We've been in Conakry, Guinea for three months now and it has been a tough start up to the field service for us. This is year 6 for us and it has been over 2 years since we have been home to Australia so maybe that is part of it.
Anyway, all three boys are now in high school and this week had their school retreat. So Tam and I took a day and a half off mid week to have break on Ile de Kassa. We caught the ferry from the fishing port with a bikes at 2 pm. This was an adventure and a half as they manoeuvred the ferry and various fishing vessels around till eventually the ferry was tied outboard of an old hydrographic survey vessel. We and everyone else then clambered over the hydro ship onto the ferry with our bikes being passed over. The trip is only 5000 Guinea Francs which is 50 cents and takes about 20 minutes. Disembarking is as riotous with people climbing off wherever they like from both the upper and lower deck.
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| Kassa Kounki |
For dinner we both had grilled gambas which was magnificent and only about $9 each. We accompanied this with a room temperature chardonay, personally selected from the non functioning chest freezer which served as a drinks cabinet. The caretaker did not know what vin blanc was hence why I had to select.
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| Grilled Gambas |
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| Awesome dinner |
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| Psychodelic sheets |
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| Everything you need and more room than our ship cabin |
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| Tile mosaic basin |
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| Kassa Kounki |
On Thursday we went exploring the island, riding to the north end where there is another nicer "resort" called Le Bamana but known as Abou's Place.
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| Tam exploring Ile de Kassa |
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| Ray and shark being dried in the sun -truly very smelly |
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| Hello Mr Goat |
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| Relaxing |
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| Beach at Le Bamana |
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| Mick at Abou's Place |
I had been told about a fresh water resevoir on the island that you could swim in and jump off a 10 metre cliff into so I went off on my bike to try and find it. After a few missed turns and asking some locals I found a very overgrown single track path that seemed to be heading in the right direction.
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| Old French Army gun on the way |
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| The path forward |
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| The path behind |
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| Found it! |
I didn't jump off the cliff as I was by myself but I did go for a very refreshing swim and checked the depth under the cliff which was deeper than I could dive. I'll be returning with the boys!!
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| An ice cold beer and a book |
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| Waiting to depart |
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| The old wharf |
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| Traditional fishing boat with Conakry in the background |
It was a great break away from our cabin on the ship. More than that, we got to chat with lots of the locals on Kassa and even handed out some flyers for eye and dental patient selection! We stand out wherever we go - so this was a good thing when we saw people with cataracts. Any conversation - no matter how bad our French was - we were still able to explain where and when the patient selections are held for dental and eyes. Having come across at least 5 people in our 24 hours there, we are again reminded of the need for life changing surgery and healthcare. And grateful for being part of it's provision in Guinea by Mercy Ships
