Waterfall Paradise

The last days we did a lot of hiking to waterfalls. Guinea has plenty of them, quite surprising if you think of an African country.

And they are wonderful, no restrictions for tourists. Yesterday we went swimming under a 50 m high waterfall, the chutes de Kambadaga.

Chutes de Kambadaga, Guinea

Today we will celebrate New Year in a discothek in Mamou, but currently there is no electricity except if you have your own generator, so things are unclear.

At least our BMW runs well at the moment.

We will leave Mamou for and visit the beaches and Conakry again on the remaining days of the vacation.

Fouta Djalon

We are in the Fouta Djalon currently, a mountain range in the west of Guinea. Yesterday we hiked from Mali-Ville near the Senegalese boarder. Few electricity and running water, so we are quite smelly currently. ;)

Our bought car broke down again, so we are waiting for successfull repair. It takes as long as it takes.

I wish all of you a happy New Year.

Some lessons from Guinea

We are still in Conakry, but things are sorting out slowly. We bought an old BMW yesterday, but it broke down on our first small trip to the beach. It is fixed currently.

This is the car...

...and this the money we had to pay in exchange of it.

One thing is sure. We'll leave town, but predictions are difficult to make, on which day.

Lesson 1: Things take as long as they take.
Lesson 2: Cars are under continuous repair.
Lesson 3: French keyboards suck!!!

One last word before electricity leaves us again. We do not have connections with our mobile phones in the capital, so we probably won't have it anywhere in the country.

See you, Jolle

Arrived in Guinea

We arrived safely yesterday evening in Guinea. It's hot and humid here, arount 30 degree celsius. Found an internet cafe in the main street of the capital, the avenue de la republique.

We'll try to buy a car and leave the town tomorrow to travel the country. Let's see. Life is good. :)

Moving on...

Hi folks,

Some time has passed. I haven't forgot you, but a lot of things happened the last weeks, so some things definitely missed my attention.

Well, the good news first. I moved from my old nice flat in the middle of Mannheim to a new and bigger one at the outskirts of Mannheim. To be exact, my stuff moved already, Astrid and me will follow soon. We have a nice 100m² apartment with a small garden, a perfect set for bbq, so you have to visit us as soon as everything is set in the beginning of 2008.

So the last weeks I was busy organizing the transfer, last weekend my flat was painted and cleaned, so it`s now ready for returing at the end of this week. Thanks again to all of you who helped me moving!!!!

The other good news is, that I will head for West Africa (Guinea) on 19th Dec for a three weeks trip with friends. That's the other reason that needed some attention the last weeks (lots of injections etc.).

The last news also involves a sad one, namely that I won`t see anyone of you during the christmas and New Years break. So I hope for the next year when things have settled a bit and I find time for some visits and hopefully also hosting of some guests. You're all welcome in our new home. There's plenty of space and food for you!

For those of you interested in my job as well. Currently and for the coming months I am in Basel (Switzerland) during the weeks.

See you soon, Jolle!
PS: For those of you who haven`t seen me in a while, my hair grew slightly longer. ;)