AT GUINEA

Eventually after about twenty hours of travelling we arrived in Conakry, upon arrival I was told there we Bandits around so we had to stay with the car whilst our luggage were tied up in a tarpaulin on the roof in the station so we slept in the car till 6 am, it started raining at this time and the realisation of the type of country I am in hit me, the roads had turned into muddy rivers. The taxi that I was in with my friend was some really old Renault 18 like from the 60s holes everywhere all my concerns were what if the engine conks out how am I going to get out, the water level was like half way up the car I thought the car was an amphibious vehicle, I am sure the driver knew what he was doing soon we were out of the muddy waters on to some dusty road

I went to my friends family home for a while, they wanted to put me up but was a bit considerate also that they were trying too hard for me and did not want them to go through all that for me because I could afford to stay in a hotel and also it will make life easier all way round.
Eventually after looking at various places I decided to stay somewhere called Kippeh near the beech it was ok but I thought later there was some smell in the bath room the man offered to give me a different room but it over looked the back of the hotel so I decided to put up with the smell and stayed in my original room.
My work here had a set back when I could not use most of my equipments as a result of inadequate power even thou there was intermittent electricity it was not powerful enough to power my studio gear so far one of my lap top power supply is blown and now my video camera charger is blown and I am beginning to be frustrated by this.
As luck sometimes come in my way my friends dad is a chief of the Manding tribe in Guinea and as a result a Manding association meet in his compound so I met the president of a drama troop which organises African opera, so I met most of the musicians and did some work with them it was very quick and efficient but not as I would have wished but for now this will do till next time, hopefully one day will find some sponsors and travel well equipped. I am however optimistic that I will meet this group at some point in Europe and will have the privilege to record them. I made the decision to leave one there soldiers everywhere with guns and at night I felt a bit intimidated having to carry passport everywhere and fear of bandit activities, upon speaking to some of my friends both here and in England I got the strength to move on, it was strange thou I was very sad that I was leaving when the time came, I bonded with a lot of people within the few days that I was here even thou they had nothing they did a lot to make me feel welcome and showed me lot of genuine love and respect of what I was doing and I am about. I am sure one day I would be able to give something back in return, my friends Jara Camara’s step mum was always getting me oranges and had smiles in her face and I could feel the hardship that was all around and bonding everyone, its amazing to see people live in some conditions and still smile and appreciate the world and all its glory
All I can say is that African politicians sit in air condition office air conditioned 4x4 cars and homes and don’t care about the common people, but its them that keep the arteries of the nations going, its about time they started working for the people