Guinea: Day #7 – Beach

Tomorrow is our last full day.  We leave tomorrow evening on an overnight flight from Conakry to Paris.  When I wake up tomorrow it will be a day full of goodbyes.  Today was a day without much business.  We didn’t see any alliance projects, it was just a day to relax and reflect on the time we’ve had here.

One of the most important elements of these types of trips is the final wow.  As you prepare to leave and say goodbye it’s always helpful to have one last fun outing to help you make the transition from communal life back into the real world.  It’s something that camp staff know well.

So, today we did just that.  We did a final bit of shopping (in 30 minutes or less) and were off on a small (very small) and fragile (leaking is a better term) boat headed for one of the islands off the coast of Conakry.

What a boat ride.

We slowly made our way through the harbour and as we got to the outskirts we were all blown away by the number of capsized ships that decorated the landscape.  Full sized tankers were flipped upside down or looked like they’d hit ground and flipped on their sides.

I couldn’t believe it.  In Canada if something like that had happened it would be there for maybe a month or two as salvage crews worked on it but not forever.  Some of these boats were very old and you can’t help but wonder, “why don’t they do something about that?”

I found out later that the Chinese are trying to get permission to salvage all the ships, there’s millions of dollars of metal on those boats that are just sitting there rusting.

After we passed the ships, we rounded the corner of the first island and entered a kind of bay.  There were 3 major islands all forming a sort of circle.  Dan pointed out that the islands were actually the outer edge of what used to be a volcano.  We were on a boat in the crater of a volcano.  How cool is that?

We got to the island, stepped off the boat into the water (warm) and walked about 2 minutes across the island to the other side to sit on a beach and play in the ocean.

The waves weren’t really anything to write home about in the morning so I got out after a while and had a nap on the beach.  I was wearing sunscreen so unfortunately there is no burn and not much of a tan to speak of.

For lunch I had an avocado salad as an appetizer.  Then for my entree, barracuda and fried potatoes.  That’s right, barracuda.  It was really good.  It didn’t taste fishy (probably because it was fresh) and was flavoured very well.

As we were eating lunch we noticed the tide was starting to come in and that meant bigger waves so after lunch we headed back into the swell where we were bombarded with awesome waves.

It was great until the Russians came.  I guess a bunch of them came over in a boat and just as we were really starting to get going, they all decided to jump in the water and it was like a mad house.  I fully understand why surfers hate it when a wave gets crowded.  I just got out of the water I was so frustrated, you couldn’t move anywhere.

Well, that was pretty much it.  That was our day.  We came back, had pizza, made by a Lebanese guy and then started to pack.  I managed to pack everything I’ve got in a way I think will keep it all safe.  Now, it’s just two church services tomorrow and the airport.

I’ll be honest, I am not looking forward to the airport again.  It was a scary and crazy experience the first time but now that I know what to expect, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Tomorrow is our last full day.  We leave tomorrow evening on an overnight flight from Conakry to Paris.  When I wake up tomorrow it will be a day full of goodbyes.  Today was a day without much business.  We didn’t see any alliance projects, it was just a day to relax and reflect on the time we’ve had here.
One of the most important elements of these types of trips is the final wow.  As you prepare to leave and say goodbye it’s always helpful to have one last fun outing to help you make the transition from communal life back into the real world.  It’s something that camp staff know well.
So, today we did just that.  We did a final bit of shopping (in 30 minutes or less) and were off on a small (very small) and fragile (leaking is a better term) boat headed for one of the islands off the coast of Conakry.
What a boat ride.
We slowly made our way through the harbour and as we got to the outskirts we were all blown away by the number of capsized ships that decorated the landscape.  Full sized tankers were flipped upside down or looked like they’d hit ground and flipped on their sides.
I couldn’t believe it.  In Canada if something like that had happened it would be there for maybe a month or two as salvage crews worked on it but not forever.  Some of these boats were very old and you can’t help but wonder, “why don’t they do something about that?”
I found out later that the Chinese are trying to get permission to salvage all the ships, there’s millions of dollars of metal on those boats that are just sitting there rusting.
After we passed the ships, we rounded the corner of the first island and entered a kind of bay.  There were 3 major islands all forming a sort of circle.  Dan pointed out that the islands were actually the outer edge of what used to be a volcano.  We were on a boat in the crater of a volcano.  How cool is that?
We got to the island, stepped off the boat into the water (warm) and walked about 2 minutes across the island to the other side to sit on a beach and play in the ocean.
The waves weren’t really anything to write home about in the morning so I got out after a while and had a nap on the beach.  I was wearing sunscreen so unfortunately there is no burn and not much of a tan to speak of.
For lunch I had an avocado salad as an appetizer.  Then for my entree, barracuda and fried potatoes.  That’s right, barracuda.  It was really good.  It didn’t taste fishy (probably because it was fresh) and was flavoured very well.
As we were eating lunch we noticed the tide was starting to come in and that meant bigger waves so after lunch we headed back into the swell where we were bombarded with awesome waves.
It was great until the Russians came.  I guess a bunch of them came over in a boat and just as we were really starting to get going, they all decided to jump in the water and it was like a mad house.  I fully understand why surfers hate it when a wave gets crowded.  I just got out of the water I was so frustrated, you couldn’t move anywhere.
Well, that was pretty much it.  That was our day.  We came back, had pizza, made by a Lebanese guy and then started to pack.  I managed to pack everything I’ve got in a way I think will keep it all safe.  Now, it’s just two church services tomorrow and the airport.
I’ll be honest, I am not looking forward to the airport again.  It was a scary and crazy experience the first time but now that I know what to expect, it shouldn’t be too bad.