I woke up. It was dark. Still 5am. And the fan was blowing. I had turned of the AC because it was loud as hell and the room was OK with just the fan. The man at the desk said the electricity would be on from 7pm to 6am--better than the 7:30pm to 10pm I got at the Pensão Centrale. I went back to sleep.
I thought I heard a beep. I checked my iPod--6am on the dot--the time I wanted to get up. It was pitch black and the fan was off. The air was still. I fumbled for my rechargeable lantern which has come in very very handy in Guinea-Bissau and turned it on. I cursed myself for not having packed last night when I had power. I packed. My laundry was half done--the two shirts dry, the two pair of underwear still damp--even under the fan all night. I rolled them up and hoped I could unpack them before the mildew started.
I headed out. It was dark and I carried the lantern in one hand and the laptop in the other. I headed up toward the destroyed Presidential Palace since it's on a bit roundabout. I flagged down a taxi and said "paragem?" The driver repeated it, I repeated it, he repeated it. I hate not being in Francophone or Anglophone Africa! I got in. I didn't negotiate a price--usually an invitation for an overcharge. The Lonely Planet says to expect to pay 1000 CFA to the paragem. The taxi from the paragem to the hotel when I arrived was 1500 CFA. I was prepared to go as high as 2000 CFA after which I would argue.
He had 2 other customers and he dropped them off first. Then we headed 5 km out of town to the paragem which is Portuguese for gare routier which is French for the ground transportation hub. He picked up 2 others also headed to the paragem. When we got there, he asked for only 1000 CFA. Nice. They are less anxious to rip off tourists in Guinea-Bissau, I guess. Probably the product of having few tourists.
I got the Bissau-Gabú sept-place area and saw a sept-place filled up. Yay!!! Maybe I'll be the last one! But no, it was just departing. I paid 3800 CFA (US$7) for the second ticket on the next sept-place. I wasn't happy that they wouldn't take my 5000 CFA bill. They cleaned my out of 1000 CFA bills and 800 CFA in coins. I hate not being liquid--all I had now was some coins and a 2000 CFA note--the rest was 5000 and 10000 CFA notes.
It was 7am. I sat in the car and waited. It was now light. Ambulant salesmen were walking around selling stuff. A guy came over to where a couple was standing and got the girl's interest with a clothes-hanger full of colorful women's underwear. Nobody was selling water. Then at 7:20, the car filled. The guides recommend you get to the stations early in the morning--before 8 and if possible, maybe even before 6. It's nice to not have to wait long.
We were soon on the road. After a few minutes, we passed another immigration check-point. They were interested in the papers of the guy next to me so I had to get out of the car to let him out. While I was out, they asked me what country I was from (I handed my passport to them open to the visa page and they hadn't looked at the passport). I told them America. They asked "missionaire?" I said, "no, je suis touriste." They were intrigued. I don't think they see too many American tourists heading to Gabú.
The road was good the whole way. We went through higher lands, gradually going uphill. It stayed green and still swampy in parts. There was forest and meadow. We went through Bafata. I had thought it was a 6 hour trip and it seemed we were half way there at 9am. Then at about 10:15, we passed a market and were in Gabú. Wow, that was fast. I got out and opened to the map. I was after the Hotel Visiom. I figured we were where the transport hub was which is beyond the hotel Visiom, so I started to go backwards to where a church was--that's where you turn north to get to the hotel. I saw what looked like it could be an abandoned church or mosque and turned north. It didn't look right. A guy asked me what I was looking for. Then a guy on bicycle came. The guy on the bike, with very limited English, told me to follow him. OK, I might as well.
We got the road I was just on and walked back the other way. A long way. He eventually dropped off his bike somewhere. Then we turned north somewhere, but the building where the church is supposed to be said "Comite de Guiné-Bissau" or something--it didn't look like a church. He asked some people. About now, I'm thinking, I'm pretty much going to have to give this guy the 2000 CFA note. We make progress. I see the Guinea Telecom--then the Pò di Terra restaurant. We are close. We head toward some UN compound and another guy takes us the final bit.
I shook the hand of the guy who lead me the whole way with the 2000 CFA bill. There was a room available. Of course. It's the low season, after all. My options were for a 8000 CFA (US$16) fan room or a 15000 CFA (US$30) AC room. I decided to try the fan room. I looked at 2 rooms and chose the less smelly one. Electricity is on from 7pm to 6am, but not now. There is running water in the bathrooms which are in-room. They desk guy is learning English--his textbook was sitting on the desk.
Having checked in, I headed to the Pò di Terra. It looked closed, but it was open. I asked for a beer, cerveza, or whatever. I asked it is was frio? Frigo? He said it was. I asked also for a 1.5l water. A few minutes later I had a nice cool/coldish beer and a few minutes after that, a guy came from the store with the cold water bottle. They were all very intrigued by me. I probably confused them by swapping back and forth between languages. And I get the feeling that there aren't so many tourists from American around here that often.
I drank and recovered from my early morning journey. I was reading La Route. At about 1pm, I asked if they had anything to eat. I got chicken and rice with fries. One of the guys brought a bucket of water and had me wash my hands before I started eating. That was odd. At 2pm, I settled the bill--2500 CFA for the chicken and rice, 500 CFA for the beer, 600 CFA for the water, and I gave them 400 CFA as a tip. Now I have a 1000 CFA note again. I have to rebuild my supply.
I headed home. When I was almost to the hotel, I saw a group of about 6 people standing roughly in a circle. I saw something small and dark just outside their circle. It was a little chimp. Just sitting there socializing with these 6 or so people. He got up and started walking toward me. He was a little guy--maybe a little under 2 feet tall when sitting. I headed to the hotel door where I had exited. Locked. I looked for my key. The chimp was behind me watching me. My key didn't open this door, so I went further down to see if there was another door. He was still following me. There was and it was open to the air. I went in. The chimp was behind me. I closed the door a bit to make it harder for him to follow. But he opened the door wide enough to get in and entered the hotel corridor. I went to my room and unlocked it. He wanted to come in, but I quickly entered and closed the door behind me.
Then I laughed. I'm in Africa now.
August 20, 2008 14:46 Guinea-Bissau local time
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