...I had always believed that I left a bit of me wherever I went. I also believed that I took a bit of every place with me. I never felt that more than with this trip. It was as if the act of touching these places, walking these roads,and asking these questions had added another column to my being. And the only possible explanation I could find for that feeling was that a spirit existed in many of the places I visited, and a spirit existed in me and the two had somehow met in the course of my travels. It's as if the godliness of the land and the godliness of my being had fused. - Bruce Feiler

13-17 January 2020, Bissau
Gorila Rooms 12,000XOF (R293)

WhatsApp: We're in Bissau and have just ordered pizza at a bistro opposite the hospital. It's the first time since Cotonou, Benin, that we have shared a restaurant with so many white faces. We caused mild hysteria in several villages today with cries of "Branco" (white) filling the air and kids desperate to touch our skin. When we arrived at the ferry port of Enxude, we were dismayed to find there were three or four tin shacks and no ferry until tomorrow. So we used some of my FMF farewell money to hire a boat for the hour long trip across the estuary. Thanks FMFers.
Forgot to mention we met a Japanese cyclist who has spent 19 months cycling from Japan to Bissau. He will go home to work from Abidjan. Also another Japanese traveller who has been on the road for four years. He has spent the last three months traveling with a DONKEY and CART, averaging 15km per day. Extraordinary. He has now sold the donkey and bought a bicycle.
Yeah. Back to dramatic browns. Looks a little daunting.
Top ranking army and navy officials are known drug kingpins, apparently.
So... Handed our passports to the Senegal embassy yesterday and picked up our FREE visas this morning. Then to The Gambia embassy where they prepared our visas while we waited. Not free, but quite a lot cheaper than most. We were driven to the latter embassy by Manuel who works in agri for the EU. Turns out his dad was assassinated ten years ago while president. Guinea-Bissau fought Portugal for independence for ten years, gaining it in 1974. Not a single elected president since has served a full term. Coups and corruption are rife. Yet the place feels calm and we like it here. We asked Manuel about security. His answer was that the political in-fighting does not directly impact the populace who simply get on with their lives. 50% Muslim, 10% Christian, 40% indigenous. Only 14% speak the official language, Portuguese. Many more speak a Portuguese-based creole. We're going to stay until Saturday, resting and eating and catching up the blog IF the wifi connection allows.
Inside a Toka-toka (communal taxi) after obtaining our Gambian visa.
It's nice. We have a large room with the most enormous bed I have ever seen and a good new bathroom with running water ie a flush loo and real shower. There is a balcony out back and a decent restaurant on site. Nice staff. More a hostel than hotel, nothing fancy, but just what we need. And we managed to negotiate a pretty good price for city accommodation.
This video was taken from our hostel bedroom in Bissau. Outside the school opposite, literally on the sidewalk, a brick-making business complete with a water well.