Koba to Kouroussa, and at Kouroussa

February 15, 2008

Another long travel day, this one much longer than the others. We left quite early and the total trip took 11 hours. We left Koba early, with a quick, formal visit to the Soux-Prefect. We then continued along the way backtracking to Kindia. From Kindia, we headed towards Kouroussa on a paved highway. One of the large centres we went through, and stopped at for lunch, was Mamou. It appears to be similar size to Kindia. The route took us up into the ‘mountainous’ area and finally into the savannah, where Kouroussa lies. We arrived just at dark to the house and office in Kouroussa, and saw Alpar, who we had met last year in Bamako. It was so nice to see a familiar face. Met a few others, then sat down for dinner. Dinner was excellent! We had an earlier night.


February 16, 2008

Kouroussa, here we are, and today, I was able to see the village in full daylight. We had crepes for breakfast, then went to the office building to look at maps and sections. Eventually, we headed over for a meeting at the Prefect’s office. The meeting was short, then we returned to the office, picked up some gear, then waited for some maps to be printed for the trip to the field. I took advantage and checked e-mails. I think I am caught up on e-mail replies so tonight, I am trying to stay up late to get caught up on the blog with what we have been up to.

Field Work
Once everyone and everything was ready to go, we headed out to visit the Bag Farm and south part of the Junction zone of the Kouroussa project. Some of the grass has been burnt off by the local people. Where there was grass, it was a pretty sight, tight clumps of dried grass, about 1-2’ in height. Some of the grasses we came across were 6 to 7 feet in height, amazing to see. Two trucks carried our drivers, Augibou, Chris and myself, Alpar, Dan (the project geologist), Marie (a geologist), and eventually Alin, another geologist. We looked around at a few of the hole sites, with Chris putting forth some ideas on interpretation for this area. It was neat, as most spoke English, but a lot of French was being spoken too. One of our sights was a small farm plot off in one area. It had an open hut and small mounds in front of it, with a fence around the area. The area was about 50-100m across. Chris mentioned that often farm plots are on top of artisanal workings, as the ground has been broken up and is easier to grow on, and sure enough, there were some old workings next door. After taking lots of photos, we then headed back to the house for lunch.

Lunch, then back into the field for a hike
Lunch was like a dinner, pork slices with a beautiful gravy sauce, green beans, and an interesting salad that was delicious. The salad appeared to be grated cabbage, tomatoes, onions and green peppers, and tasted like a fresh salsa. Will have to see if I can either get the recipe and/or try to recreate at home.

After lunch, we headed back out to the field to go up to the Junction / Sidafa Hill area. This was a hike in the heat, and I was tired when we got back. We were out walking, with a few stops, for almost 3 hours. We checked out some of our lines of drilling and were looking for possible structures. It was interesting. Took a bunch more photos, and we returned home around 6pm. Had a cold shower (no hot water in our bathroom) and a cold drink and felt much more refreshed! Then, I went to visit Alpar at his desk to pick up a bunch of data and request some maps. After that, we headed back to the house for dinner.

Dinner was extremely rich tonight. It began with a lovely soup, very light and brothy. Then, the main course came out, crayfish (like a lobster) with mashed potatoes and an interesting gravy/sauce. It was good, but very rich. Then, a crème caramel or flan (not sure which it was, I think a flan), was served for dessert. Wow, what a meal!!! Now, it is quiet time and late!

Another thing we had done today, was our laundry. My blue bag that went missing from Paris to Conakry arrived by vehicle and was here to greet me when I arrived yesterday (yay!!). The only problem, my shampoo must have exploded as the bottle was missing, the bag it was in had some dried up shampoo in it, as well as some of my clothes had the shampoo markings. Somewhere along the way, someone pulled out my bottle, repacked a few items, and sent it on to me. If only the bag could talk!

The House at Kouroussa
I should mention, the house we are staying in is quite nice. We are in a very large bedroom with a big bed, wardrobe, large desk, and an internet connection. We have a private bathroom and air conditioning. The camp and house have its own generator and is completely walled in. There are security men at the front gate, and one of them introduced himself this morning. His name is Graeme and he is fluent in about 5 languages, including English. He used to work in the tourism sector. He is from Guinea and has family in this area. It was nice to find another English speaker! The house has a main common area, with a dining room table and a tv hooked up to satellite. We have been watching a lot of BBC during meals. The kitchen is behind a closed door, so haven’t peaked in yet. There are three fridges in the common area, holding beverages and lots of bottled water.

Around the area, there are lots of mango trees. The mangoes are still quite green and will be ripe in another month or two. Most of the roads are dirt or laterite, with only the highway being paved. There are traditional huts and concrete buildings. I have seen about 5 Baboa trees, with the largest being somewhere around 10 feet across - it is huge. These trees are fascinating and I look for them everywhere, as they are so symbolic of Africa. I read a small article on them in one of the magazines on the airplane.

Well, I think that is it for now. Going to go online and see if I can get these last entries uploaded. Hope everyone is well!

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