Exploring West Africa: Bissagos Archipelago, Guinea Bissau (Part 7)

Exploring West Africa with Silversea's Silver Explorer, starting in Accra, Ghana on 10 April 2013 and ending in Dakkar, Senegal on 26 April 2013.

April 20^th, 2013

Population of Guinea Bissau (2016): 1.8 million

Population of Bissau, the capital city (2015): 500,000

Currency: 583 CFA (West African Francs) = US$1

Demonym (people from Guinea Bissau are called): Bissau-Guinean 

GDP per capita (PPP 2018) = US$ 1,951 (in Kuwait it’s $69,669)

HDI (2017): 0.455, ranked 177th.

Anyone knows what bird this is?

The first thing we encountered when approaching Guinea Bissau were the mangroves.  The advantage of cruising on an expedition ship is that you get to explore the shores on a zodiac.  It would’ve been impossible to dock on the islands of the Bijagos Archipelago on a cruise ship.  Zodiacs can carry up to 8-12 passengers, and will swiftly take you to whatever it is that you find fascinating.  On this particular landing we took our time and slowly flowed towards the shore through these bushes that grow along the coast of saline waters.  When you come closer you’ll see that the mangroves inhabit an entire ecosystem of all sorts of creatures such as algae, barnacles, oysters, sponges, shrimps, lobsters…etc.  And then there are the animals that depend on these creatures for food, like birds and fish.  Mangrove forests are also an important part of the cycling and storage of carbon in tropical coastal ecosystems.  What’s amazing about these plants is that they tolerate living in such harsh conditions: immersed in salt-water as well as low oxygen conditions in the waterlogged mud.  Unfortunately the mangrove habitat is continuously being removed because of urban development along the costs of the world.

After admiring the mangroves we land on Roxa island. 

This little fellow was standing by the shore and gave the gesture to follow him to the village.

The walk to the village was about 20 minutes through the jungle.  As hot and humid as it was, I’m always happy to walk among trees.  I live in a place where houses are stuck to each other, the temperature over the summer stays close to 50C/122F, and the Air Quality Index is above 100 on most days :-(

As we got closer to the village we started hearing the rhythm of the drums and people singing and dancing.  The whole village was out having a good time.

The main ethnic groups in Guinea-Bissau are the Fula and the Balanta.  The Fula, who are widely dispersed across West Africa and the Sahel region, are the largest nomadic pastoral community in the world.  As an ethnic group, the Fula language as well as their history is what unites them, and they happen to be mainly Muslims.  Whereas the Balanta, meaning “those who resist”, are known to practice indigenous, spiritual customs and rites even though some of them have adopted either Islam or Catholicism as their “official” religion.  Most people I have come across in rural Africa tend to merge their ancient practices (animism) with the Abrahamic religions more recently introduced to them.  

People from all ethnic groups who still live in village settings take initiation rites very seriously.  There is always a celebration of someone leaving childhood and entering adulthood in all of its stages: those who become 15, then those who are ready to get married, and the Balanta men specifically also have a rite of passage when they’re ready to become landowners.  You can read more about the Fanado ceremony here.

Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems—as animated and alive.

If you ask anyone who practices animism “are you an animist?” They will most likely not understand what you’re trying to question. The concept itself is made up by anthropologists who want to distinguish indigenous religions from organized religions, whereas animism is just a way of experiencing life differently from what Western thought and Eastern thought have perceived life to be.

Isn’t it interesting how religions came to be in each human society..?

Different tribes practice animism in different ways. The only common feature between all animists is that they believe objects in nature (trees, animals, rocks, rivers) have souls or spirits, and that this phenomena is not limited to us humans.

This man has entered a state of trance in order to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors. It’s a very common thing to witness during these ritualistic ceremonies in West Africa: men wearing masks and entering an altered state to act as an intermediary between our world and the spirit world.

Spectators are under no circumstances allowed to touch men who have entered a state of trance. This can be dangerous to both parties —who knows what might happen if you touch a person who is halfway to the spirit world? Can’t be anything good.

When a person enters a state of trance they usually do it with the help of mind altering substances such as alcohol, psychedelics, herbs, hallucinogens; or then they induce it by starvation, sleep deprivation; or mind controlling techniques such as prayer or chanting meditation.

It has been interesting to see how families in West Africa are so close. They pretty much do everything together.

However, with globalization things are changing rapidly, even in a small country like Guinea-Bissau. I’m guessing the newer generation of people prefer the urban life if given the opportunity. 

Here’s an interesting paper on the effects of urbanization on ecology and biodiversity in Africa: Urbanization in Africa: Challenges and opportunities for conservation (1).

Palm oil is originally from West Africa. Only recently (in the 20th century) has it become poplar to farm in Asia and Latin America. Because of its many benefits the farming of palm oil has exploded to overtake the natural habitat of many forest animals. Because of the creamy texture that it provides, palm oil is used in candy, baked goods, soaps, ice-cream, butter, cosmetics, frozen pizzas, and instant noodles. Companies have already thought of expanding production on a larger scale in West Africa. This would require cutting down more rainforests. Western environmentalists are worried that if Africa decides to expand its palm oil business this will further compromise the forests around the equator. 

Because of the overwhelmingly negative image palm oil has been exposed to in the Western media, a group of African women have come to the defense of their traditional way of preparing food with palm oil (2).

I was trying to organize the kids for a group photo.. that never happened :-)

Bijago culture tends to be matriarchal, with women managing the household, the economy, law, as well as initiating courtship.

Portuguese Guinea (i.e. Guinea-Bissau from the late 15th century to 1974) was known as the Slave Coast, as it was a major area for the exportation of African slaves by Europeans to the western hemisphere.

One of the uninhabited islands of West Africa.

I wonder what this place would look like in a hundred years. Maybe there will be Marriott resort right where I’m standing.

~ The End ~

*All facts are from Wikipedia unless otherwise stated.

1. Güneralp, Burak, et al. “Urbanization in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 13, no. 1, 2017, p. 015002., doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa94fe.
2. “West African Women Defend Traditional Palm Oil.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, GRAIN, 2016, www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/417205/.