I took these photos on a trip between Dindefelo, a village in the southeastern corner of Senegal, and Mali-Ville, a market town in the hills of northern Guinea. There is no road in this region that’s passable by car, but motorbikes can make it. Idi Traore and I hiked two days up from Senegal across the border into Guinea, passing through richly forested land and isolated villages with all locally made material. We hired Boubacar Suarez and his friend to drive us back on motos.
Descending from the Mt Loura/Mali-Ville massif. The border is somewhere on the forested plateau
Overloaded trucks can make it some of the way into the borderlands, at 15 miles/day. There is almost no transport here, so everyone jumps on every chance to get where they need to go
Near Mali-Ville, Guinea
River crossing on a bridge made of logs and metal ties
The rough road eventually busted one of the bikes, but the guys fixed it pretty quick
Idi climbing the local trail up the massif to Mali-Ville
Gate of an isolated village in Guinea, on the roadless plateau below Mali-Ville. The village looked like it had about 10 families.
The most bumping place in downtown Mali-Ville, Guinea
The transport stand in Kedougou, Senegal
The truck from Kedougou to Dindefelo, in Senegal. 15 passengers plus driver in a pickup.
