Guinea-Bissau

My Guinea-Bissau travel summary:

Visited: December 2008

Length: 5 days

Capital city: Bissau

Population: 1.5 million (2008)

Guinea-Bissau travel blog reading time: 8 minutes

• The most bizarre country I visited until 2009.
• Bissau feels more like a large, ruined village than the capital of a country.
• Presidential Hummer perforated by bullets after recent terrorist attack.
• Long adventurous ride on dirt roads to Guinean border.

When I was looking for words to describe my feelings about Guinea-Bissau, it occurred to me that this former Portuguese colony might be defined as bizarre.

Since Guinea-Bissau won its independence from Portugal in 1974, it has experienced almost non-stop political instability. Political leaders are frequently ousted – or even assassinated and a new leader steps in. The presence of six different presidents over the past nine years accounts for the unstable political climate.

Due to ongoing instability, conflicts, and a lack of resources, Guinea-Bissau ranks among the poorest countries in the world.

Guinea-Bissau travel adventure was part of my three-month trip to West Africa in 2008-09, from Morocco to Ghana.

I found infrastructure in Bissau, a capital of 500,000, much more basic than in my hometown of 5,000. Power cuts happened several times a day, there were hardly any cars, and the streets felt almost empty. Even the three paved main roads were in poor condition, and vehicles rarely exceeded 20 km/h.

Many buildings are in poor condition and look abandoned. They could easily serve as locations for war movies without any special effects.

I couldn’t spot a landmark, museum, or any other beautiful area that would be attractive. The capital simply didn’t offer me any remarkable places to visit or things to do.

During my trip around West Africa, which I had started a month earlier, I believed Mauritania was the poorest country in the world. But after spending some time in Guinea-Bissau, I realized how wrong that judgement was. I would say that, so far, Guinea-Bissau seemed to be the poorest country I encountered.

Neither water nor milk is sourced locally. All goods are imported from Europe or neighboring countries. The cost of imported products is prohibitively high, making them unaffordable for the average local consumer.

People are friendly, but the situation in Bissau seems tense. There are very little lights at night and general security situation is not very good. I avoided walking around after dark.

In spite of people’s friendliness, the communication is not easy. The official language is Portuguese, but only a small part of the population actually speaks it. Creole and African dialects are much more common. They are completely incomprehensible and plenty of improvisation helped me to get by.

I met a Spanish man who had spent many years in Bissau doing business. He bought old cars in Europe and drove them overland to Bissau. Crossing several countries in the region was a real challenge, but the reward made it worthwhile.

He invited me to a casual street restaurant known for its delicious fried fish. It became the culinary highlight of my stay and the best meal I had in the country.

The former presidential palace remained completely looted and empty following the recent bombing that led to its destruction. The people of Guinea-Bissau seem exhausted by their president’s inactivity. His lack of action only adds to the sleepy feeling of a city that looks stuck in the past.

I found it hard to believe the locals were rebellious, but my Spanish friend showed me a damaged Presidential Hummer. It had been attacked two weeks before my visit during an unsuccessful attempt to target the President in Bissau.

Being president of Guinea-Bissau carries serious security risks. Political leaders face threats from rebel groups and the possibility of military coups, as seen in neighboring Guinea.

I made an effort to stay optimistic while searching for attractions and landmarks worth visiting. However, I found that there is very little of real interest to see in the capital city of Bissau.

The Old Presidential Palace was hit during the war, and a huge hole in the roof is still there. The Old Portuguese Quarter, with its colorful Mediterranean-style colonial buildings, gave me the feeling that this used to be a pleasant area some decades ago. These days there aren’t many appealing places to visit or memorable things to do.

Most existing buildings date back to colonial times, when the Portuguese invested more in their overseas territories. You can only imagine in what state these properties are, considering they were built from 1951 to 1972.

I could not find any signs of renovation since the Portuguese left in 1974. The only new structure in the city is the National Assembly of Guinea-Bissau, built by China and completed in 2005.

