Afrika Bafata (and how to take African tea)

We left the brothel very early the next morning and got to the bus station (paradgem in Portuguese). Had missed breakfast because we wanted to get moving as early as possible. Mainly because of the heat, but also wanted to find a place to stay before the day got too late. Saw a woman carrying a basket on her head, shouting "chocolate". Paid the equivalent of 20p and unwrapped a silver foil rectangle. It turned out to be some well nice Starbucks chocolate, with the logo on and everything! Must've literally fallen off the back of a lorry! Tried to find the woman for more but she'd vanished. Bad times.



The sept-place soon turned out to be a neuf-place (nine people, ten including the driver), with two on the passenger seat, four in the middle seats and three in the rear: small boot. Guess who got the lucky back seats... There was no head room, so was bent double for the two hour drive. Pretty damn uncomfortable, but I'm learning to take myself to a better place. That or I can now sleep anywhere! Didn't help with me trying to read a book in the back that had loose pages, as the windows were all wide open - it was like the finalè from The Crystal Maze!

Arrived in Bafata just before lunch, just as the temperature was pushing 40 degrees. Trapsed across town and got a room at the recommended place in town. Would not have liked to see the other options, as we had no running water, bucket showers, not the cleanest rooms, but did have a double bed (possibly with added bugs). Stayed in worse, but not what we were hoping for.

Took a wander around Bafata. It seems to have been quite a hub for commerce when the Portuguese were here, but after they left a lot of the town seems to have been left to crumble. There was an old hotel that housed a few hundred people that has trees growing through it, and a lot of the buildings by the river are abandoned. There was also an abandoned swimming pool by the riverside, which was pretty good for some eerie dusk photos.

During the evening we walked to the main road to the sound of the generators (as in most of Guinea-Bissau there is little electricity after dusk), but the town seemed to come alive here! Candles lit the road and, again with nearly all the places in Africa we have been to, the chairs come to the roadside for social time. The kids play in the street, food stalls spring up, with women making omlettes and sandwiches by torchlight, and the men take tea and chat.

African tea is very interesting - there is a very small tea pot, heated on charcoal burner, which is fanned for quite a while till the tea boils. It is then poured from a height into tiny shot-glass-like cups. After adding (a lot) of sugar, the process of pouring is repeated from increasing heights until the sugar is mixed in and there is a head in the glass. The tea should then be slurped and returned to the pourer. Two further rounds of pouring are then taken, with the third supposed to be the best pour. It is an honour to be given any offer of tea, especially the third pouring! The tea itself is a very sweet green tea, that usually has bits of the leaves left in the bottom of the glass. I believe it is an Arabic tradition, hailing from the Islamic desert tribes.

Further down we found a row of TVs - all stuck on the loudest volume setting (thought of Pete's old TV in 111) - where the local boys play Pro Evo on a Playstation. Obviously I couldnt't turn down Dree's challenge and the game commenced. Now I did loose, and I hold my hands up to this, but the analogue stick was stuck downwards and all my players just ran towards the touchline. In the past anyway. Wait till my Xbox and Fifa 2010!

Got back to the rooms with some street food, and decided to leave for Gabu (further inland) for the weekend.