12. November 2007 by admin.

After a sleepless first night at L’Hôtel des Cocotiers, we went to a bakery for breakfast, which took around two hours. It seems efficiency at eating establishments run by Africans is not a priority here, but charm makes up for it all. Unfortunately, not in my North American mind where customer service is number 1! I ordered eggs, a cafe au lait and orange juice. My plate was served last, despite it being sunny-side-up eggs with sausages and the others omlettes with all the toppings. We were given our drinks LAST. We were all very thirsty at that point and noticed a family of Nasaras came an hour after us, and left 30 minutes before us. I guess their waitress was better at her job. Another word from the “wise” when ordering: don’t have your heart set on anything in particular, have two or three choices in mind (in case they run out). Also be clear to make the servers repeat your order before they go to the “kitchen” (if they end up going there directly) because they’ll nod “yes yes”, but in reality they misunderstood and are confused.

Onto our city tour which began by hard bargaining a local tour guide. We walked to the old Mosque within 5 minutes (one good thing about our hotel was the location).

I can’t tell you much about the mosque, because I was half asleep. Enjoy the photos!

The entrance, note the restriction against cell phone use.

Cans for washing

The washing area.

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11. November 2007 by admin.

Day 2, early morning fog greeted us on our way to Lake Tengrela. We slept at the sister hotel of “Hotel Canne à Sucre”, run by a Brit and very chic. Ours wasn’t as nice as the original, but it was clean, modern, and sans-insectes! I brought my pilates mat to sleep (for free), since the double bed was taken up by Michelle and Cindy.

Upon our 7am arrival, a group of Frenchies had beat us to the first boats!

While we waited, a woman was washing her clothes by beating them on rocks and another was washing corn, no photos of her.

After they were off, all they had left was a leaking boat, not very reassuring…

Michelle and I making our scared-shitless faces, while trying not to crack up at the situation we had put ourselves in. Hippos are known to frequent the Lake, if one is “lucky” you can catch them in the early morning or before sunset. Obviously, we were not “lucky” enough, the wet season had just ended which means the level up the lake is higher, and they retreat to shallow waters. We were told to come back at sunset to see them on dry land, or in December.

Other tourists trying their luck.

Unlike the other boats, at least we had a rower and someone who was scooping out water full time.

It was evident that we were not going to see any hippos. I settled in for a nice boat ride.

Near the lake there was a “camping” site run by a family wher we took our breakfast. These are their kids, ALL of them. A pair of twins on the left side.

It seems the children are more interested in me than anything else. I suppose they don’t see Asians very often. Note the little boy.

After a lunch of braised fish and atiéké (coucous, mil, cucumber, tomatoes and onions) which took forever, we took off to see the peaks of Sindou. Which is like the domes…but spikey not round. Some advice for those travelling to Africa, if its not meal time, order before you’re hungry because it’ll take 30 minutes to 1 hour or more before you get your food…that’s only if they get your order correct.

A panoramic of the peaks, click on it for a larger version.

A view from the welcome stand, where the guides and their friends hang out under a straw roof.

Our knowledgeable guide who explained the history of the peaks and initiation rituals that take place there.

Another group of tourists, who we ran into later at our second visit to the cascades.

How long will it manage to balance like this? Only time will tell, and I’ll definitely not be there!

In the distance the road to Mali, a neighbouring country.

My sunhat proved useful in the bush.

The valley below.

A centipede!

Since our day began extremely early for hippo watching, by the time we visited the peaks there was enough time for another activity…the cascades once again!

We left around 5pm for Bobo, which was a bit late. We were advised not to travel at night due to road closures, which basically means robbers who cut off the road and steal your valuables. Luckily there was enough traffic since the sun had just set and we arrived in Bobo safely.

Jonathan, Alex, Michelle and Cindy at “Les Bambous” for dinner.

Entertainment for the night. Check out his painted cora!

We slept at “Hôtel des Cocotiers” in Bobo, near City Hall. Do not go there if you are either:
1. Afraid of insects
2. Germaphobe
3. In need of a fan to sleep

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10. November 2007 by admin.

Apologies for the late post, since my return I’ve been swamped with work, suffering from allergies and stressed from OSAP. So for my loyal readers who have stuck with me for a month and a half, here are the highlights of my trip to the Southwest.

Last Thursday, the “gang” consisting of my old housemate Cindy, Michelle and Jonathan (whom I came here with) from Fada N’Gourma and Alex from Koudougou picked me up from my new house bright and early at 6am. They organized for a driver and a 4×4 for our entire trip at a reasonable price when split between 5. On route to Banfora, our jeep was waved to the side of the road by whom seemed to be highway control. Oh no, I thought to myself, get ready for passport inspection. Alas, I was happily suprised, the Tour de Burkina was on and hundreds of cyclists whizzed by us!

We continued directly to the waterfalls near Banfora. After some bumpy rough roads, we arrived to what appeared like Jurassic Park. Immense trees, giant dragonflys buzzing around everywhere. The path to the watefalls…

Further up the path, a warning sign: Prudence is strongly recommended at the edge of the cascades and the cliffs.

The hike from the path becoming more steep, eventually leading to a short vertical climb.

The view from above the first major cascades of the river.

Then my batteries died. The further up we went, the smaller the cascades, very picturesque! We relaxed in the shallow water and received back massages from the little falls. Even though we weren’t in Bobo-Dioulasso, we joked that we got bobo’s from Bobo because almost all of us slipped, bumped or fell. The rocks were jagged, slippery and there were cracks, where my foot fell into and fortunately I didn’t twist my ankle. Some of the falls were so powerful our bottoms almost got washed away!

After frolicking in the water, we visited the domes. Lucky us, it was sunset which made for a perfect day.

Our driver for the week, Bouba

Michelle, looking heroic

Alex and Jonathan dome-skipping.

Cindy, comtemplating the way back down.

End of day 1.

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