Guinea

Guinea visa - got it in 24 hours in Dakar (rue 7, point E), it's 20.000CFA for up to 1 month single entry

I assume you'll get your visas before you go - but I had no problem getting my Guinea visa in Bissau - 30000 CFA. This was a double-entry too (though whether I got lucky or this is regular I'm not sure). I can also confirm that i picked up a visa for Guinea in Bissau for 30000 CFA - this was a 45 day double-entry visa. I have a feeling I got lucky getting a double-entry for this price.

I was in GB and Guinea in June / July travelling in the opposite direction to you. We tried to use the road from GB to Boke through Quebo , but there was a bridge washed out in Sansale so we had to turn back and use the Gabu-Koumbia-Boke route. As far as we could work out (and we spent a lot of time trying) that’s the only alternative to going back through Labe, and repeating yourself. Boke to Gabu took approx 10 hours of driving with one ferry crossing, and there would be a couple of cars each day doing that journey. The road is black-topped for about an hour of that, the rest is averagely bad track.

INFO POSTED 28th Nov 2006: I just came through to Guinea from Guinea Bissau 5 weeks ago and took the 'standard' Gabu to Koundara but this involved 3 cars, plenty of waiting to fill up, some crappy almost 4wd roads and took all day. I believe it is possible to go direst to Koundara but there wasn' enough people to do this and i don't know the cost of taking a whole car yourself. It wasn't too bad a trip and the border was straight forward. It is only a small outpost with a few houses and stores.

If you want to go out walking in the forests and hills then Dalaba (between Labé and Mamou) is a nice place, there's a luxury (relative) hotel there we stayed in, 10€ for 3 people so we stopped for a couple of days! It’s on the edge of a cliff with a couple of paths going down into the valley.. you could spend a few worse days than that I’m sure ! I can also recommend the Hotel Tangama in Dalaba, should you choose to stop there. That's the place I mentioned before. I also heard good things about the trip to Mali-ville but at that point I wasn't into horrendously long bus rides unless they were in the direction I was heading!

The route through the Fouta Djallon (Gabu-Koundara-Labe-Mamou-Conakry) is very slow but can be done in a couple of days (I did it in reverse last year). From Gabu to Koundara is fast and easy.

Koundara there is only a single place to stay, pretty basic but with decent food and a big local hangout (and brothel if I'm not mistaken). Then from there to Labe is dusty, long and not so pretty--I had to get from Dalaba to Koundara in a day as I was recovering from something that had stripped 9 kilos off me pretty quick, and wanted to get up toward Gambia and Senegal. There are strange formations by the side of the road--mushroom-shaped but stony,. The mushrooms are termite mounds - waterproofed versions for the rainy season unfortunately that's about all there is to see of interest but there are loads of them everywhere. There is a single ferry crossing to be done, but otherwise it's piste. You may want to break it up over a couple of days or just grin and bear it. From Labe it's pretty easy. Don't hesitate to ask your driver to slow down on the road from Labe to Conakry. It's a very dangerous road.

Just to be clear, Labe to Koundara was about 12 hours for the 250 or so km, and I was in a particularly awful vehicle (it had to be pushed to the gas station at the start of the trip)--. The rest of the way is paved (Labe to Conakry, Gabu to Bissau) or at least decent piste (Koundara to the border was maybe 40 minutes) from what I recall.

The road wasn't that bad, I would say normal by Guinean standards. The road from Koundara towards G-B is worse; the one going south to Labe is probably just as bad.

Koundara to Labe (35000 + 4000) was a long day's journey on very dusty roads. Hotel Independence overlooks the Gare & is friendly enough. If you fancy a relative splurge (perhaps double the price of the Independence, though I'm not sure) Hotel Tata looked nice. It's definitely worth visiting for the great pizza's though - if you've been away long enough to crave such things at least. You can also find a guide there if you're looking too. I splurged 120000 (90000 for a taxi & 30000 for the guide) to go to Sall a falls with an English speaking female guide called Binta. The falls were nice enough but the most memorable part of the trip was the "road" to get there!

The route may be newer or just better but I managed from Gabu to Labe in a single sitting, 16 hours in the wet season but we didn't go via Koundara, went via Gaoual instead, a road which isn't marked on any maps i can find.... so i'm not sure if it would be better or worse than the others.

