Guinea

The Fouta Djallon highlands are the water tower of West Africa

Guinea holds the sources of the Niger, Senegal and Gambia rivers, all rising in the Fouta Djallon highlands, which is why it is called the water tower of West Africa. Those highlands are green, cool by regional standards, and full of waterfalls and hiking that essentially no tourists see.

It also holds a substantial share of the world bauxite reserves and significant iron ore, which dominates the economy and the politics. There have been coups in 2008 and 2021, and the country has struggled with instability and with the 2014 Ebola epidemic, which began in the forest region of the southeast.

Culturally Guinea has an outsized reputation. Les Ballets Africains, formed at independence, took Guinean dance and djembe drumming to the world, and Guinea remains the place serious percussion students go to learn. Conakry sits on a narrow peninsula, and the Iles de Los just offshore have beaches used as weekend escapes.

Annual events and festivals

• Independence Day (2 Oct) — marks 1958, when Guinea voted to reject the French Community outright.
• Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (varies) — the main holidays in a Muslim-majority country.
• Mask festivals, forest region (varies) — Toma and Guerze masked ceremonies in the southeast.
• Djembe and dundun gatherings (year round) — Guinea is a global centre for West African percussion.
• Mawlid (varies) — the Prophet birthday.
• Fouta Djallon cultural events (dry season) — Fulani gatherings in the highlands.
• Christmas (Dec) — a public holiday for the Christian minority.
• Nimba mask ceremonies (harvest) — the Baga shoulder mask is one of the most recognisable in African art.
• Conakry arts and music events (varies) — a strong live scene in the capital.
• Harvest festivals (Oct-Nov) — rice and fonio celebrations in farming communities.