Guinea

I had heard a lot about corruption and lawlessness in Guinea and I was somewhat anxious about entering the country. Recent events had not been exactly reassuring, but contacts on the internet assured me it would be alright, as long as I exercised come caution. The border crossing then surprised me, I was not even asked for bribes.

I was still a little sick and decided to call in sick, spend a day in bed and then head out into the sticks, away from the main highways and onto small dirt paths. The piste led me through small villages, got smaller and rougher until I came to a river where there was a ferry on the other side but, as some kids in a canoe informed me, it had neither diesel nor a working battery. I'd have to wait for a car to arrive with some diesel that could then jumpstart the ferry, or try to use an old bridge that was supposedly very close by. When I got to the bridge it was just the remains of an old bridge from colonial times. Trucks crossed though a ford next to the bridge, but when I walked through, I realized it would be too deep for the bike. Just when I had resigned myself to spending the night in the village to wait for a car to arrive, the ferry guys arrived and said my that bike was too heavy for a canoe but maybe they could tie two canoes together. It all worked out, the bike crossed the Bafing River, me and my luggage went in a third canoe. Since it was too late to carry on, I put up the tent in the village nearby.

Guinean officials, police, gendarmerie, customs, military, and what not proved to be quite the pain in the butt for me. The closer I got to the capital Conakry, the worse things seemed to get. Usually they would make their move on me when I stopped somewhere in a town, say at the gas station, and demand all kinds of documents, some of which even didn't exist or didn't apply to me (the tax sticker for Guinean registered vehicles was popular). What then followed were endless discussions, demands for "fines", etc. By that time though, there had often formed a huge crowd around us, curious and angry at he policemen for hassling the foreigner. People would yell at the police and argue with them, all the while the spectacle grew, more people came and the police had to tell me to leave for the situation not to go out of control.

Guineans proved to be a very friendly and hospitable people throughout my stay in the country. This audacity and courage in the face of authorities though might have partly been due to the elections that were on the following month. When I talked to people they were very hopeful that Guinea was on the right track and would soon have a democratically elected government.

On the way towards Conakry I had noticed my steering was off and indeed the steering head bearings were broken. All those potholes must have taken their toll. I had already inquired about the customs situation and whether to have new bearing sent to me in Conakry or close by Freetown, in Sierra Leone. Turned out, the very capable mechanic Felix (Phone: 0022464716606 Garage at N09°36.634',W13°35.706) was able to find replacements within minutes. Yamaha must have used standardized parts on the TTR. I stayed in Conakry for a week, got a visa for Ivory Coast, had Felix fix several things on my bike that had broken over the last weeks and finally set off to Sierra Leone.