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Guinea-Bissau is a previous Portuguese colony surrounded by Senegal to the north and Guinea to the south and east. Guinea-Bissau's post-independence history has been chequered. A civil war in 1998, followed by the burden of a military junta in 1999 has been replaced with a multi-party democratic system. The economy remains breakable, however hopes are high. Talk: Portuguese is the authorized language and the language used for writing, however Creole is the language spoken among the locals. But you will always find people who speak English and, of course, French from other African countries.

Weather: Guinea-Bissau is temperate all year around and there is little temperature variation averaging 26.3 degrees Celsius. The average rainfall for Bissau is 2024 mm although this is almost completely accounted for during the rainy season which falls between June and September/October. During the months of December, January, February, March and April, the country experiences drought. Culture: The music of Guinea-Bissau is generally connected with the polyrhythmic gumbe genre, the country's primary musical export. However, civil unrest other factors have united over the years to keep gumbe, and other genres, out of mainstream audiences, even in generally syncretist African countries.

Food: Most Guineans eat rice with fish, because the country is rich in fish, and rice (homegrown or imported from Thailand) is comparatively cheap. The more lavish meals contain beef, goat, chicken or pork. Meals are also made with palm oil and peanut sauces and diverse vegetables. Guineans also eat wild/game meat (deer, monkey, beaver etc.) but these animals are considered to be in danger of extinction and so it is not recommended to support this. Fruit available depends on the season, but mangos, papayas, oranges, grape fruits, bananas, cashews and peanuts are plentiful. Street snacks are classically sandwiches with hardboiled egg, omelet, fish or beef - or donuts, cake or hardboiled eggs. Frozen juice in small plastic bags is popular among locals. Drink: The people of Guinea-Bissau love to drink a sweet green tea known as "warga", the non-muslims also enjoy drinking cashew wine or palm wine. There are also possibilities to buy Portuguese beer, wine and soft drinks but these are more costly. It is optional that foreigners only drink bottled, filtered or boiled water.