Destination Guinea Part 8

It was 5 am on June 7, 2009 when I left Conakry with the former president’s military chauffeur. It had been agreed that I should see the Fouta Djallon region of the country.

After leaving the peninsula where Conakry sits, the elevation quickly rose into very beautiful mountains. Though it had stormed the previous night and the rain continued to fall, I could still see for miles — from the tops of the mountain roads down into the valleys where there was nothing but forest vegetation. We were very high in the mountains driving dangerously fast on the slick road.

Because I had not been able to sleep the previous night, I had trouble staying awake in the car and had begun to drift in and out of a hazy sleep. I was awakened when I felt the car shift to the other side of the road and I heard the tires squeal. I opened my eyes and sat up in my seat. I realized that the driver had lost control of the car and we were all about to die.

Slick African road I realized the entire accident happened in only a few brief seconds, but each detail remains very vivid to me. Not to say I believe everything was in slow motion, but I was much more perceptive in what I thought would be my final moments.

The first thing I remember was being very upset about the song that was playing on the radio. I enjoy Akon’s music as much as the next person, but at the time I felt it was highly inappropriate considering the events about to transpire. Nobody wants to die to a soundtrack.

The car shifted from the right side of the road to the left. With tires screeching we traveled back to the right side of the road and almost went over the side. Instead, the dr iver turned the wheel as hard as he could and we went over the left side of the road. The moment the tires left the asphalt road I knew I was about to die. I was sitting upright in my seat with my hands in my lap. I consciously considered holding on to something in the car but decided it wouldn’t do much good in preventing my inevitable death.

Remains of our borrowed SUV We shot down a 15–25 foot embankment, the car turned sideways, and my door barreled through the first of several tree stumps knocking us on our side. We began free spinning.

A tree stump came closer through my window and I thought, “Here it comes this; is what is going to do it.” It was like I already knew what was going to happen, and I had accepted it. I kept telling myself “It’s ok, it’s ok… it’s only going to hur t for a second and then it will all be ok.”

We struck a large rock that upended the car before slamming it into a small tree that stopped us. We were all lucky to be alive with only minor bruises and one amazing story.

One of the tree stumps we uprooted With the help of some local villagers we cut the car free from the tree, and I changed the rear tire that had been nearly r ipped off the r im. We drove home thinking of how we were going to explain the accident to the men who had loaned us the car… We drove slowly.
Former chauffer to the president
Scenic view of Fouta Djallon
Not where the car was supposed to be.