Labe is a bit of a dump; Labe will be a great city to relax in after coming from Koundara. There's electricity, internet, etc. If you like indigo-dyed fabric, Labe is the place to buy it, and you can buy it a well-known women's co-op there.

I don't know if you'll have time... but the best scenery in Guinee is in Mali-ville, a town several hours north of Labe by taxi. Do go if you have the time in your schedule! December might be a little dry, but still, it's beautiful.

Also, don't know exactly what the road from Conakry to Kamsar is like, but surely there will be daily transport between the cities

Given that you will have traveled from Koundara to Labe by taxi, Conakry to Boke is a piece of cake, probably 5 hours tops including the large number of police checkpoints since the problems in June, and Boke to Kamsar is also an easy run, less than an hours trip. Both roads are blacktop all the way. It's a mining town. (I don't know anything about crossing the border north of Kamsar though. Your best bet might be going from Boke, as suggested above.)

I heard the road from Conakry towards the Fouta is a bit dodgy but from Labé all the way to Kissidougou was in great shape and the Kankan-Bamako road is brand new apart from a short section towards Bamako where it hasn't been finished yet...

Boke is a well-developed, large town.

TRANSPORT - If it helps, I saw one bus in over a week in guinea, at Kankan gare routiere going to Conakry.. I’d say stick to bush taxis.. They’re also far more reasonable for baggage charges than in Senegal for instance. Also I didn't see any minibuses at all... I didn't go to Conakry so maybe the Sogetrag network is centered there. Just like you have to wait for the taxi to fill before it goes (usually a couple of hours, depending how many spots are left when you buy your ticket), you have to wait for the bus to fill before it goes. Literally, you could wait for a couple of days. Also, when a bus breaks down, it's a much bigger mess than when a taxi breaks down. Yeah, they do give times for the buses to leave, but believe me; no bus in Guinee ever leaves at a pre-determined time! Really, they would never leave until every seat has been sold. I was shocked when I left Guinee for the first time and found the buses in Bamako left on a schedule, and they weren't even full.

Be prepared for crowded public transport. The same cars that fit seven in Senegal take a minimum of 9 (usually 10) in Guinea. Some of the roads can be windy too - at least windy enough to upset the stomachs of some of the local village women and/or their children - which isn't funny in such confined spaces!

In guinea always get a seat on the back row; they only put 3 people there!!

Of course, once you're in Conakry you will be able to find the answers, with some persistence, at the taxi park, where you might find a car going directly to Guinea-Bissau.

TOURISM - In general, the thing about Guinea is that there aren't a lot of actual "sites." The tourism sector is pretty much non-existent. For the beach, I went to Kassa Island which you can get to by boat from Conakry. I've never been to Boffa-area beaches, but I've heard they're beautiful.

Conakry rocks. Great city, great people, food, lively atmosphere. Traffic is absolutely horrendous. Public shared taxis are reliable and cheap. Internet is available in town. Quite rundown, but has a lively atmosphere and great nightlife.

The countryside is breathtakingly beautiful. Dalaba is a gorgeous town with beautiful hikes. Fouta Djalon has some tourism, but is by no means overrun, and with literally hundreds of trails. Very friendly people, amazing scenery, and lots of opportunities to meet people, stay at villager's homes etc.

Mali-ville is a beautiful place, especially if you like hiking, and the people of Mali are actually trying to get tourists to come visit.

The waterfalls around Kinda and Labe will be drier in December, I think.

I think adding Nzerekore would take too much time and you're right to focus on the Fouta and the coast.

If you're feeling like you need a treat, there is a French cafe, Le Damier, across the street from the Marche Niger in downtown Conakry that will make you feels like you're not in Guinea.

The good news is that Guinea (or at least the Fouta Djalon area) was probably my favourite part of my last trip. Good climate - certainly if you struggle with the heat as I often do in Africa. Very pleasant area for walking - though I didn't do nearly as much as I should've. Very friendly people. And very good value for money - as in about as cheap as I'd hoped other places in Africa would be, but they weren't!

