When Enough is Enough

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There comes a time in a persons travels in Africa where one starts to think, ‘That’s it I’m through with pretending I don’t have much money. I’m sick of deluding myself that I can’t afford to pay for that extra space in the bush taxi or a flight to save a days travel. It’s time to act like a rich westerner.’ For some reason this explosion of resources in the financial sector happened with my comings and goings with the Guinean capital Conakry.

After the 20 and a half hour bus ride to get into Guinea and waiting for a couple of hours a few days later for one last person to fill the already overcrowded car. It was up to the westerner to pay up and get the front seat all to himself for the extra couple of bucks and an immediate departure.

That immediate departure was halted however 5 minutes in when we scored ourselves a flat tyre and another one later on. Throughout the day we would stop off at tyre repair shops to fix the problem of the botched tyres so we could have another spare tyre.

I had a look at the state of the tyre shops after this and saw the tyres for sale are almost bald and others which had giant cuts on them. I remember seeing black plastic bags filling in gaps from the tyre to the rim (at least that’s what it looked like.) Rust is also everywhere and that is again because all of Europe’s waste comes to Africa.

There is no other choice but to live and travel on this knife-edge and with the speed they travel, it is sometimes better cramped in the back. As a whole you have to look at it as just part of the character of the place and not think that you are signing your death warrant.

In a crazy way they are better drivers because they are incredibly aware. Aware of the potholes, the animals and other crazy drivers. They are constantly on the horn for what seems no reason but it’s for your safety so that’s fine despite the annoyingness of it all.

There are so many tyre changes it’s a perfect location for those cliché women that don’t know how to change a tyre. Nearly every ride has at least one so all is needed is a one month course. Maybe that’s a tourism initiative for one country or a region. ‘Tyre changing tours of Africa!’ or ‘Changin’ up Africa’ – Cape Town to Cairo or Congo to Casablanca obviously these would be 6 month tours.

I really should have taken photos of every time I’ve stopped for a blown tyre. I would have had such a grand collage. Gee there have been some good ones but non-better than the Namibian self inflicted one.

When I arrived I tried to get to the Christian Mission accommodation as it was the cheapest but the driver couldn’t find it and it turned out to be full. I didn’t bother trying a place with 3 rooms in my book thinking it would be sold out too. So I tried to find another option. Naturally African’s in cities see any westerner as rich so everyone is suggesting Novatel. I eventually find one for $50 but it’s booked out as well. Suddenly I am looking at a shocking figure of $90 a night in Conakry.

A massive freak out occurred so I decided to call my last resort, a restaurant that had those 3 side rooms for rent. They had availability and for $16 a night and I am laughing. I rarely take mobiles on travels or have a sim card that works but I took one up in Guinea and as mobiles have done the few times in the past… Gee they’ve come in handy.

That one phone call paid for itself and the sim cards and credits previously from all my travels. In fact most of my remaining dollars would have been taken up and Novotel was the only option for credit card. I almost considered couch surfing (later discovered that there is not one member in the city). Something that I have never done before because it takes away the spontaneity of travel - A bit like mobiles. Actually, if you look at it, mobile phones just cost me a few days pimping it out with the big shots at Novotel for $140 a night.

Now I am in a stinky room with no electricity so no fan. It was so hot here it was like living in a game of squash and not playing in one of those modern glass backcourts. Instead the stuffy old 4 wall concrete courts in the middle of summer.

Electricity is not a common thing in Conakry and this is why accommodation is so expensive you have to pay for the generator costs. And the streets in the downtown area have many shops trading the modern day generators. Even after all these years Guinea is living via the former President Sekou Toure’s words “Freedom in poverty than prosperity in chains.”

Going through this wasted money debacle whilst driving through a shithole like Conakry is hard to take. Because you are looking at this place and thinking how can a place like this charge so much money. Rubbish piled up in small sections with people scouring the mounds. Tight streets overcrowded with peak hour traffic trying to manoeuvre their way around the thin peninsula.

It did have character though in its disgusting way and whilst in the taxi thinking man my taxi bill is doubling now too. I thought my hand was dealt, I’ll have to move on straight away after getting my VISA for Sierra Leone even if I liked the place.

Some might think ‘Come on man don’t be a tight arse you got the cash in dollars use it.’ But in Africa you have to keep the cash for absolute emergencies because at any moment, anywhere getting cash out can be a problem so you have to hold out and be rational.

So if anyone sees me wasting a few hundred dollars on something ridiculous like a season ticket to the Parramatta Eels home games to a season you won’t see than you know what I did to make up for that errant spending. I gave up on the Novotel to stay in a place so hot I had to have 3 showers throughout the night to cool off so I could sleep.

As stated, electricity is not the best in Conakry and when the lights are out at a restaurant all I wanted to do was ask whether they serve food now. I have to bring out my English to French book and point at the word ‘food.’ I see them gaze away from my finger to other words in the book. I make an invisible line along the book to highlight food and the French word for it and they are clueless.

West Africa can be so frustrating because of the lack of communication. I don’t have a problem getting my mouth around pronouncing the words but I just don’t know when to use that pronunciation if that makes sense…. I have found I have been better understood speaking English than attempting French.

The city has a slummy quality about it but something about it. It is not the worst place in the world but with limited sights you really need to be mentally ready to see African city life. I managed to walk into the small cemetery where one of the only sights to capture France’s influence is. Not used since the 1940’s its one of the only peaceful parts of the city with nice old big trees. There are some islands a short boat ride away but as per normal I was in the process of getting a Visa. This time Sierra Leone. I should have gone over but rainy season was getting close and Sierra Leone beaches were calling out to me.

A few markets are around selling packaged food. Restaurants are around too, which is unusual for my Guinea experience. Some parts of Africa just don’t need restaurants without tourists or high class workers - no one can afford it.

I left and came back to Conakry after Sierra Leone, which isn’t a reflection on the place. I decided I couldn’t do this sitting on half a seat stuff anymore and for an extra $10 it’s a great investment to recapture your sanity. I did it again to Freetown Sierra Leone and back again I didn’t care if I looked rich enough.

I came back to take a flight to Bamako Mali. West and North Africa’s itinerary has changed so much this year so to avoid Cote d’Ivoire I had to get to Mali. And the thought of 24 hours, plus the fact that these bush taxis are not cheap I decided to take an Air Mali flight for an extra $120. If I was travelling with someone even for two days at any point in the past 2 months maybe I wouldn’t have felt I needed it. But West Africa is one of the loneliest places to see other travellers. So I needed to catch a break so flying it was.

The airport is about 20 minutes away from the city centre and when I arrived I re-confirmed that sometimes travelling can really reveal a bad side, an ugly side in you. As I was walking down the ramp a big arsed mother was walking slow not caring of her surroundings playing with her kid. A lovely sight but its happened so many times to me I can’t help but get the shits. I just can’t take African women dawdling in front of me especially on the busy roads and now at the airport.

I waited for my flight not knowing how old the plane is and feeling safer with the thought of travelling on the roads with plastic bag tyres. But it turns out a lot of African airlines are quite new, ‘The logo looked new so maybe the flight will be good?’ I thought and that is because mostly they are expensive compared to Europe or SE Asia so they can afford the maintenance.

I saw this flight as an end of a period of travel that was really draining. Combined with the heat it is hard work. But really are the hard travelling days over yet? Will waking up at 6am to get to the stand to wait for the vehicle to get full to then arrive just before sunset and then do it all over again 2 or 3 days later be over… I doubt it?

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Photos

Mosque on the road
Stopped here for prey