We liked Guinea – in contrary to some other “overlanders”.
People are nice, even if “cheating others” is an integral part of everyday life. Even in a super nice restaurant, when counting the money, 20,000 GNF can easily be misappropriated, which can be corrected by counting again. But on the market a 20,000 can be exchanged for a 10 so quickly that every shell player in the city of Hamburg would be green with envy. Then discussing about the change is pointless.
We learn that it is simply a matter of survival. Behind each of these people there is a large family that either has something to eat or doesn't. When we talk to a post from the Nigerian embassy about the fact that there are a lot of Nigerians in Germany (which he knows better than us) and we point out that their life as asylum seekers is not really good, we get the answer: “Life is a fight everywhere". That also applies here.
We are “Le Blanc” in Guinea. And the cash machine. What we really are compared to the humble living conditions of people. But it never gets really unpleasant and an Austrian woman finds the description that fits well: The Guineans are rather gentle.
We enjoy the landscape in Guinea. Hilly to slightly mountainous, forested, green. Wonderful waterfalls. Unfortunately, it's often not possible to take photos at all. We enjoy the days in the mountains from Labe via Dalaba to Mamou. And also the nights, which are cool for a change.
But we also have one of the craziest slopes of our trip so far. The majority of the N1 is developed and tarred (albeit again riddled with potholes), but about 50 km are not. Deep gutters, thresholds, potholes. Searching for a possible trail, changing from right to left in a zigzag course. Oncoming traffic that does the same thing, is heavily loaded and usually has passengers sitting on top!!! Red dust, millimeters thick, everywhere. When a truck comes towards you, you experience periods of blindness.
And then Conakry. We wanted to do better than in Dakar and took a comparatively expensive hotel. Acceptable room, clean bed, hot shower, pool, restaurant. We booked six nights to take care of our visa matters (Nigeria, Liberia, Ivory Coast) calmly and still have a little time for ourselves to find the pool and the city. We go into the city on Sunday and have a wonderful evening with two Belgian fellow travelers.
On Monday night, 13 of 18 refinery tanks burst into flames. As far as we know, 23 people die and around 200 are injured. The south of the peninsula will be completely cut off. Gas stations are closed across the country, public life is significantly restricted, people are told to stay at home, and schools in Conakry are closed. The shops on the streets and the stalls are gradually emptying out. There is a cloud of black smoke over the city, the air is pure smog.
What to do?
Liberia visa. The embassy is in the north and can be reached. We pay 150 US$ pp with an express surcharge instead of 100 dollars – we want to have the passports back as quickly as possible, who knows...
Tuesday with the motorcycle taxi to the south. We heard that the Ivory Coast Embassy is in emergency mode and you can get through the barrier on foot. Both works. Here, too, there is an express surcharge of around 30 euros for taking the visa with you on the same day in addition to the 58 euros per person that we had already paid online. But since we don't know whether there will still be gas for the motorcycle taxis tomorrow...
The Kaolum district is paralyzed and people are condemned to inactivity. The refinery is still burning. It's depressing.
Wednesday in the same way to the Nigerian embassy. And here we have a coup: The express surcharge actually means that you don't have to wait a week but can pick up the passports the next day. With a lot of whining we manage to get it on the same day!
The motorcycle taxi costs almost twice as much on Wednesday morning as on Tuesday. We have no choice, there is hardly any left.
In the afternoon the turnaround occurs, gas stations open (even if only temporarily, as it turns out later) and the streets fill up. The government is taking the pressure off.
We were repeatedly advised by business people in the hotel and locals to leave the city as quickly as possible. We do this on Thursday two days earlier than planned and cross the border into Sierra Leone.
It should also be noted that it was fun or both of us riding on the back of the motorcycle without helmets and high speed up to 60 km/h through an empty city. Somehow it reminded us of Italian films from the 60s.