Guinea

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Flag of Guinea Guinea
Information
Language: French
Capital: Conakry
Population: 10,200,000
Currency: Guinean Franc
Hitchability: <rating country='gn' />
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<map lat='11' lng='-11' zoom='6' view='0' />


This article refers to Guinea-Conakry. See also Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea.

In Guinea, the main roads are theoretically hitcheable, secondary roads only exceptionally. Your luck will always depend on timing as due to the state of the Guinean economy few people have personal vehicles, and even the ones that do often charge the same prices as taxis. Trucks will hardly ever pick you up for free as they are the public transport for people who can't afford taxis - except the ancient pickup trucks without windshield that don't go very far. However, if you are feeling daring, you can hitch on top of a truck just like many of the locals do for such long distances just like Kimmie did in 2013. This will take much longer than riding in a car, but you will get a good and unique view of Guinea. People might offer rides without being asked simply due to the rarity of seeing a backpack-ladden traveller strolling along the side of the road. Your best chances for hitching significant distances for free are with NGO jeeps (which also are much, much more comfortable than ordinary public transport) and the odd company car or private car that is sympathetic to your cause. The places to hitch from are the exits of town, sometimes stopping at customs and asking for help there will help, sometimes however they won't understand what you're doing and tell you that you need to pay as does everybody else. The secondary dirt roads that lead to smaller places are almost invariably in terrible condition and are rarely used by anything but motorcycles and the occasional taxi (except if there is a market day in the region when there is a lot of commerical traffic and you stand good chances finding a free lift - check out the trucks carrying dozens of people). That said, if you are traveling solo most motorcycles that aren't packed with stuff or a second (or fourth) person will offer a ride.

Personal experience

DUring an early 2019 travel, h2g2 got a lot of easy rides in Fouta Djalon (moutains in the northern part of the country), where the general lack of vehicles in the country seems to be balanced by the universal hitchhiker-friendly moutainmen spirit. In the major part of the country most roads (dirt or covered) are still very bad, and no big decision seems to be taken in the direction of improving them. To travel a 100km, be it with a taxi or hithhiking, can easily take 3 to 4 hours, and mechanical problems are to be feared.

During February 2020, The-nomaddicts were denied entry to the province of Labé due to security concerns. Guinea is a relatively unstable country so it is best to check with your embassy about any road closures. The rest of the country finding rides was pretty easy and they got rides on all manner of free transport, from company cars and trucks to taxis and pickups. Rides from trucks were especially frequent. Some roads get very little traffic and are in bad shape, such as the road from Gueckedou to Macenta, (between Gueckedou and Gozombou is completely unpaved as of 2020), but with patience you will eventually find a long-distance truck.


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