GUINEA CONAKRY REPORT TRAVEL.

There is a 1 hour time zone compared to Italy.

To enter Guinea Conakry you need an entry visa, for tourism, to be requested at the Embassy of Guinea in Rome based in Via Adelaide Ristori, 9 / b-13, or by relying on a travel agency that delivers the practice for you. I relied on the Ufficiovisti.it agency, based in Via Luigi Pianciani n. 21 - 00185 Rome, managed by Mr. Nicola Basta, Telephone: 393/78864462, e-mail: info@ ufficiovisti.it, website: www. ufficiovisti.it, to which I have sent the following documents:

1. Passport (valid for no less than 6 months);

2. Guinea Conakry visa application form completed and signed in duplicate;

3. letter of appointment for the entry visa for Guinea Conakry completed and signed;

4. two recent passport-sized photos on a white background;

5. copy of the yellow fever vaccination;

6. Copy of the bank transfer in the amount of € 95.00 including VAT (€ 60 for consular fees + € 35 for the competence of the Ufficiovisti.it agency)

I must say that the aforementioned Agency did an excellent job and in just 2 days obtained an entry visa for 30 days. I arranged for the courier, relying on the online Courier "Spedire.com", at the price of Euro 6.98 each way, although it must be said that if desired, the Agency also provides the Courier but at a higher price than what I paid for it. The tourist visa takes up one page of the passport.

Keep in mind that there are very few vehicles on the roads of Guinea Conakry, with the exception of big cities like Conakry;

In Guinea Conakry the Official Language is French. English is not widely used.

Religions: Muslim (83%), Christian (10%), animist (7%).

Keep in mind that in Guinea Conakry Euros and CFAs are very popular for currency exchange. Someone also takes American Dollars but only with $ 50 and $ 100 bills.

Once you arrive at the Kandika border post in Guinea Conakry, your baggage is first thoroughly inspected and then you are asked how much money you take with you. Then you have to walk for 100 meters. about to reach the counter where your Visa is checked, you are registered in a book and finally you are stamped on your passport.

From border post of Kandika in Guinea Conakry, they leave when they are full broken down Sept Place for Sareboido. The wait can go up to 1 hour and even beyond and to speed up the times you have to pay a little more as it happened to me who paid 20,000 GF. It is paid to the attendant on board. The journey takes a good half hour on a dirt road in poor condition.

From Sareboido in Guinea Conakry, they leave when Sept Place is full for Koundara. The waiting time is usually not too high, at least in the morning. The fare is 10,000 GF. It is paid to the attendant on board. The journey takes about 1 hour on a dirt road in poor condition.

From Koundara in Guinea Conakry, when Sept Place is full, they leave for Labè, the capital of the Fouta Djalon Region. The waiting time can be very long, especially in the afternoon. For example, I had to wait almost 2 and a half hours before leaving. The fare is 90,000 GF. You pay to the desk clerk before boarding. The journey takes about 7 hours (a lot of breaks): the first 90 km on a beautiful, freshly paved road, then a few tens of km on a dirt road in poor condition, and then the last km become asphalted again.

Arrival in Labè after midnight. The hotels are full, but luckily the driver from Sept Place helps me find one and in the end I find it on the outskirts of the city: Hotel Safatou. Cost for a double room with private bathroom: 300,000 GF. Wifi and no air. Breakfast not included.

From the Safatou Hotel, I took a motor taxi to reach the center of Labè, over 4 km away, paying 5,000 GF.

The center of Labè can be explored on foot, even if the traffic is heavy and then if there isn't much to see.

From the center of Labè, I took a motor taxi to reach Gare Routiere, paying 2,500 GF.

From the Gare Routiere in Labè, they leave when Sept Place is full of broken-down places for Pita. The waiting time is usually not too high, at least in the morning. The fare is 14,000 GF. It is paid to the attendant on board. The journey takes less than 1 hour on a paved road in good condition.

In Pita I hired, at the price of 170,000 GF, a motor taxi that took me to visit 2 Waterfalls, a bit dry to tell the truth: Chutes du Kinkon and adjacent dam (10 km away from Pita by dirt road), where in theory you should get a permit from the Municipality in Pita to visit it or give a tip of 20,000 GF, to the Guardia who watches it and Chutes de Kambadaga (35 km away from Pita, half of which are dirt roads).

