Once again I took Chevy Chase’s lead and got in the car for
another grand Christmas vacation this year. The destination was completely
different but I had the comfort of my standard travel companions: Shadassa,
Tess, and Caleb. We
set a date and, like all super teams, assembled –read: met up at a random hotel in Haute Guinea. It took us three
days of driving to get to our first destination, N’Zerékoré, the region capital
of the lower forest region of Guinea. |
| Safe travels! |
In an attempt to make the long journey more tolerable we
broke up the longest stretch between Mamou and N’Zerékoré (Google these names
to get a visual- not a terribly far distance but it’s a terribly made road) by
stopping in Kissidougou for one night. To get there we had déplaced (bought out) a taxi to make the trip more comfortable as
well. We arrived with daylight to spare and walked around Kissidougou for an
afternoon. Despite the fact that the Guineans in Kissidougou speak a very
different language and consider themselves very different than say the Sussu,
Kissidougou was just another Guinean town – market, road, lots of children, and
people calling at me when I walk by. On our way out, we stopped by one of the
few Guinean National Museums, conveniently located on our walk to the taxi. We
all smiled politely at the curator and it seemed like we were listening
intently, but really we were all a bit disappointed that all of the “artifacts”
on display were mostly items we see in use daily. I give them points for effort
but I know the history of Guinea is much richer than the display suggests.
The forest region is the farthest from the coast and roads
leading into the region capital of N’Zerékoré are long and in varying
conditions from perfect highway to filled with potholes deeper than the car. With
such an effort needed to get to “The Forest”, I had only heard tales about the
towns and the people there. When we arrived in the evening and went straight to
the hotel to meet up with two other groups of volunteers. Part of the draw to
the Forest is that it is home to most of the Christian population of Guinea. We
thought this might lead to a different type of city but finally seeing the
fabled city was actually anticlimactic. It was just another Guinean town in a
new Guinean region with more Guineans speaking another Guinean language.
After our three days of travel, my group had arrived just in
time to celebrate Christmas Eve with our friends. We found a restaurant nearby
that we talked into preparing a buffet type of meal for our large group. The
cook ended up providing an impressive spread highlighted by pork! Pork is
virtually non-existent in the other regions of Guinea due to the strong Islamic
influence. We enjoyed the night filled with good food, good friends and
passable (but cheap) drinks.
Despite the situation, it was still Christmas and we were
determined to make it so! As my first task in the morning, I donned the dirty
the Santa hat I found in the Conakry house and went to find some presents. I
took my trusty elf side-kick Caleb with me on a grand adventure to a gas
station where we bought orange juice and it’s best friend, champagne. Christmas
morning normally means family, snow, coffee, and presents, but this year we
improvised with mimosas and watching A Muppet Christmas Carol as a Peace Corps
family. That’s really how most of our time in N’Zerékoré went by. As I
mentioned before, it was just another typical Guinean town, meaning that the
amenities were limited and the experiences were predictable. The adventurous
part of our Christmas vacation was the next step.
As our second stop, we set our sights high; the highest
point of Guinea that is, Mount Nimba. A tolerable (read short) taxi ride took us to a city just outside of N’Zerékoré
called Lola. In Lola we found a quaint hotel with rooms stocked with the
absolute bare minimum as reflected in the price we paid. Thankfully we weren’t
staying in Lola for its tourism as much as a solid home base for our trek up
Nimba.
 |
| So steep! |
A few friends had already scouted the trails and found us
guides to take us up the mountain, for a reasonable fee. So when we set out in
the morning we knew we wouldn’t waste any precious daylight. The hike started
at around 7 AM and our group of 20 was broken up into groups of 5. The group
system dissolved fairly quickly but we all ended up in appropriate groups while
leaving no one behind. I found myself in the front group with 9 other
volunteers and 2 guides. We all noted pretty quickly that this wasn’t going to
be an afternoon hike through the pasture. By 10 AM we took a pause and caught
our breath as our guide giggled at us between drags on his third cigarette;
he’d climbed the mountain 34 times before.
 |
| The ridge heading to the summit. |
The grueling hike continued, baking us in the hot afternoon
sun once we’d left the shelter of tree cover. The worst part was cross over the
ridge to get to the summit. We had to climb certain spots that were not only
steep to a severe degree but also covered with slippery grasses that provided
great camouflage for the treacherous rocks we tried to use for leverage.
Progress was slow through these conditions but after 3 more hours we made it to
our official lunch spot: a natural spring 100 meters from the summit. We
refilled all our water bottles and enjoyed our “SPAM” sandwiches like they were
a gourmet meal. The rest, the food, and the shade kept us company as we
mentally and physically prepared ourselves for the last ascent.
Leaving all bags behind, we set off lighter than before with
greater energy and motivation. Seeing the summit get closer and closer was the
only thing on anyone’s mind. With that said, it still took another 45 minutes
of exhaustive hiking. Maybe it was the altitude, maybe it was the steep
incline, or maybe it was the previous 6 months of limited physical activity,
who’s to say? But I struggled and fought to see it through.
 |
| First group to make it to the top! |
Located at the southern border of Guinea, Nimba’s summit is
techinically in Cote D’Ivoire and only a few miles from Liberia as well. So
from the top we could see three different countries and had, by legal terms,
illegally crossed a border, but damn it was worth it. The view was simply
amazing.
As with all hikes, the way back down seemed to go by quicker
and with less effort but it actually took around the same amount of time as the
ascent. After beginning with the sun rising we got back to our launch point, a
small village called Boussou, as the sun was setting. We didn’t make it back to
our hotel in Lola until midnight. Unfortunately for us, the hotel was no longer
a deserted space of calm but instead was packed with party going Guineans and the
air was filled with music from the dance club at the back of the compound. Even though our group had filled 90% of the
rooms in the hotel, the dance club was clearly the weekend hot spot of Lola and
our presence was not going to slow it down one bit. Having no energy to deal
with Guineans and their endless inquiries of foreigners, we all snuck into our
respective rooms and waited for exhaustion to overpower the thumping of the
bass beats not 30 yards away.
This is where our group split paths. The next morning some
of them started towards Kankan and others towards Mamou. So once again, it was
only Tess, Shadassa, Caleb and myself. We deplaced
a taxi to take us the entire 18 hours to Mamou. Our Forest adventure had come
to a close. I’d like to say I watched in fade away in the distance as we drove
off, but in reality, I passed out after 30 minutes and woke up in the next
city. I don’t expect I’ll make it back to the Forest before I leave Guinea, but
I’m glad I got to see it, especially Mount Nimba, a place that not many
Guineans can say they’ve seen, let alone climbed.
Christmas vacation was already a success and a bit over
athletic, but that was only part 1.
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