Trip of a lifetime

... And I'm back. I arrived home to Freetown two nights ago after an absolutely exhausting yet intensely rewarding vacation to Guinea and Liberia. I would be remiss to even attempt to fully encapsulate the awesomeness of this experience in one post, but here's a taste.

In the past 2.5 weeks, I have:

1. Traveled by foot, motorcycle-taxi, shared taxi, poda-poda, and even with a bunch of SL soldiers in the back of a RSLAF military truck, covering hundreds of kilometers a day. I hit three West African capitals, from Freetown to Monrovia to Conakry and back to Freetown, stopping in a number of small Guinean towns and villages along the way (N'zerekore, Lola, Bossou, Seredou, Macenta, Kissidougou, Mamou, Dalaba, Doucki, and Pita).


2. Spent an afternoon tracking wild West African chimpanzees in Bossou, eventually finding eight of the area's 13 known primates.


The photo below is the best shot I managed, taken as the smallest of the chimps took to the trees and swung towards us.


I'm still not sure whether he merely enjoyed having an audience or was testing to see if I would back down and bow to his authority over the territory. I did, but I was so enraptured snapping photos as our friend strode along the branch, causing it to bend down towards me (that photo is taken sans zoom) that I only heard our guide call twice for me to back away. Rebecca later informed me he'd said it six or seven times.

3. Visited the Pont Naturelle, a naturally occurring rock bridge in the middle of a small stream.



Here, we chilled briefly and wound down from the exertion of our chimp tracking with some Skol beer, the most prevalent brand in Guinea.



On our return to Lola, we bypassed Mount Nimba, the country's highest peak.



4. Downed a local concoction consisting of gin and Guinness (in the interest of an early morning start, I took only two shots in my beer, as opposed to the standard four) in the only bar in little Lola over a conversation in an entertaining mish-mash of French and English, while the men of this predominately Muslim nation reacted with horror when Rebecca proved the unthinkable - that a woman can, in fact, drink Guinness.

5. Tracked wild elephants in the Foret Classee de Ziama, near Seredou (pictured below), though not until after a delay brought on by our "guide" showing up an hour late, reeking of palm wine (at 7 a.m.).



Fortunately, he hired a new guide and while it was frustrating that the initial guy refused to pay this new guide in spite of the fact that he'd been well paid to render essentially no service, it was nonetheless nice to have someone competent helming our five-hour trek through dense forest.



Using a machete, he expertly cut a swath through the jungle-like brush and, when our palm wine drinkard started in fear as we crossed paths with a snake, he adeptly wheeled on his heels and sliced the serpent in half.



In the end, we did not catch a glimpse of the elephants, but the experience was still absolutely worth it. We spent the last three hours of the trek hot on the trail of at least one elephant, as evidenced by fresh tracks (below) and a steaming pile of dung, which our guide estimated was about five minutes old.



I'd guess we came within about 30m of the mammoth mammals, as we could hear them quite clearly. Alas, with dried leaves coating the forest floor, the elephants heard us as well and stampeded off whenever we got close, leaving us with nothing to show for our efforts except for wet shoes from wading through marshes.

Well, that's not entirely true. Wearing shorts in an effort to minimize the torrents of sweat I'd unleashed during the chimp tracking, I was also fortunate enough to have shredded legs from the thorny brush and a cornucopia of bites from the frequent onslaught of red ants. Still, the thrill of the chase was amazing.

6. Took a day trip to les Chutes de Ditinn, a breathtaking waterfall that had to be at least 80m tall. I can only imagine what it must look like during the rainy season, when our guide said the pool at the bottom gets about 20 feet deeper.





7. Spent an afternoon chilling in hammocks with a middle-aged Dutch musician named Henk who was in the midst of a two-month trip through Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea and Mali, before sleeping in a traditional Peul mud hut.



8. Tuned out the voices around me as I stared out across a breathtaking abyss of slot canyons on a moonlight hike of spiritual proportions, the wind swirling around me providing a tranquil soundtrack for the spectacle.

9. Became friends with a group of five American college juniors studying abroad in Dakar, while undertaking a rigorous hike through "Guinea's Grand Canyon."


Though I've never been to the actual Grand Canyon, hiking these slot canyons in the Fouta Djalon region certainly yielded its fair share of awe-inspiring views, such as the one pictured below, in which Dantel from the Bay Area peers over the edge of an immense cliff face.


We also stopped by a pleasant waterfall, where our guide, the infamous Hassan Bah, chilled out in a scene straight from The Jungle Book.


And to top it off, we checked out some of the area's caves (pictured below, featuring Henk) and hiked up a cliff face so steep I think it qualified as borderline rock climbing - all while I favoured a sprained ankle (more on that in the next post), Rebecca limped along on a twisted knee, and Emily from Tennessee battled heat exhaustion.



10. Experienced a very "small world" moment upon leaving our new friends in Doucki, only to encounter seven of their colleagues when we checked into a hostel in Pita, where we relaxed and shared travel experiences over Skol beers and rum and Fanta.

11. Crossed a rickety bridge in the vine-style, as part of a day-trip with this second group of Americans to the impressive, three-tiered Chutes de Kambadaga.





12. Feasted on a little slice of Paris in the heart of downtown Conakry. Though the name of Le Conakry may be uninspired, the complete reverse is true of the menu. For the unbeatable price of $9, I dined on a delectable three-course lunch of avocado vinaigrette, veal, and creme caramel au rhum (heavy on the rum), with a Flag beer. Good luck finding that in Freetown.

13. Sampled Guinea's stellar music scene, which easily ranks among the best on the continent, with an intimate night of world-class jazz at Chez Francis.



Sitting in the shade of tall trees as waves crashed onto the beach just feet away, we were among the 20 or so people treated to a performance by veterans of the Conakry nightlife scene, including one singer whose resume boasts a host of international appearances, the Montreal Jazz Festival among them. Again, not something that's readily available in my current hometown.

14. Relaxed on the beaches of Iles de Los, after a 45-minute ride in a pirogue (dug-out canoe). Okay, so beaches are one area where Freetown totally wins, but when you cite chilling on beaches like the one below as one of the major disappointments of a trip, let's just say you don't have the biggest problems in the world.



15. Did it all for less than $700.


Have I mentioned lately how much I love my life?