UPDATE!!!!

We are planning the next Decade of Return Event for November 2022. Below is the information from the last event. If you are interested in the next event, get on our mailing list:

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN THE NOVEMBER DECADE OF RETURN TOUR

Abe Bonh during the Decade of Return Group 2 Tour, June 2021

ITINERARY

3 days/4 nights in Bissau - Single room $992; Double Room; $1068; Suite $1364

4 days/3 nights at Bijagos Islands -$750

FLIGHT (see bottom of page) and $75 PROCESSING FEE NOT INCLUDED

** All refund requests are handled on a case by case basis and there will be a processing fee

YOU CAN CHOOSE JUST BISSAU, OR BISSAU AND BIJAGOS OR YOU CAN CHOOSE BISSAU AND THEN CUSTOMIZE THE FINAL 4 DAYS AND 3 NIGHTS

(Arrangements will be made for return COVID testing to take place)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER YOUR INTEREST IN THE NOVEMBER DECADE OF RETURN TOUR

OPTION 1: BISSAU

(Note: Schedule subject to change according to conditions on the ground. This is NORMAL in Africa. Expect changes and or delays and “flow” with it. Time in Africa is different)

Day 1 - Tuesday Evening, November 23: BISSAU

Flights Arrive in the evening in Bissau at Osvaldo Vieira International Airport. Transport to the Hotel Ledger (4 km). Welcome to the motherland show and informal reception and light food food at Hotel Ledger.

WATCH THE DECADE OF RETURN GROUP 1 WELCOME AT THE LEDGER HOTEL

Day 2 - Wednesday, November 24: Bissau and Officials

7:00 am - Breakfast

8:30 am - 11:30 am - meeting with Guinea Bissau officials

11:30 am - Lunch at Calistro Restaurant in downtown Bissau.

Afternoon - Bissau City Tour. - We will visit the statue of Honorio Barreto, then we move to Central Market and work up Mao de Timba “Hand of Timba” Monument commemorating the Pidjiguiti Massacre which would inspire Almicar Cabral to fight for liberation. Then we move to Bissau Velho ( former Portuguese’s architecture center). After that we go to Amura to visit Amilcar Cabral and other leader camp museum. We travel in a 35 seat air-conditioned van.

7:30 to 9:30 pm - Dinner at Restaurant Dona Fernanda in Santa Luzia.

This picture and the three pictures below taken by Ken Hawkins during the Decade of Return Group 1 in May 2021.

DAY 3 - Thursday, November 25: CACHEU

6:30 to 7:30 am - Breakfast at Hotel Ledger

8:00 am - Depart to Cacheu for a full day. Travel time to Cacheu is 2 hours and 15 minutes. Cacheu town is one of thenearliest Portuguese settlement in Africa and the first navigators arrived in early 15° century. We will visit the Memorial Da Escravatura E Do Trafico Negeiro (Slave Museum). A panel discussion with professors and students is being planned and you will have the opportunity to tell your story!

Lunch at Cacheu pier

Return to Hotel Ledger in Bissau and COVID return testing.

7:00 pm - Dinner at Restaurant Amadora

Decade of Return Group 2, June 2021 in front of the Door of No Return in Cacheu

Day 4 - Friday, November 26 Ancestry Day

6:30 am to 7:45 am - breakfast

8:00 am - Depart for villages. Balanta descendants will go to a Balanta village. Djola descendants will go to a Djola village. Fula descendants will go to a Fula village, Brame/Mancane to Brame/Mancane villsage, etc

7:00 pm -. Return to the Hotel Ledger for final night.

The above six pictures take by Ken Hawkins during the Decade of Return Group 1, May 2021

TOTAL COST FOR OPTION 1

OPTION 1:1 SINGLE ROOM (with meals, transport and tax) TOTAL: $992

OPTION 1:2 DOUBLE ROOM (with meals, transport and tax) TOTAL: -$1068

OPTION 1:3 SUITE (with meals, transport and tax) TOTAL: $1,364

OPTION 1:4 Choose this option if you are the person sharing a DOUBLE ROOM with someone else (with meals, transport and tax) TOTAL: $620

CLICK HERE TO MAKE PAYMENT

OPTION 2: ADDTIONAL VISIT TO BIJAGOS ISLANDS

Day 5 - Saturday, November 27: Bijagos Islands

Our departure to Archipelago will depend on sea’s high tide

We will have a full day to discover the Archipelago. During our sail we will be in Marathon of Dolphin, which Is covered in a lush green forest in an exceptional nature reserve inhabited by enchanting birds which are part of unique wildlife specific to the remote ecosystem.

