMAH):There are only two species of Chimpanzees on Earth: “Common” and “Bonobo”. The former is found in West Africa and the later in central and the East. There are also 9 sub-species in total which are very similar, differentiated only by length of hair, ears and other body features. There are only around 200 common chimps left in the West African wild with 9 in the Bossou area. In Bossou, they only peaked at 22 until disease, bush clearing and lack of mixed mating (no visiting groups and too much incest!) reduced the numbers and they are still reducing. The chimps here were not affected by Ebola. Chimps are generally placid unless “surprised” by visiting humans, they may become aggressive out of fear only - no human has been killed by a chimp in these parts. Chimps can live as long as humans as evidenced by our very own “Cheetah” who lived to be 85! The institute is funded by the Japanese and has operated since 2003. Dr Aly Gaspard SOUMAH was educated in Japan and selected to run the institute.PPPS: INTERESTING FACT ON AFRICA:The “Berlin Conference” of 1884 divided Africa and gave it to the following European countries without consulting the locals: France got almost one-third (West & Central), Britain got Ghana, Nigeria and most of the South and East and Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain & Belgium got the rest. Most African countries became independent in the 1960’s.
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