-Ralph Waldo Emerson-
Today was a day of leisure. We NEEDED it all of including Zoe and Sam who
had done all the driving.
To sum up our last few days:
4 days on the road
2 countries-4 borders (in and out)
3 bush camps
42.5 hours on the truck
5 hours of weather delay (mud maneuvers and other
traffic)
3 hours of security checkpoints
698km travelled
Yes today was going to be just that for me. A day of leisure.
The couples talked about going for a walk in the wild
bush surrounds, but as that is not even an option for me, even on a good day-I
was happy to let them stretch their legs and I was going to use my day to blog
and read my book. We did all catch up at
breakfast, the couples did meet at 10am for the walk, but as the weather was SO
HOT already and we would be doing a walk tomorrow, they changed their game plan
and decided to go for a walk into town instead.
I was still out as this as an option for me and washed some undies,
popped in some washing to be done, it was badly needed, and I set up my
‘office’. I had to make sure that as
soon as the computer was fired up I went straight to work as the power at the
hotel is generator based and doesn’t get switched on until 7pm, so I wanted to
blog like a mad women until my battery went flat, and I can normally get around
2 hours these days out of my trusty notebook that has written a lot of entries
over the last 3 years. I had just got
into the swing of things when only after 40 minutes the couples were
back!! It was just too hot in town and
being a Sunday there wasn’t too much to see.
They too were going to have a chillaxed afternoon, which was good as I
know then that I am not missing out on anything! We all ordered lunch at the hotel which
incorporated fresh baguettes and pomme frites (cooked fries) and we chatted for
a few hours and then with full tummies we all reconvened and would met back at
7pm for dinner. I got my washing back
and it only cost me 5000GFA for 2 pieces (1AUD)-cheap as chips and I got it
back smelling all crisp and clean. There
is nothing better than having freshly laundered clothes; even if it was hand
washed-she had done a bloody good job!!
Nzérékoré is the second largest city in Guinea by population, after the capital Conakry and the largest city in the Guinée Forestière region of south-eastern Guinea. It was the center of an uprising against French rule in 1911. It is now known as a market town,
and for its silver working.
The population was 107,329 in 1996 (census). Growing dramatically since the
civil wars in neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone,
and Côte d'Ivoire,
the 2008 estimated population is between 250,000 and 300,000. The town grew rapidly after World War II when it became a center for
administration and trading. A sawmill was built and a plywood plant which has
aided the local economy. The economic future of the town may rely on rich iron ore deposits found near the city. The city and the border with Sierra Leone and
Liberia experienced disruption with civil war in the 1990s and early 2000s, and
many refugees came to Nzérékoré during the First Liberian Civil War and the Second Liberian Civil War. Other refugees
came from Côte d'Ivoire. At times the population of the city with these people
has been estimated as nearly 300,000.
I knuckled down and completed 2 blogs before my computer
went flat and Zoe also came and knocked on my door saying that there was a
local artisan selling some wares, and as it is wasted on her, she came and got
me who might be interested (she was right) and I bought a wooden nude bust of a
Guinean woman and 2 travel talisman, the size of 2 postage stamps, that were
used as ancient passports for the tribes indicating which one they were
from. I was still trying to wrap my head
around the new currency and when the artisan told me the price for the bust it
was 100,000GFA-I wasn’t even sure how much that actually was, but said no and
then moved onto the travel talisman. He
told me they were 15,000GFA each, and still not really knowing the true cost,
but smart enough to know that he would be asking too much to try his luck-I got
him down to, 2 for 20,000 and was prepared to walk away from the bust when he
said what about 60,000-I said no-he said 40,000, I said 30,000 and he said
deal. It wasn’t until I got back to my
room and I worked out what I had actually paid and it was 2.80AUD total for the
travel talisman and 4.30AUD for the bust.
How cheap was that! It is so hard
working in such large denominations that really aren’t worth much at all.
I had a nana nap for an hour and then read my book until
7pm when the power came back on and we met for dinner. I was so tired and directly after dinner I
excused myself and headed straight to bed and read, I didn’t even blog-yes I
must have been tried. It was a great
recovery day and with no rest for the wicked, we were to be back on Madge again
tomorrow as we head further north into the country of Guinea and pushing for
the Sierra Leone border in the coming days.
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