With a clear head and an empty stomach we left Bobo on the 21st March. Frazer had been complaining that I hadn’t sat up front yet so for most of the days drive I had the privilege of sitting in the front cab. The first half of the day with Frazer.
I was impressed at the amount of bicycles I saw, especially when a large group of women all went flying by. We’ve also been seeing lots of traditional round houses which look super cool to me.
The second half of the day I sat with Ryan relaying travel stories and dreams of future expeditions. There are so many mangoes for sale right now I’m in heavan. When five o’clock came we started to look for a road to get into the bush. The main road is raised somewhat so when we spot a dirt path going off we take it and find a lovely place surrounded with trees.
Lukas and I walk back into the village we passed through called Ouazadougou. As night was fast approaching I marked the entrance to our camp with a cross and dropped a metal star I found in the middle, taking note of the road bollards and a few distinguishing trees.
We were welcomed into conversation on our arrival. Lukas has a good grasp of the French language whereas I still struggle with the different accents. We watched the boys play football, some going barefoot, and took some photos. Some of the boys wanted their photo taken with us and a few wanted Lukas’s contact details. I don’t have a mobile so I only got given one phone number.
As the moon rose and my tummy grumbled we navigated our way back to camp successfully relocating my star and cross.
The others had been whittling themselves 12 pins and a throwing stick for the game we learnt in Bamako- Molkkü. Unfortunately the piece of wood they chose wasn’t heavy enough and the game wasn’t quite as much fun.
I’m not sure what happened to us on the 22nd but we all ended up swapping clothes for the morning. It was hysterical as it wasn’t only the clothes we swapped but personalities too.
We called a pee break so Frazer and Ryan could join in but they declined.
Apart from police check points Jussi said he was feeling far too comfortable in my clothes and we should therefore change back. We reached the capital Ouagadougou relatively early so headed into town in search of cheap passport photos for our upcoming visas. Along the way we found some delicious juices. First I had an orange frozen drink, then bissap (hibiscus), and then cashew juice!
We happened across a pizza restaurant I’d read about in our guidebook and I treated myself to a belated birthday pizza. In the evening we enjoyed a few beers in the shack next to our hotel de la liberte.
Near the hotel is a small market place with many women selling fruit and vegetables. In the centre a few benches create a little restaurant. Here I tried some strange food, basically some white stuff and some green stuff. Plus some locally brewed beer which comes with or without alcohol.
Wednesday afternoon I walked round town with Jussi taking photos of shops with friends names, old trucks and interesting architecture.
On Thursday 24th the Vikings hired scooters and a taxi and went off to a village which lives alongside some crocodiles. There’s something I find really creepy about crocodiles so I decided to stay behind and go visit Nimba Art shop to spend some birthday money instead. I got an opal necklace and a fold away orange shopper bag with blue birds (you can see it bottom left in the photo above). Thanks mum and dad 🙂
I enjoy scooters but our Vikings are a crazy bunch. They successfully went to the croc village and back but then as they had a few more hours they ventured out again. Ten minutes later they were back and Gudbjorg had massive scrapes and bruises. She’d run into a fruit stand and had to pay a fine of 50,000 francs (£59, €76) between the bike guy and the fruit stand seller.
In the evening there was a movie viewing of “Road to Ouaga” a story of two men trying to make their millions and the downfalls they face. I enjoyed it very much.
Friday was spent enjoying gin and tonics with Frazer again. We were waiting for our Ghanaian visas, and since Frazer was politely asked to leave Ghana five years ago when his political party lost an election, he was quite worried about whether we would get them. Hence his level of gin intake and his departure to bed at 4pm.
The rest of us went over to another Institut Français for Ouagadougou’s rock festival. It was pretty decent, slow to start but the line up got better as the night went on. The last band to play ‘Joke’ was a real highlight. Everyone was up dancing, jumping around and waving there hands in the air. I wish I’d gotten their CD it was so good.
Saturday Jussi treated me to another pizza at the same restaurant due to him loosing the bet we had. And then the boys went off to watch a football game and I watched a movie Maze Runner.
Sunday I had the fabulous idea to swap our communal dinner for lunch instead. Then we could all mosey over to the Ouagadougou’s reggae festival in the afternoon as it is a bit of a trek out of town and started at 8pm. And it was the best meal we’ve had yet – chips and peanut sauce sleeping camel style! Frazer treated us all to gin and tonics again and was in bed by 3pm.
So we set out and did a pub crawl on the way. We only found two places to stop at that was inviting. The first was next to the pizza place, a large garden with art and crafts, the second a road side locals bar.
Three things happened that night. The first while walking along I stepped over a sewer about a foot wide thinking “that would be easy to fall into.” Then I saw a lady sitting by a door and we exchanged “Bon nuit (good night).” Then I fell into the matching sewer, on the other side of the gate, hand planting the ground. I quickly got back up, chuckling, as my fellow Vikings asked if I was alright. I only got a scrape on my heel and shin.
The second thing to happen while also walking along was a scooter flying by attempting to grab my bag off my shoulder. Luckily for me I caught a firm grip on it and my Vikings again laughed as all I could think to do was stick two fingers up at them. Then in my girlie voice swear f you.
Now I was beginning to think what the third thing to happen will be but thankfully it was a compliment. Once we’d queued for ages to get into the festival and then went back out to get a beer a cute guy tried to chat me up. I left to go sit with my friends and he brought his phone number over to me. I wasn’t interested but it’s always nice to feel wanted.
The festival itself was much bigger than the rock one the night before which felt aimed at foreigners. Tonight it was more about the locals and the vibe was amazing. Lots of people dancing and singing along. We found out after that the last singer was an original member of Bob Marley’s wailers. How cool is that?!
On our way home we took a taxi and after a while of not being lucky one hunk of a car pulled up already with one lady inside. He asked us where we were going and we negotiated a price. We were a bit confused, however, as he was adamant that all seven of us would fit inside the five seater.
Eventually I threw my hands up, said “OK” and off we went. Six in the back, three in the front. Every bump and turn the car made awful grinding noises and we were most pleased when we got to our street. We enjoyed the short stroll back up to the hotel all in one piece. Sometimes you just gotta let go and see what happens!
betsybluetoes 