Day 75: Wildkamp in front of Kounsitel – Wild camp at the Salaa waterfall

Last night was absolutely quiet, we were essentially standing on a kind of forest path that ended in vegetation. And how beautiful it is to look at the stars in the evening or at night, we really enjoy that.

It's always amazing how long we sleep. And since we go to bed early, we usually have an hour in the morning to wake up with the sunrise and just look around or at the sky.

Guinea is a change of scenery for us, it is hilly to mountainous, tall steppe grass, great trees, forest.

Yesterday we read again that Africa is actually one of the main cultivation areas for peanuts, but somehow we can't really identify the crop yet.

It is interesting to see what is produced with bamboo, in addition to tables and chairs, also large panels for fences, etc.

After a good hour on the tar road, an incredibly dusty track follows. The road appears to be continuing to be expanded, but at the moment this 50 km long section is a bit of a challenge. At 30/40 km/h we are looking for the ideal line between deep gullies, potholes and stones. The locals who come towards us (e.g. in ancient Peugeots) drive like crazy and switch from left to right and curve around every hole. You are fogged up to the point of blindness and so we, who don't know the route, are rather slow.

There are usually people lying or sitting on the already high load or on the roof of local cars who, according to the law of gravity, should actually fall down at any moment. Pretty crazy. But since military people also use this type of transportation, it's probably normal.

You definitely don't want to be traveling here in the rainy season (around April to July) – we saw photos of trucks that were completely stuck. In Wassadu they also told us that almost everything is closed during the rainy season.

But at least you wouldn't have any dust – it's really everywhere in the evening and the layer partly is millimeters thick.

Shortly before the piste becomes a tarred road again at a police station, there is a place right next to the river and a bit off to the side for a break. Magical.

A few towns further in Koramangui there is a market. And like the last few days, we've been taking advantage of the opportunity to look for fruit and vegetables. Oranges, bananas, some kind of sweet potatoes, tomatoes (!) and bread. Perfect. For Brigitte, the young girls' looks are touching – so direct, concentrated and focused on the eyes, with a mixture of curiosity, skepticism and fascination.

By the way, did we already write that yesterday we would be greeted with “Hello le blanc”? :-)

About 10 kilometers before Labé we turn off onto a piste again to look for the Chute de Salaa. 16 kilometers further we are rewarded – a great waterfall. The male village youth are at the bathing area, one of them offers to show us a lookout – and later wants money for it. Kind of stupid, because we actually have a much better view of the waterfall elsewhere and can find it even without someone accompanying us.

The way back a little bit offers our place to stay overnight and a very “private” swimming area. The water is pretty cold!

When we get back to the car there is a local who confirms that we can stand there for the night and when asked what kind of animals there are and what he wants to shoot with his rifle, he answers in detail – but unfortunately we don't understand him. Be that as it may – he belongs to the older generation and now knows that we are here overnight.