The Fouta Djallon is one one of the most beautiful areas in West Africa. There are waterfalls and striking views galore. In July, I decided to visit the region with the amazing Amy Porter who is a Peace Corps volunteer in Timbi Madina. We biked a good portion of our trip and it was FUN! Mountains and hills and hills and mountains... yippie.... reminded me of W.Virginia... without the incest (but who knows, maybe I just didn't see it). What was not fun were the taxi rides; when we used a taxi it was usually a hair raising experience. The taxis would go up the mountains at maybe 15km/hour and then down the mountain at light speed... it gives your heart an extra beat or two.
I was able to check out Labe, which is the capital of the Fouta Region or Middle Guinea as some might say (Moyenne Guinea in French). Stayed there for a couple days and then biked a good 2 1/2 - 3 hours to Ashley's site... where we ate lunch and I cursed out her dog. From there we went to Timbi Madina and chilled out for a few days. The highlight of the stay in Timbi Madina was our trip to the waterfalls some 25km away (I think)... this is where yours truly crossed a river in the height of the rainy season... without falling into the river. Thank you very much... i'll be accepting gifts at the end of this segment. No for real... not one of my brighter moments, but I decided to cross the river to see... believe it or not... the other side. It took me a good 35 minutes of me staring at the rocks and the pace of the water for me to get back across again. Anyway... made it back in time so we can get caught in a rain storm on our way back. Wonderful. The fouta by the way, is cold. So on the way back, we get stuck in front of this house, cold, and its pouring and then there's these kids who are just staring at us probably thinking... "look at these stupid americans biking in this weather." Well I end up yelling at the kids to open the door and let us in... they do and then Amy and I make fun of them until the rain stops.
Fun in the Fouta baby... and after this trip I spent my 30th birthday in Mamou! Also, during this week would be my 7th month in La Guinee.

Chimp chicks rock! Yup, I said it... chimp chicks are awesome. What, you may ask, are chimp chicks... well, they are women who dedicate some, if not all, of their time to the care, promotion, and preservation of chimpanzees. And that is awesome. About a month into my service at my site, Faranah, I learned that there was a chimpanzee park associated with the national park of upper Guinea. After a rather unusual introduction where the director of the park thought I was a "good-english speaking" african, we became friends. One of the great benefits of being friends with chimp chicks... is you get to see chimps!
A weekend in june, I went up to the Centre de Chimpanzee; let me tell you... that center is in the middle of nowhere. I know people think that Faranah is in the middle of nowhere... which I can attest to... but the park... which is 85 K North of Faranah, is really out there. After 40 km, there is no sign of human existence aside from the road... which is a really poor excuse of a road. Its practically impassable; it takes 6 hours on average to drive the 85 km; that is ridiculous. Well, I'm in the pick-up truck going to this place and we stop 3 or 4 times to get wood, trees, anything that is blocking the road. As we're en route to the park, we see a team of wild boars and a huge green moamba snake. Scary. for real... cause it crossed the road like it owns it. And it's at this point I realize how stupid I was to bring flip flops instead of my sneakers.... and Estelle (the director of the Centre de Chimpanzees) is quick to point this out to me.
We're finally at the site and I start to freak out cuz I feel like I'm trapped on a land-island. There is absolutely no way to get out of this center ... I'm stuck there for the next 3 days and 2 nights... to hell with "survivor," try going out to this park. Anyway, I'm pleasantly surprised when we get to site, that the chimp chicks are pretty hot and they cook... and their all from France or Italy... cool accents!!! Also, Estelle forgets to tell me that there are a bunch of chimps running around free in the park... why would this be a concern you may ask? Fun fact... an old female chimp is stronger than 20 really strong men. Also, if they see a human and they have a "I hate all y'all" complex (this is true by the way, if a chimp has been abused by a human in the past, it will attack other humans) they would tear me to shreds. Oh, and I'm on the methaquin medication, so I'm really freaking out. Fortunately, the ladies at the center took care of me.
Why are there chimps running around freely in the woods you might ask? Well this particular center is a "release center" meaning that the chimps that are here will be re-released into the wild. It's like a re-habilitation center for chimps. The center helps the chimps get re-acclamated to the wild. Cool, huh.
The next day, after a delicious breakfast - I help out with the chimps. Man, I forgot my camera at home, so I don't have physical proof that I had 3 kid chimps climbing up all over me... it was pretty cool. I played with the chimps in the morning and then in the afternoon I helped with the feeding. The feeding is for the chimps that are in their cages... and their big and loud. And they really do jump and swing when they see food, or their excited. It was really cool. So basically, that was my trip... but I will part from you with one other fun fact... Genetically (DNA), humans and chimps are 97% identical. Word is bond.