Best time to visit Guinea

Guinea experiences two distinct seasons: the wet, which roughly lasts from May to September, and the dry, roughly from October to April. The wet season really does get very wet; Guinea gets some of the greatest amount of rainfall in all West Africa and short, sharp bursts of heavy rain often churn muddy roads into rivers. It’s after the rains have started that the forested Fouta Djallon really starts to look its greenest and best but, although some travellers do choose to go at this time of year, poor weather can make the already difficult roads impassable. Most tours take place during the dry months instead.

“In West Africa you’ve got this wealth of culture, art, history, music, cloth. It could be a totally different continent – but tourists just want to see the Maasai or the Samburu,” says Charlie, who feels that people tend to forget or ignore Africa’s other tribes. “It also feels more authentic in West Africa whereas, in some parts of East Africa, you feel like people are putting on a bit of a show. You don’t have so much tourism in Guinea, so when you stumble upon a local festival or a school doing an activity in a village you know it’s just happening on that day. It’s not catering to tourists.” “You’re not going to go to Guinea for the wildlife,” explains Charlie. “It is there, but you’re not going to see any of the big five or safari animals.” Guinea is a recognised global biodiversity hotspot, home to forest elephants, pygmy hippos and West African lions, but massive deforestation, mining, bushmeat hunting and illegal wildlife trade have severely diminished populations. You are more likely to spot some of its beautiful birdlife – including pelicans, spoonbills, flufftails and parrots – which should tempt birdwatching enthusiasts to visit West Africa. While we recommend trying the local cuisine, please avoid buying or eating bushmeat. While an important source of food in many West African countries, eating wild animals comes with a risk of transmitting diseases to humans, and bushmeat has been blamed for the West African Ebola epidemic between 2014 and 2016. Its sale is also further threatening the futures of some species that are already endangered.

“You need to be prepared for the bush camping side of things. If people tell us they’ve not done much camping or they’ve not been bush camping, it’s important that we explain the lack of facilities – the standing-behind-a-bush type scenarios. It’s just a random stop that we’ve found, so there are no facilities at all. When we’re in the grounds of a hotel or staying in a locally run hotel, there will be basic facilities like running water and bathrooms, but hot water will be harder to find.”

“You don’t need a specific level of fitness for Guinea; the walking’s fairly leisurely. You might do a two-hour trek to a waterfall or take a three-hour boat trip down a river. You haven’t got to be Indiana Jones. Your guides can tailor walks to meet the needs of the group on the day, and you can choose to take rest days or choose to trek. Really, rated on a difficulty level of one to five, we say the physical challenge is a two, whereas the lifestyle challenge of travelling in Guinea is a four.”