Bissau.
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Overview

Bissau is the largest city in and capital of Guinea-Bissau.

Get in

By plane Air Senegal flies from Dakar.

Cabo Verde Airlines has four flights each week from Dakar to Bissau, returning to Dakar the same day. These flights are not an example of punctuality, and it is a good idea to check with their office in Bissau (Av. 206087) before you head to the airport.

Additional CFA 1,000 for a normal sized bag. The trip takes 2½ to 3 hours, depending on border formalities.

Get around

Shared taxis are cheap and plentiful. Stop taxis and tell them where you want to go (or tell the passing taxis by pointing), and they will either accept "na bai" (I'm going), or decline "não" (no) if people, already in the taxi, are going to another part of the city. Prices are more or less fixed, and you'll normally not get cheated, except when you're an obvious foreigner and taking a taxi from the airport or Hotel Bissau Palace.

Group travel is cheaper, for example: 1 person CFA 300, 2 persons CFA 300, 3 or 4 persons CFA 600.

There are also minibuses "toca-tocas" going on fixed routes, you'll pay CFA 100 a person for the ride, but the buses are often very crowded!

See

Presidential Palace. Bombed out during the civil war. Reconstructed in 2013 with Chinese money, serves again as the president's seat. Nearby is the Independence Monument, which commemorates Guinea-Bissau's unilateral independence from Portugal on 24 September 1973.

São José de Amura fort. Old Portuguese fort, containing the mausoleum of national hero Amilcar Cabral and tombs of other revolutionaries. Inside is also Amilcar Cabral's car. Can be hard to get in, but possible, if you make friends with the soldiers or get a permission.

Bissau Velho - the old Portuguese colonial centre where some pharmacies and businesses operate out of the colonial-era buildings. Not much life there nowadays, but still a nice place to walk around. Don't miss the prison with pink flowers painted on its front (At the corner of the fort, close to the harbour). Porto Pidjiguiti - walk out the little port and talk to the fishermen, watch the pelicans and see the city from a distance. The Pidjiguiti port was the site of the Pidjiguiti massacre on 3 August 1959, where police shot 50 striking dockworkers. This became the beginning of the active resistance against the Portuguese colonial power. There is a monument shaped as a gigantic black fist commemorating the massacre. Mercado de Bandim - Bissau's main market.

National Ethnographic Museum. Open mornings only, it has a small collection of Bissau-Guinean wooden masks and statues, baskets, cloths etc. The staff are very helpful and good at explaining the purpose of the different items, and connecting it to traditional spiritual beliefs.

Do

The French Cultural Center in the Bayana roundabout often features concerts, movies, dance classes, French classes etc. The Portuguese Cultural Center (next to the Portuguese embassy, behind "Benfica") also hosts concerts, but in slightly less inviting surroundings. Swim at Ceiba Hotel, Hala Hotel, Azalai Dunia Hotel or Campo Sueco (CFA 3000 - somewhat more noisy and crowded, but more African atmosphere). Exercise on the running lanes or in the gym in Estadio 24 de Setembro. Play tennis in the tennis club at the Bandim Harbour (close to Estadio 24 de Setembro) or in Campo Sueco.

Buy

Wood carvings Try the Centro Artistico Juvenil, close to "Chapa de Bissau" with fixed prices and no need to bargain - or the market in front of Pensão Central (here you'll need to bargain). Hand woven textiles Good shop underneath University Bemantecs next to the cathedral selling textiles from NGO Artissal of Quinhamel - or at the Bandim Market. Batik Next to the Post Office. Cashew nuts, the main export and cash crop Tiniguena in Bairro de Belém is an NGO working for sustainable community development, food and income security as well as a greater control over the natural resources on which the local population is depending. It has a little shop selling high-quality wall-calendars and postcards with Guinea Bissau motives as well as locally produced baskets, marmalade, rice, spices, palm oil etc. Ponto de Encontro has a large selection of quality DVDs, that can be ordered from Portugal and picked up the following Friday.

Eat

Recidencial Coimbra has a good buffet every night at CFA 2000-7500 including starters, main courses, desserts, wine and water.

Hotel Malaika. Has a nice restaurant inside, but also a roof top restaurant for drinks and fast food style meals.

O Bistro - Belgian owned restaurant next to Mavegro, delicious food.

Bijados. Good restaurant, and excellent service, but somewhat overpriced.

Le Grimaldi, inside Hotel Kalliste - an open air restaurant right on Praca Che Guevara (known as "Praca Bayana" by most cab drivers). Excellent pizza and live music most nights, though relatively expensive (CFA 4000-5000 for a small pie). Papa Loca Favorite place for pizzas and shawarmas. Very fair prices! Centre Culturel Franco Bissau-Guinéen open for lunch, has a nice courtyard for eating your morning croissants and espresso, or a good lunch. Dom Bifanas good steak-restaurant next to the parliament, having a live gazelle and a crowned crane in the restaurant. Fernandas in Santa Lucia - famous for her Bica (Carpe Rouge). Campo Sueco in Alto Bandim - good for lunch and a swim in the pool, while you wait for the food. Ta Mar in Bissau Velho - nice place with outdoor serving in the street in the dry season. A Padeira Africana - Portuguese style food Ponto de Encontro - same owner as "A Padeira Africana" - good for a beer and a snack on the sidewalk

Darling - many Spanish brands, good value. One in the center, one in Estrada de Bor and one on the Airport Road, opposite Mercado de Bandim. Bodem - supermarket with a big section of shoes and clothes. Mini Marché Alvalade - opposite Dragon Chinese restaurant - is the best place in Bissau to buy cheese and frozen meat.

Drink

There are quite a few discos and nightclubs, one nightclub popular with expats is X-Klub which has pool tables and a small dance floor.

Sleep

Hotels in Bissau are generally overpriced. There's hope that prices will decrease as new hotels are open.

Pensão Creola. Hostel run by a Swiss-Bissau couple. Good value.

Hotel-Residência Proquil. In Bissau-Velho. Rooms from

Hotel Kalliste. Set in an old Portuguese colonial style building, that is repuditly under renovation. If that is not the case, you'll be pleased to know that the interior is in a much better shape.

Hala Hotel & Aqua Park. Outdoor pool and hotel tower.

Hotel CEIBA. Outdoor pool and sleek lines.

Hotel Ancar. This hotel was renovated in 2009. Has air conditioning, free breakfast and free wireless Internet (Wi-Fi).

Appart Hotel Diarama. Clean hotel in quiet location. Friendly Lebanese owner. Prices include a simple French breakfast.

Azalaï Dunia Hotel Bissau. Fairly well maintained hotel, with rooms in better shape than the outside. On-site hotel and restaurant.

Embassies and consulates

Brazilian Embassy Chinese Embassy Cuban Embassy French Embassy Portuguese embassy Russian Embassy Spanish Embassy US Consul - 'Sitec' German Consul - 'Sitec' British Honorary Consul, Mavegro Int. Guinean embassy normally issues visas the same day. Bring CFA 45,000 and two photos.

Romania. Honorary consulate (Does not provide consular services. Instead, Romanian citizens in need of assistance should contact the embassy in Dakar, Senegal or the embassy of another European Union member state.)

Guinea Bissau's main hospital is Hospital Nacional Simão Mendes. But if you really need to go to the hospital, probably you should try to get your insurance company to pay for you at least going to Dakar.

Pharmacies are on every street corner in Bissau, pharmacies Rama (there are three), Rina and Amilcar Cabral are usually well-stocked and the Indian owners speak English.