Well, my Guinea trip was only a week and a half. That's not much of a dent in a 27 month period. And I guess part of the experience for me, in addition to being immersed in the culture that I lived in was seeing how other nearby countries compared. I was living w/ Fula's so it was esp. interesting to see see the differences/similarities of the Fula's in Guinea.

My village was only 1k from Senegal and the border cultures of Sene. and Gambia vary little. Thus, I found myself working with villages in both countries because the border was for all intents and purposes invisible.

If you visit Gambia I would suggest finding a bike a just touring the country from end to end. It's the best way to see the country and be able to hit the best river spots and hidden villages. In Senegal, two favorites were ToubabDialao, a coastal village north of Mbour with red cliffs and a fairly secluded beach and St. Louis, a town of stark contrasts and colors w/ the pastels of French colonial buildings and the rusted corrugate shacks along the penninsula, alongside the fisherman's graveyard w/ all the paraphernalia of a life at sea-- nets, hulls, boat flag, etc. I didn't get to Mali, but several of my friends have said that the Dogon country (with living spaces built into the cliffs) is one not to miss.