Located in West Africa, Guinea is a small country full of surprises. Although it is a developing country, it has a gold and jewel industry. As it is on the Atlantic coast, there are white sand beaches nearly devoid of sun worshippers, but great for tanning and swimming nonetheless. There are acres upon acres of tropical forest, both dry forest and rainforest where you can hike and look for wildlife. A former French colony, the official language of Guinea is French, but many ethnic languages are spoken as well. It is rare to find English speakers in Guinea.

There is some civil unrest in Guinea, but much less than in some neighboring countries like Mali. The political situation is fluid and there are demonstrations, which sometimes turn violent. Travelers should go prepared to see violence and with a plan to stay safe if something occurs, even though there

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