MONEY - You do need cash in both Guineas. On a short trip you'd probably bring enough hard currency from home. I used the banks (ATMs or visa cash advance facilities) in Senegal to top-up on CFAs - which were no problem to change in Guinea. When I was there I got between 7.6 and 7.9 GF for the CFA. Or in other words between 38000 and 39500 GF for each 5000 CFA changed. I changed Euros once and got 5100 GF for 1 Euro.

If I remember well only thing about guinea is you need big pockets to stuff all the notes in 1€ = 6500FG in july, biggest note = 5000FG.

Some prices - all in local currency. Speaking only of the Fouta Djalon region I didn't pay more than 30,000 GF for accommodation. I got an excellent room for this in Dalaba. The same hotel had cheaper options that looked fine too if you're really trying to save. By comparison the place I stayed in Koundara was half that price but extremely basic by comparison - there's just not a lot of choice in Koundara (though of the two places i'm sure I picked the worst!). Rice & sauce was 1500 GF, Water 2000 GF, Soft drinks 1000 - 1500 GF (small) & 2000-3000 GF (large). Beer 2500-3000 GF. More expensive meals 10-12000 GF.

Gabu = reasonably cheap but quite expensive for what you get usually... Overall I’d say not much difference between the two. guinea is dirt cheap added to this the fact that you are not usually given the tourist price for things.... we got a triple in a 3 star hotel in Dalaba (the kind where you walk in and wonder what planet you've landed on) for 10€..... 6 metres of fabric for 3€ etc, actually I hardly haggled for anything in guinea unlike long processes in Senegal, Mali etc... Taxi brousse are an exception though, they seem to be more on a par with regional prices –

Gabu (in Guinea-Bissau) to Koundara on local transport on market day. 1000 CFA to the border in a clapped-out mini-bus, 3500 GF (+ 1500 luggage) from the border to Sarebeido & another 5000 GF (+ 1000 luggage) to Koundara.

Mamou to Kissidougou at 50.000FG for instance,

Kankan to Bamako for 90.000FG.

Gabu to Labé is 11.000CFA

Visa in Conakry

Just in case you try to get more visas on your way, having two passports I got four visas (4 that is!) in 1,5 days in Conakry: Ivory Coast (126.000 GF, Liberia (200.000 GF), Mali (16.200 GF!) and Ghana (US $20), all being 30 day single entry visas. Both Ivory Coast and Liberia take two days, but if you have one passport as I assume you can go to the Ivory Coast embassy first at 09:00 am, then announce your application at the Liberian embassy directly after (since that's what they want). On the second day pick up your passport at 14:00 pm and head to the Liberian embassy where the visa will be issued on the spot. If you're heading for Mali or Ghana visit the folks as they are very helpfull, so they might be able to issue the visa within 30 minutes if they know when you're coming. Do note that the embassy of Mali is not on the same spot as is mentioned on the LP map, but opposite Hotel Camayenne. The embassy for Ghana is a two minute walk from there. Note: According to another traveller the Liberian ambassador in Sierra Leone died a while ago, which means that there is no Liberian representation in Freetown at the moment, so it might be impossible to get a Liberian visa in Freetown at the moment! An accommodation tip for Conakry: Since the Catholic Mission was full I stay in Motel du Port, a quite nice place with a freezing airco for 65.000 GF; not too bad in a capital city...

Conakry to Freetown

I'm not sure if internet will be my first priority, but this is what my friend Janusz wrote me two days ago: "If you will go from Conakry, go to the Matam gare voiture and ask for Pamalap/Conakry. I was there at 6:30 am and took the first taxi brousse. Its 55.000 plus 10.000 for extra luggage fees etc. Departing at 8 am I have arrived Freetown at 4 pm. The border is ok. Only the guinean policeman took from me 5k francs, as well as from other passengers. The SL side of the border is ok. You can change the cash either in Conakry at the taxi drivers or more easily at the border. The rate in both places is the same: 100 leone for 150 francs (or 5.000 for 7.500)." For the bankers among you: It IS possible to get cash advances on Visa, Mastercard and American Express at the Rokel bank next to the post office in Freetown. I think I had to pay an amazing 10% commission or so but maybe that was just because I took only a small amount of money. It might be cheaper though to stock up on cash at the BICIGUI ATM in Conakry if you're coming from that way and change your money on the street.