Articles tagged with: bike
Guinea 056
Tuesday, February 13 – 8:00 a.m. Labe
Every once in a while in the life of a cyclist a day comes along that is like a gift. Yesterday was such a day.
It started early for me as usual. I woke up before sunrise, did battle with the legions of spiders that had moved in on me during the night and quietly shifted my gear and bicycle …
Guinea 055
Sunday, February 11 6:30 a.m. Lelouma
I’d like to go back in time, visit every one of my informants about the road from Telimele to Lelouma, and give them each a sharp little slap. And that includes the PCV’s in Telimele. Jessica and Greg told me the road was pretty steep in parts. They also told me there were deep ruts on those steep pitches and …
Guinea 054
Thursday February 8 5:23 a.m.
I had dinner with Jessica and Greg last night but it wasn’t a success. I don’t know why but conversationally speaking we didn’t hit it off. Perhaps it’s because of a difference in our ages. I’m probably twice their age. I didn’t think of that till now but I wonder if it’s much more apparent to them and they were uncomfortable …
Guinea 051
Monday February 5 8:30 a.m. Telimele
Everything I do in Guinea seems to be or at least feels like an escape of one kind or another and my departure from Douki felt like much the same. The irony was that there was no need for it. As I said before, I wasn’t angry about anything. I was a trifle annoyed with the Mastermind but I couldn’t …
Guinea 050
Saturday, February 3 9:00 a.m. Douki
I got kicked out of my Fula Hut by a Frenchman who showed up out of nowhere and said he was with “two women from the embassy” who needed a place to stay. This happened at the worst possible time it was already dark, I’d spent an hour cleaning up and settling in after climbing out of the valley via …
Guinea 045
Sunday, January 28 10:25 a.m. Douki
To say that I am deliriously happy would be an understatement. The reason for that happiness is my new home, a traditional Fula hut (with some decidedly Western twists) located right in the middle of the Fouta Djalon in a small village called Douki.
To be here in this hut is so perfect that I keep expecting someone to show up …
Guinea 044
Saturday, January 27 4:00 a.m. Diaga
I dislike writing in my tent and I don’t know how long my back will hold out but I have no choice. There probably isn’t a single solitary table and chair for sixty kilometres in any direction. And certainly at this time of the morning there is no other option. I just hope that neither the Director nor the Garbled …
Guinea 043
Friday, January 26 8:53 a.m. Pita
The last day and a half has been a series of mysteries solved, discoveries made, and lessons learned.
The first mystery was why “feh de manioc” was a bright slimy green while manioc itself is white. This had been bothering me since the first day in Linsan when the pot lid was lifted to reveal the disgusting but tasty goo inside. …