Bissau, Guinea Bissau

2019-03-02/05 : Bissau carnival, colourful but somehow a little bit disappointing (due to competition from the campaign for the March 10 legislative elections)

1st March 2019, joining Bissau from Guinea:

We bivouacked on the track between Koundara in Guinea and the border to Guinea-Bissau about twenty kilometers before the border. The track is at first not too bad but the last 10 km before the border are in a terrible state. Hard to believe that this route is a main road between the two Guineas!

Our biwouack.

The bad track towards the Guinea-Bissau border

We arrive at 11:20 at the border. Kandika, a border post just like the track, dilapidated and all that is rudimentary. We start with the police formalities in a small office where the young officer recalls us by repeating that all that is the fault of the French (he speaks of the condition of the tracks among others). We let him rant his nonsense without answering, the important thing is to get our exit stamps on the passports. It takes 15 minutes because it must also write all the data in a large register.
100 meters further on the other side of the track it is the turn of the customs. Much more friendly, I wait outside on a bench that the customs takes care of our Carnet de Passages and the pass.
The gendarmerie that controls the border opens the barrier without asking us anything and at 11:45 we arrive at the Guinea Bissau post Buruntuma 1.5 km away.

Gandalft facing the border barrier

The immigration officer flips through my German passport from front to back and vice versa. Obviously something is challenging him. Of course, this passport is new and almost virgin and especially without stamp of Guinea or Senegal. He asks me if I have another passport, which I confirm. He asks to see. I am executing, he is satisfied. Here too the longest will be to enter all the data in a big register.

On this side of the border the track is much better than on the Guinean side. It is wide and much less rugged. After almost 35 km a little before Pitche we will find a bit of tar. But in very bad condition and only intermittently. I preferred the track! It is therefore a very bad road (or track) that we will follow until Gabu, the first city on our road. We find there the real paved road but unfortunately with too many potholes.

Paved road near Gabu.

We come across a few innocuous checkpoints and quickly passed. The only control a little vicious where the policeman obviously seeks a fault is the one at the exit of Bambadinca. He peels all our papers, starting with the permit for which he asks me for the expiry date. As if the license had a deadline for use! I explain to him that the validity of the permit is unlimited. On this he asks me what "2007" means on the permit, it's the date of issue. "Ah, good! ".
"Show me the fire extinguisher". No problem, I take it out from behind the passenger seat. "It's a little small! "," Maybe, but legal!" He points out the pictograms on the extinguisher: a car, a boat, a tent, a caravan .... but no camper! It makes me smile, I understand his little game but I repeat that this extinguisher all that is legal. Conform to the law! He must find something else.
"Registration card please! ". I pass it to him, of course it's a German document. But he seems to know well because after turning it two or three times in his fingers he shows me the stamp of the last technical control obviously exceeded since December. "Not valid any more! but we can arrange!" I point out that there is nothing to be arranged, because the technical control is valid only to circulate in Germany and that it does not interest in any way foreigners. I show him the duly sealed Carnet de Passages: "here is my authorization to circulate in Guinea Bissau, I know the regulations". " Yes ! you know ! it's good, go! have a nice trip ! ".
Good loser!

Obviously conform to the legislation !!

Bissau, waiting for the parade (Saturday March 2nd):

It is in the facilities of Midana in the center of Bissau that we camp.
Midana is a very nice young man. He explains that he inherited the construction of his father who died in 2016. He studied business in Paris and decided to return to the country to help its development.

Our camp in Bissau in the facilities of Madina.

Today we are going to lunch at Dassy. The brand new restaurant of Lassiata and Midana.
It's a nice little restaurant that offers a mix of European and local cuisine. We particularly admire the beautiful mural of the air-conditioned room that summarizes Guinea on 6 m². It is actually a painting that already existed in monochrome when they acquired the local and to whom they gave back colors by a friend artist.

A good adress in Bissau: Dassy restaurant.

 

Guinea in one picture ! Christine and Madina.

We sit in the patio and order 3 dishes of the day (okra, seafood, palm oil, rice). It's good but the portions are a bit tight for our hunger, we take 2 mixed salads and we share. Midana's wife is not only the owner of the restaurant but she is also a cook and she creates the menus with recipes, some of which are of her own creation. We close with bissap cheese cakes and coffees.

Patio of restaurant "Dassy"

Lassiata in the kitchen of her restaurant (Le Dassy)

We wait for the freshness of the night that falls at the camp before going again out. We reach on foot the big roundabout of the city center: the place of the national heroes, where is also the presidential palace. It's just 600m from our camp.

The National Heroes Square.

The animation is great on the square and on the surrounding avenues. A mixture of carnival and election campaign. Legislative elections will be held on March 10 and the campaign is in full swing throughout the country, with much competition to the carnival.
To get a little more in the mood we buy ourselves bright glasses and a wreath of flowers with garland. There is a crazy world, many young people and children.

We let ourselves be carried to the liking of the crowd buying here an alcoholic cocktail, there some donuts and a little further a bag of popcorns.

Carnival parade on Sunday March 03:

A taxi take us to the Avenida dos Combatentes da Liberdade da Patria where the parade will take place. He takes us 1,000 CFA per person. I find it a bit expensive but we forgot to inquire about taxi fares before (indeed it was much more than normal, the next day we payed only 600 CFA for a similar ride - not per person). It is not very far and we are pretty fast.
It's still very early. The parade should begin at around 16:30. So we sit down at one of the many small coffee shops all along the avenue waiting. The owner lady of the kiosk shows us the photos of her stay in France (in Paris and Saint-Nazaire) in September of last year. She went there for the first time with her father who worked 45 years in Paris and is now retired.

waiting for the parade

The wait is long. We end up paying to go stroll a little on the avenue that begins to come alive. There are street vendors all along. They sell a little of everything. We plug a small hollow in the stomach with some donuts for 100 CFA.

That's it, the groups arrive. It is very colorful but there are really few groups to scroll. They are, moreover, very widely spaced. It should still make beautiful pictures but in the end we are rather disappointed. We expected something a little more "Brazilian". The general opinion is that the carnival seems to be declining from year to year. The state invests very little to support the groups. And this year it is also subjected to competition from the electoral campaign, political parties organizing large-scale events with the best artists in the country that attract many people. It's a pity because with its international reputation the carnival of Bissau could attract a lot of people and boost a little tourism activity.