From the main street of Pita, in front of the Marche Central, they leave when they are full broken Sept Place for Dalaba. The waiting time is usually not too high, at least in the morning. The fare is 30,000 GF. It is paid to the attendant on board. The journey takes about 1 hour and a half on a paved road in good condition. The driver kindly took me to my hotel.

One of the cheapest solutions to sleep in Dalaba is to stay overnight at Auberge Seidy II, located about 3 km from the center. Cost for a double room with private bathroom: 100,000 GF. No wifi and air conditioning. Breakfast not included. THE

Through the owner of the Auberge Seidy in Dalaba, I hired a motor taxi, at a price of 150,000 GF, to go and visit the Chutes de Ditinn, almost 40 km away from Dalaba, on a dirt road in the middle of the mountains. Once you arrive at Ditinn Village, you will have to pay 50,000 GF to a Lord who proclaims himself the owner of the falls, who will accompany you on your visit. The uphill walk takes about 20 minutes.

In Dalaba, I changed money at a shop downtown. Having no more Euros and only having Dollars of less than $ 50, the only hope for me was to change the CFA at the following exchange rate: 25,000 CFA = 385,000 GF.

From the main street of Dalaba, Taxi Brousse and Sept Place pass direct to the capital Conakry. I got on a Taxi Brousse which turned the trip into an apocalypse: it made stops every 30 minutes on average, to pray, to eat, ect. In the end, I spent the night stopped in a Service Station sleeping in the Brousse taxi itself, while everyone else slept in the adjacent Mosque. In the end, instead of taking 5 hours of travel, I spent 16 hours arriving at my destination at 7.20 in the morning the next day. The fare is 60,000 GF. It is paid to the attendant on board. I also had to pay the sum of 5,000 GF AND THEN 10,000 GF to 2 checkpoints located before reaching the capital.

Among other things, the Taxi Brousse left me in the outskirts of Conakry, over 25 km from Kaloum, which is the real center of the capital. In the end I had to take a motor taxi for 20,000 GF (it stopped because it said it did not have the authorization to go further) and then another one for 10,000 GF, to reach its destination.

Kaloum, which is the real center of the Conakry capital, is very good for walking. Be careful to take photographs. They are not very welcome here and the police could create problems for you.

One of the cheapest solutions to sleep in Kaloum is to stay overnight at the Maison d'Accueil, located in Route du Niger, 200 meters away. scarce of the Marchè du Niger. Cost for a double room with private bathroom: 130,000 GF. No wifi and air conditioning. Breakfast not included.

To change money in Kaloum, turn to the numerous black money changers, which stop in Ave de la Republique. This is the exchange rate I got: 115,000 GF = 7,000 CFA.

At Port de Boulbinet in Kaloum, there are some strange characters who propose you to go on a pirogue excursion to 2 of the Iles de Los for the price of 300,000 GF. Instead, it immediately points to the right of the port where, when full, frequent pirogues leave for the island of Kassa. It is necessary to register before leaving at the appropriate Desk. The cost of the ride, which lasts about half an hour, is 10,000 GF. You pay once on board.

The Ile de Kassa is the largest and closest to Conakry in the Iles de Los. It gets around well with a motor taxi that I hired at the price of 35,000 GF and it allowed me to see Soro Beach, Manguè Village and Kassa Beach.

From L’Ile de Kassa this time I took the scheduled ferry to reach Kaloum, which however ends its journey in the far farther commercial port, located on the north-western outskirts of Kaloum. The cost of the ride, which lasts about half an hour, is 2,500 GF. You pay once on board.

To reach Conakry Airport, located about 15 km north-east of Kaloum, before dawn, I hired a motor taxi the day before for the price of 30,000 GF.

Punctual as never before from Conakry Airport at 6.45 am, my plane no. KP17 of the Asky Airlines Company in the direction of Modibo Keïta Airport in Bamako (Mali), (ticket price including taxes: $ 283.84).

A small snack is offered on the aforementioned aircraft.

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

https://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2018/11/viaggio-in-mauritania-nouakchott.html