Guinea - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 120

I was about 12 kilometres from Dalaba, when I met a local schoolteacher on a mo-
torcycle. He told me that there was an Anglican missionary in the town and wanted me to
meet him. He led the way and throttled off but since I didn't change my pace, I found him
waitingformeafterevery5kilometresorso.Ifinallyarrivedinthevillageandcoincident-
ally met themissionary,DavidCampbell, atanearbygasstation. Hewasquite receptive in
having me stay at his place. I thanked the schoolteacher and followed David as he drove to
his home.
During dinner, he talked about how he was translating the Bible into Pular, the lan-
guageofthearea.HealsotalkedaboutthepoliticsofGuineaandotherWestAfricancoun-
tries and the significance of why the next day was a holiday. In essence, France wanted
its former African colonies, including Guinea, to remain as trading partners. However, in
1958,thenewlyelectedpresidentofGuineatoldFrancethatGuineanswouldratherbepoor
in freedom than rich in slavery. The other African former colonies took France's offer and
becamekeytradingpartners.However,Guineadeclinedandwassubsequentlycutofffrom
France. In fact, when France pulled out of Guinea, they really pulled out: they removed all
the telephone and electrical lines, and anything else they built. This was probably the reas-
on why Guinea seemed so unspoiled.
The next morning, David left early but let me stay until I was ready to leave. He
had prepared a huge western breakfast for me: cereal, oranges, bread, and real coffee (not
instant). After I ate and cleaned up my mess, I mounted the bike and left. I had an initial
climb to 1350 m elevation but then the road dipped back to around 1,000 metres. The wind
was strong but as the road curved back and forth it switched from helping me to hindering
me and back again.
Then there was a long decent to Mamou. The scenery was simply unbelievable. I
decided to keep going through Mamou and to do part of the road to Faranah. I got caught
intherainseveraltimesbutithelpedmecooldownbothphysicallyandemotionally(Iwas