Sorry for the long gap since my last posting, but Abraham and I have been on the road and have just returned to Dakar. This time we went to Ziguinchor in the southern region of Senegal known as Casamance, where Abraham had several meetings. While there, we decided to take a few days and visit Guinea Bissau, just 15 miles away. A short paragraph in our Lonely Planet guidebook mentioned a small town called Varela as having a spectacular coastline, so we decided to check it out.
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When we woke up the next morning, we found a town of stunning beauty. Varela is not only surrounded by fields and forest, most of the town itself is field and forest. Less than 200 people live there in scattered houses tucked under trees off of winding paths. 

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Home for our 3-day stay in Varela was Chez Helene. It was not a difficult choice, as it is the only hotel in town. In fact, after the first night we were its only guests. Fortunately, it was the perfect place to enjoy such a peaceful town. This photo is of one of the bungalows.

Chez Helene is run conscientiously and with great warmth by Fatima and Franco and their friend Pino. Franco is Italian and met Fatima when she went to college there. Fatima was born in Guinea Bissau to a woman of Portuguese descent and a man originally from Rio de Janeiro. He himself had a French/Portuguese father and a black mother.
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