Dalaba ( Pular : 𞤁𞤢𞤤𞤢𞤦𞤢𞥄) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and sub-prefecture in the

Dalaba Prefecture Dalaba ( Pular: 𞤍𞤢𞤤𞤭𞥅𞤪𞤫 𞤁𞤢𞤤𞤢𞤦𞤢𞥄) is a prefecture located in the Mamou Region of Guinea. The capital is Dalaba. The prefecture covers an area of 4,400 km² and has an estimated population of 155,000 ...

in the

Mamou Region Mamou Region ( Pular: 𞤁𞤭𞥅𞤱𞤢𞤤 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤥𞤵𞤲) is located in central Guinea. It is bordered by the country of Sierra Leone and the Guinean regions of Faranah Region, Faranah, Labé, and Kindia. Administrative divis ...

of Guinea. It was once home to a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

, and to

Miriam Makeba Zenzile Miriam Makeba (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008), nicknamed Mama Africa, was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. Associated with musical genres including Afropop, jazz, and world music, she w ...

, who last visited the town in 1988, when she came to see her niece, N'Tombi Makeba, who lived in Miriam's house (a round building dating to the French colonial period, but using the same form as traditional homes in the region) for a number of years in the 1980s. The town is also known for its local strawberries. The town of Dalaba is the highest (in altitude) town in Guinea. It is approximately 200 km by air from the capital Conakry and about 280 km by road. The inhabitants of Dalaba are mostly

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) *Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

(french: Peul; ff, Fulɓe). The market day in Dalaba is Sunday. The women of Dalaba dye cotton damask fabric a rich-hued

indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...

in detailed tie-dyed patterns.

Climate

Like the rest of the Futa Djalon region of which it is part, Dalaba's climate is moderated by the altitude. It was a popular retreat area for French during the colonial period largely for that reason. It is said locally that there was snowfall in Dalaba once in the 1930s.

History

The French botanist

Auguste Chevalier Auguste may refer to: People Surname * Arsène Auguste (born 1951), Haitian footballer * Donna Auguste (born 1958), African-American businesswoman * Georges Auguste (born 1933), Haitian painter * Henri Auguste (1759–1816), Parisian gold and ...

experimented with the planting of certain

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...

species in the vicinity of Dalaba in the early 1900s. That area was known as the Chevalier arboretum, but is now called the Barry Gassimou garden."Tourism: Nature- Culture - Hospitality" Consulate of the Republic of Guinea (Netherlands)

References

{{Dalaba Prefecture Sub-prefectures of the Mamou Region