So after months of non-activity on 'Analyse this', I pick off again this time in West Africa, Conkary, downtown. In this 36km long city, everything is close - the people, the cars, the stray dogs, and the heat, more uncomfortably, Guinean men, who won't believe me when I tell them I am 'Nigeriane'. Yes French-speaking, with an 'ane' not 'enne' as in landlocked Niger. I've now lost count of the number of times I've had to convince Conakry-ians that I am not Peul or Malinké or Soussou but Yoruba. Is it that hard to find a tall, French-speaking, female Nigerian travelling on her own in a West African country? Meanwhile N'Fally's - my dedicated and loyal 'chauffeur' - decision to keep calling me Madame is even more unerving, as he could very well pass from my grandpa, though his driving skills leave much to be desired. As for this little long and tired city, I am still struggling to pin-point whether it has a character or not.
Every other country that I have been to in West Africa - Senegal, Benin, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria - has that 'mph', that special something that defines it, Senegal's bustling music scene, the utter chaos of Lagos, or the cool calm beaches of Freetown, and the implausible 'cake-bread' of Ghana (yes, only in Ghana). As for Conakry, the only conclusion that I could come to was that the country had not quite shaken off the ghost of the past, Sékou Touré (first president turned dictator). Peharps the the recent political unrest which triggered what Guineans now widely term 'le changement' was the definitive sign that Guineans weren't going to standby and watch the country slide down that path again, a path all together associated with Touré's repressive government and state machinery. Camp Boiro, where many of that regime's victims were tortured and killed is a living edifice of that dark period in Guinea's history. Conakry you could say, was still struggling to find its character. It needs time and patience.
Hotspots : Le Petit Bateau, Indochine
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