In the Afternoon will take a walk to explore the Rubane Island. It is a half day trip with a lot of walking, so some may want to stay behind at the hotel and just relax. Lunch and dinner is at Restaurant Ponta Anchaca, Rubane Island.

Day 6 - Sunday, November 28: BUBAQUE-SOGA

- Breakfast then Short trip to visit Bubaque, capital of Bijagos region.

- Going to SOGA Island.

- Lunch at Ponta Anchaca.

- Return to Bubaque to attend traditional dance of young boys and girls called in CREOL DANÇA DE BACA BRUTA (BULL DANCE).

- Dinner and Overnight at PONTA ANCHACA.

Day 7 Monday, November 29: RUBANE

Full day free enjoying Sea and sun of Rubane. All meals at the hotel

Day 8 Tuesday, November 30: BACK TO BISSAU

- Breakfast

- Sailing back to Bissau and hotel to prepare the way back

- Transfer to airport.

TOTAL EXTRA COST FOR OPTION 2:

$750 (includes food, accommodation, guides, transport and taxes).

NOTE: If you are the person sharing a DOUBLE ROOM and you will be continuing to the BIjagos, you must purchase both OPTION 1:4 and OPTION 2:4 Bijagos Separate

CLICK HERE TO MAKE PAYMENT

(Pictures below by Ken Hawkins and Oremi Kwabena Bwire during the Decade of Return Group 1, May 2021 trip to the Bijagos Islands)

Decade of Return Group 2 in Bijagos Islands, June 2021

CITIZENSHIP

Bissau, Guinea Bissau - On June 10, 2021, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Guinea Bissau completed the naturalization process for Siphiwe Baleka, President of the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America (BBHAGSIA). Mr. Baleka is the first Afrodescendant from the United States to become a naturalized citizen of Guinea Bissau.

The process is now open to all descendants of people from Guinea Bissau who have taken the African Ancestry test. To start the naturalization process to obtain citizenship,

COMPLETE THE NATURALIZATION APPLICATION

OFFICIAL INVITATION FROM THE GUINEA BISSAU SECRETARY OF TOURISM

On February 23, 2021, The Secretary of Tourism of Guinea Bissau sent the following message to the Balanta B’urassa History and Genealogy Society in America:

“Distinguished greetings,

Excellence,

It was up to me, as the maximum Responsible for this area and, WHEREAS the members of the Society of History and Genealogy Balanta Burassa in the United States of America, are now preparing to return to their origins, from 11 to 14 May and from 8 to 11 June, 2021 for a Welcome Celebration, something unprecedented in the history of our young nation; in this context, we would like to invite Your Excellency Illustrious Siphiwe Baleka, founder, to be present with his members at the referred event, which is of major importance for Guinea-Bissau.

Without another subject at the moment, please accept Excellency, best regards.

High regard

Ms. Nhima Sisse”

After the success of the first two groups in 2021, the Ministry of Culture made the following announcement to Afrodescendants in the United States concerning the Decade of Return:

Invitation

“The Secretary of State for Culture, having knowledge of African-Americans of Guinea-Bissau descendants interested in visiting the country, serves to formulate an invitation to give them greater openness and possibility to arrive in Guinea-Bissau.

So that there is no impediment, this invitation will be signed and authenticated with the oil stamp used in this institution.

The contact will be through the coordinator of the return decade Siphiwe Baleka of the Balanta B'urassa History & Genealogy Society in America and from his team in Bissau and the association Ban Faaba.

Bissau, June 21, 2021

The Secretary of State,

Dr. Francelino da Cunha”

FLIGHTS

There are two ways to enter Guinea Bissau through the capital city, Bissau. There is a flight from Dakar, Senegal and a direct flight from Lisbon, Portugal. Because of the COVID travel restrictions, we recommend the flight from Lisbon to Bissau, but only if you can fly direct to Lisbon. As of now, United States citizens cannot make TWO TRANSFERS in Europe. When booking your flight, you want a direct flight to Lisbon, Portugal and then the following flight to Bissau on TAP Air Portugal:

Alternatively, you can fly to Dakar, Senegal. However, Senegal has very strict COVID testing rules and if you cannot fly in to and out of Dakar on the same day, you will most likely have to spend up to 3 or 4 days in Dakar because that is how long it takes to take another COVID test and get results, and this can be expensive. Nevertheless, the following flights on ASKY Airlines or Air Senegal will get you from Dakar to Bissau: