Dalaba

Dalaba sits at around twelve hundred metres in the Fouta Djallon and was developed as a hill station in the colonial period because the air is cool and the climate is mild when the coast is not, leaving a scatter of villas, a sanatorium and the Case à Palabres, a meeting house whose interior woodwork was carved by Fouta craftsmen. Market gardens work the valleys around the town.

Background

Dalaba is the highest town in Guinea, approximately 200 kilometres from Conakry by air and about 280 kilometres by road. It had 6,349 residents in 2008, most of them Fula, and Sunday is market day. Miriam Makeba once lived here, in a round house from the French colonial period built in the form of the region's traditional homes, and she last visited in 1988. The town is known for its strawberries, and local women dye cotton damask a deep indigo in detailed tie-dye patterns. In the early 1900s the French botanist Auguste Chevalier tried planting pines near the town.

Source: Wikipedia, "Dalaba"

The main sights

• The Case à Palabres - the meeting house with its carved Fouta interior.
• The hill station villas - the colonial-era buildings around the town.
• The altitude - twelve hundred metres and cool when the coast is hot.
• The market gardens - the cultivation in the valleys around.

When to go

November to April is the dry season. Nights at this altitude are genuinely cool. The rains from May to October are heavy in the Fouta Djallon.

Things to know

Many of the colonial buildings are derelict. Facilities are basic and there is little arranged for visitors. The road from Conakry takes around five hours.

Nearby

Ditinn is north, and Mamou is southeast.

Key facts