Well we were supposed to spend the weekend in Guekedou, but when we finally got there, after a harrowing taxi ride at ridiculous speeds, we found the hotel was rather more expensive than we planned, and it didn’t really seem worth it to stay, so we only spent one night. Much of that afternoon was spent playing Risk, though Mary has been feeling sick, probably from something she ate at some point, and so she was out of commission. We were there with a few other volunteers as well and I ate some excellent steak and fries (the alternative being chicken and fries, but I don’t get much red meat, so I grab the chance when I can).
The next morning a few of us walked around Guekedou for a little while, thinking of going to the Liberian border, but instead running into a nice customs agent who was convinced that Guinea has more oil reserves than Nigeria, and left us with a jibe about the US’ loss to Brazil in the Confederate League soccer. We also got questioned by the local commisariat because we had failed to present ourselves there to explain our purpose, but they were very nice and we promised to do so next time (not likely, since there should be volunteers in Guekedou the next time we visit).
Actually we were going to rent the cheapest rooms, but the hotel seemed reluctant to let us rent rooms without air conditioning and electricity. Of course, in our houses none of us have air conditioning and only a few of us have electricity, so were weren’t concerned, but they dropped the price on the more expensive room to a level we were willing to pay and we sprang for them. The manager said it was because of my Obama tote bag, but they didn’t exactly have a lot of customers either. Of course, they also turned off the power at about midnight, which led to one of the hottest and most humid nights I have experienced in Guinea, and while I was eventually able to sleep Mary had a rough time.
The forest region is very beautiful and somehow even greener than it is around Faranah, which should be impossible but isn’t. Hopefully I will be able to attach some pictures that Mary took of the surrounding countryside.
