Home Away From Home

Living in a rural village is tiring, to say the least.  It is difficult to get good food, life is difficult and sometimes we just need a break.  We have been coming to Ziguinchor once a month since we first came to Guinea Bissau.  Ziguinchor is in Senegal, which is north of Guinea Bissau.  When we come into Ziguinchor we can buy western type foods, enjoy internet, running water, cold drinks and relaxation.  We have always stayed at hotel Le Perroquet which is a middle of the road type hotel, owned by a French man. It didn’t have luxuries like hot water or air conditioning, but it had one room that was big enough to fit our family and was affordable.  We have seen many changes done to this hotel including an owner change.  Now it is owned by a French woman named Dominique and she has been improving the hotel by leaps and bounds.  Right before the ownership changed, we were about to be done staying there.  We were suspicious of bed bugs and it was just miserably hot in the rooms and filled with mosquitos, none of us slept well, therefore making us more exhausted returning to the village than when we left.  The first big change we saw to the hotel was, in our opinion, the greatest.  They had installed an air conditioner in one room, and guess whose room that was…ours! They chose to fix up the biggest room first, we’d like to think it’s because it is known as our room, but I’m sure it is to attract bigger tourist groups.  We were beyond thrilled though to be able to sleep in peace, and they installed glass on the windows therefore cutting down the millions of mosquitos that invaded the rooms at night.  Dominique has continued to fix up this hotel and now it is quite nice and very clean.  She has even added a beach area on the river, when previously there was only restaurant seating. The hotel is not only affordable, but a peaceful place to get rejuvenated.   

Our kids with some of the staff and the owner.  

The employees at Le Perroquet are incredibly friendly and very good at their jobs.  There is a language barrier between us, as we don’t speak French, but over the years, we have grown to be friends with the staff.  We know them by name and are always welcomed with a friendly welcome. Dominique also likes to spoil our children with ice cream, chocolate, candy or whatever she may have.  She always makes a point to talk with them (she speaks some English) and on this trip she brought out a couple games for them to play.  One of which is called Game of Seven Families, and it was of course in French.  We enjoyed playing it though and found it a fun way to learn some new French words.  

Our family with some of the staff

When Lydia got sick and needed to go to the hospital in Ziguinchor, the hotel staff went above and beyond for our family.  They made sure ‘our’ room was open for us, asked about Lydia every day and when Lydia finally was released from the hospital, she was welcomed with hugs from the staff.  They made sure we had everything we would need.  The day she was being released, we had no idea of a time frame, but they let us stay in the room until she safely arrived at the hotel. We were getting ready to go to Gambia for recovery when we realized we had no water for Lydia to take her medicine.  They quickly took note and brought over a water bottle for her, no charge.  Le Perroquet has always gone above and beyond for us, and I believe they do that for all their guests.  

Without Le Perroquet, I’m not sure what we would’ve done.  Our children think of the hotel as their second home and we all look forward to our monthly weekend in Ziguinchor.  We realize this sounds like a review for the hotel, but truly this is just us sharing one more aspect of our life here in West Africa. Living in a rural village where we draw our water from a well, have no refrigerator and hardly any privacy, Le Perroquet provided just the right amount of comfort for us.