Under the Wings of the Harmattan

After the Senegalese border post at Segou, the track becomes a mountain mule path; it will be 2 days of travel without meeting a single motorised vehicle, our travelling companion a Guinean trader who, like us, is moving to Guinea by bicycle. The track faithfully follows the lie of the land, plunging vertiginously down the cliffs to ford the numerous watercourses and then climbing back up just as steeply on the opposite slope. After the first day of travel we reach the Guinean forward border post. Three soldiers look at us amazed; we manage to get 2 calabashes of water to wash off the day's dust and a basin of rice with dried fish to share with the three soldiers. The next day we set off again; our food supplies are running out and for the moment there's no sign of villages.

The route on the map didn't seem excessive, but the rugged terrain, the condition of the track and the continuous climbs meant we covered no more than 36 km over the whole day. In the afternoon we share out the last box of cheese portions and then..... we hope the village isn't far off. It's almost evening when we arrive, by now exhausted, at Lebekeren, the first village in the Guinean territory of Fouta Djalon. An enormous stroke of luck: the region's prefect is visiting the village, and so a banquet has been arranged to which we are invited as guests of honour, almost like spirits of the forest, appearing out of the blue. For the moment we've made it; tomorrow we'll think about how to tackle the steepest slopes of Fouta Djalon to climb up to Mali, a small village at 1500 metres of altitude. see you tomorrow!