In addition to its rural appearance and the scarcity of activities typically found in other African nations, the overall atmosphere in the capital is notably bleak. I didn’t notice much interest and effort of people to work hard or wish to progress.

Most entrepreneurs buy products in bulk and later sell them individually, such as chocolate, candy, chewing gum, and other sweets. Cashew nuts are the most important local product widely cultivated in Guinea-Bissau. Overall, the countryside situation is not too bad, as agriculture is common and the soil is fertile.

In a country with deep internal problems, anarchy, and many young people without a future, it’s only a matter of time before bad things happen. And when they do, they occur on a large scale.

The United Nations declared Guinea-Bissau Africa’s first narco-state. It serves as a key route for cocaine from Colombia to Europe and heroin from Southeast Asia to the United States.

The two-days drive from Guinea-Bissau to the city of Labe in Guinea is one of the legendary road trips that I could set alongside livestock truck ride in northern Kenya or an all-night bounce on a broken pick-up in the Colombian Andes. My Guinea-Bissau travel adventure reached its peak.

I arrived at the bus stop in Gabú at 7:30am, but it took over two hours for the other six passengers to arrive. Only then were we ready to set off for the Guinean border, 65 kilometers away, in a worn-out Peugeot sept-place.

No big deal. There’s never any hurry in Africa. At least I had a hearty breakfast, exchanged money, and chatted with the locals while I waited. Only a few kilometers later, the rear shock absorber started squealing. We continued until we met a seldom oncoming vehicle that towed us to a mechanic.

After a few minutes of hitting the broken shock absorber with a single tool—a large wrench—the driver somehow fixed it and was happy to continue. But not for long.

Precisely at the halfway point, about two hours into the journey, the transmission failed. After several unsuccessful attempts to start the engine by pushing the car and the driver’s rough maneuvers, the vehicle was parked by the roadside and we retreated into the shade.

The situation seemed hopeless, as we were stranded in the middle of nowhere between two villages. Then an empty taxi suddenly appeared, picked us up, and carried us onward.

An hour later we came across a farmer with two bags of peanuts, who wanted to transport them to a nearby market. All of a sudden, they began unloading neatly packed bags from the roof to make space for more luggage. Intense discussions about the fare followed, growing increasingly heated.

It was obvious that the poor farmer didn’t want and probably also couldn’t pay the price for his peanut’s bags, so I decided to interfere. I offered to pay for the cargo, if we were going to move immediately.

The farmer suddenly ran into the bush and returned with seven additional 25-kilogram bags. No problem. There is always room for more people or cargo.

Upon completing four hours of travel, we reached the border after covering 65 kilometers. I quickly completed the border formalities for the crossing from Guinea-Bissau to Guinea and was soon seated in the next Peugeot sept-place bush taxi.

The taxi took us to the first major village in Guinea for just a few Guinean francs. This time, we waited less than an hour to fill the vehicle, and apart from military checkpoints there were no major inconveniences.

Saraboydi, however, was not my final destination that day; it was still another 15 kilometers to the village of Koundara, where I planned to spend the night. By the time we arrived, it had been dark for several hours and was approaching 9:00pm.

I needed more than twelve hours to cover just 95 kilometers. With no food since breakfast and endless waiting. Welcome to Guinea-Bissau!

This was only the first part of the legendary journey, which continued to Labé in Guinea the following day.

In 2009, Guinea-Bissau was not a popular tourist destination and offered little in terms of sightseeing or cultural attractions. Constant political and military instability meant that many people focused on daily survival rather than future plans or ambitions.

I admire the foreigners who choose to do business in such a complicated and unstable environment. I also respect the backpackers who give priority to Guinea-Bissau over many other beautiful destinations around the globe.

Various national parks, beautiful beaches and exotic islands are theoretically available for exploration. In reality, they may be difficult to access, too expensive to visit, or simply off-limits.

Guinea-Bissau still has a long way to stabilize and normalize before it can attract a greater number of foreign visitors.