Bubaque (GNB) : in Africa's Caribbean
N 11°18.241' W 015°50.675'
With a safe place to leave the bike we took the first opportunity to take a motorized pirogue to the Bissajos Archipelago. As we missed the passenger boat we took our seats on 50 kg rice and flour sacks and puttered out into the haze created by the dust brought in by the Hamatan. We couldn’t see much of the islands and nor could the captain as after two hours at sea we struck a sand bank; we had missed the channel passage and soon the discussions started on board about which way to head while the crew truck to their periodic task of skipping water from the leaking hull and attending leaks. A few jumping fish loosened up the rather tense atmosphere and made the 6 hours (instead of the promised 3.5 hrs) pass a little faster.
We stayed on Bubaque, the main island, which has some upmarket accommodation catering to fishing tourism. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the beautiful beaches deserted and the island’s interior gave us a taste of what the other islands must be like – Africa pure! For the last two nights we camped in the grounds of the now defunct grand hotel constructed by Guinea-Bissau’s first president who rightly had a vision of the archipelago’s tourist potential. The view is still first class! Unfortunately, news of disturbances on the northern border involving the Casamance rebels made us shorten our visit, but fortunately our trip back was less adventurous and the visibility good.
With a safe place to leave the bike we took the first opportunity to take a motorized pirogue to the Bissajos Archipelago. As we missed the passenger boat we took our seats on 50 kg rice and flour sacks and puttered out into the haze created by the dust brought in by the Hamatan. We couldn’t see much of the islands and nor could the captain as after two hours at sea we struck a sand bank; we had missed the channel passage and soon the discussions started on board about which way to head while the crew truck to their periodic task of skipping water from the leaking hull and attending leaks. A few jumping fish loosened up the rather tense atmosphere and made the 6 hours (instead of the promised 3.5 hrs) pass a little faster.
We stayed on Bubaque, the main island, which has some upmarket accommodation catering to fishing tourism. The atmosphere is very relaxed, the beautiful beaches deserted and the island’s interior gave us a taste of what the other islands must be like – Africa pure! For the last two nights we camped in the grounds of the now defunct grand hotel constructed by Guinea-Bissau’s first president who rightly had a vision of the archipelago’s tourist potential. The view is still first class! Unfortunately, news of disturbances on the northern border involving the Casamance rebels made us shorten our visit, but fortunately our trip back was less adventurous and the visibility good.
posted by Retobados at 5:37 AM
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