February 13–14: After leaving Kachiouane, we headed towards Guinea-Bissau. Our first destination was supposed to be a coastal village called Varela, which was only about 10–20 km away from us. However, we had to take a long detour back to Ziguinchor before crossing into Guinea-Bissau. As nightfall approached, we decided to stop and sleep in a small town called São Domingos. Coming from predominantly Muslim countries, we were surprised to see how lively the nightlife was—everyone was drinking beer, wine, and rum. We sat down in a bar, hoping to have a beer (though you could only buy them in sets of three at a time), and we quickly made friends with the locals. We tried to communicate in Portuguese (which we know even less than French).
The next day, we set off for Varela, accessible via a beautiful, sandy dirt road that took about two hours to drive. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a stunning beach. However, there was only one accommodation option, and it was quite expensive, so we decided to go wild camping. We had read that the local fishing community near Varela was very welcoming and would sometimes share their fresh catch with campers.
For the first few hours, the entire beach was just ours and the cows’. As far as the eye could see, there was golden sand lined with palm trees. In the afternoon, a tourist group arrived, having been brought over by boat from Senegal. Officially, Guinea-Bissau has very little tourism, which we saw firsthand—the beachfront lodge brings tourists in for 1–2 days without visas, meaning they technically never appear on the country’s records.
Later in the afternoon, the fishermen arrived with their fresh catch, and the whole community gathered on the shore to divide up the fish. They told us that there was usually a fisherman who welcomed wild campers, but he was currently in Varela.
At night, the only company we had was the cows. As it turned out, we had unknowingly pitched our tent right on their usual path to the beach. We still don’t understand why they like standing in the blazing sun by the ocean all day—maybe they also enjoy admiring the view?
The next morning, we drove into Varela, where we found a small restaurant that made sandwiches for breakfast. Eszti also tried the local specialty, called “futi”. This hearty dish consists of rice, dried fish, dried chili, and some kind of green leafy sauce—and it was so filling that it provided enough energy for the entire day!
