I was invited round to have lunch with my airport pickup mechanic & his family, to meet his wife, baby + kids. They live in a compound of several families, they all have two rooms each with the cooking done outside by the women. He and his wife spoilt me cooking fufu + talapia which was Dani's favourite meal here!!! I had their little baby in my arms for hours, she was 3 weeks but tiny; too thin and desperately needed multi-vitamins. Later he took me in a clients car down to the beach and we sat and sorted the world out!!! I was glad that a friend had given me a few brand new shirts which I passed onto my new friend & some clothes I gave to his wife for the children!
Whatever the Ivorians have, they share. I've been to Africa since I was 10 years old; I've been to several countries all over the continent, but no where is as hospitable and friendly as Cote d'Ivoire. How the country got into the crisis it did since 1999 I will never fathom out; wonderful people who graciously share.
Spent just over a week at the same hotel as last year in Bassam; it was terrible this year, they have lost the toilet seats, mould growing around the taps, filthy shower tiles, mattress was so thin I had a sore back most mornings. The restaurant was almost non-existent, just a clutter of tables & chairs and to top it off the staff were telling me that the Malinke owner seems to use it as his own exclusive brothel, which was quite funny in retrospect as he had been ringing me for months asking me to come back!!!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Where's Dani???
Didn't sleep much the first night then at about 5.30 there was a torrential downpour, Grand Bassam was looking very wet + bedraggled but the sun came up and I had my morning coffee at a place that I swear makes better coffee than Starbucks; hygiene isnt quite to the same standards its a shack on the corner of the street just down the road from the internet cafe.
Saturday having sent the first of the mass e-mails; my phone didnt stop ringing ... I left the internet cafe + headed up the road to catch up with my airport pickup who said to me - I remember you were here last year but with your daughter - I explained about my goddaughter http://dani-travels.blogspot.com and he wondered what she'd done wrong to be left behind this time!
I then met up with some new friends who I'd been communicating with for a while. We went off to see their farm, very impressive, they have had to start from scratch having previously lived in Guinea until the strikes kicked off in January. They used to live outside a large town in Guinea + her husband was sure he saw me there just before the riots started when I managed to get out in time - whilst they lost everything and moved home to Cote d'Ivoire.
After a good lunch where I decided chicken was decidedly more appealing than agouti (you could say its a large rat but in fact its not - nevertheless Ive still not got round to eating it!!!) I headed back for a siesta to be woken up an hour later by a great friend who I now refer to as mon p'tit frere. Overjoyed to see him; hes been through a lot this year since losing his father last year + now has to manage the whole family including his fathers last wife; we went out for a few drinks with friend of his who said - wheres your daughter??? He had driven us down to Assinie from Samo a few times last year and remembered her; had to give him a bit of a geography lesson in the sand to explain Australia + NZ! Whilst we were drinking some guy came up and shook my hand saying hello - the other two were waiting for an introduction but I didnt think I knew this guy; who turned out to be one of the guys from EMSF; yet again I got 'wheres your daughter??"
The following day was lovely; went into the centre of town to have my 'starbucks' and then headed over to the centre. The kids were thrilled to see me and the 22kg of goodies I brought for them, the gate was opened and the kids almost pushed me back through it screaming Tatie ... they all sat down, said a prayer for me then we had a Question + Answer session - the first being "wheres your daughter?" they all remembered her and were thrilled when I told them that there were a lot of her old clothes in the bag for them!
That night in search of a friend who worked at a Maquis last year. I got there and found she'd moved on but of course the lady who is still there said 'Wheres your daughter?' so I sat + had a drink telling them about Dani + then waited for my friend's husband who had called to say he was going to join me as his wife works in Abidjan during the week. Together we went off in his car in search of my friend; whos got a job at a good restaurant here; she was delighted to see me but of course asked the obvious - where's Dani???
Saturday having sent the first of the mass e-mails; my phone didnt stop ringing ... I left the internet cafe + headed up the road to catch up with my airport pickup who said to me - I remember you were here last year but with your daughter - I explained about my goddaughter http://dani-travels.blogspot.com and he wondered what she'd done wrong to be left behind this time!
I then met up with some new friends who I'd been communicating with for a while. We went off to see their farm, very impressive, they have had to start from scratch having previously lived in Guinea until the strikes kicked off in January. They used to live outside a large town in Guinea + her husband was sure he saw me there just before the riots started when I managed to get out in time - whilst they lost everything and moved home to Cote d'Ivoire.
After a good lunch where I decided chicken was decidedly more appealing than agouti (you could say its a large rat but in fact its not - nevertheless Ive still not got round to eating it!!!) I headed back for a siesta to be woken up an hour later by a great friend who I now refer to as mon p'tit frere. Overjoyed to see him; hes been through a lot this year since losing his father last year + now has to manage the whole family including his fathers last wife; we went out for a few drinks with friend of his who said - wheres your daughter??? He had driven us down to Assinie from Samo a few times last year and remembered her; had to give him a bit of a geography lesson in the sand to explain Australia + NZ! Whilst we were drinking some guy came up and shook my hand saying hello - the other two were waiting for an introduction but I didnt think I knew this guy; who turned out to be one of the guys from EMSF; yet again I got 'wheres your daughter??"
The following day was lovely; went into the centre of town to have my 'starbucks' and then headed over to the centre. The kids were thrilled to see me and the 22kg of goodies I brought for them, the gate was opened and the kids almost pushed me back through it screaming Tatie ... they all sat down, said a prayer for me then we had a Question + Answer session - the first being "wheres your daughter?" they all remembered her and were thrilled when I told them that there were a lot of her old clothes in the bag for them!
That night in search of a friend who worked at a Maquis last year. I got there and found she'd moved on but of course the lady who is still there said 'Wheres your daughter?' so I sat + had a drink telling them about Dani + then waited for my friend's husband who had called to say he was going to join me as his wife works in Abidjan during the week. Together we went off in his car in search of my friend; whos got a job at a good restaurant here; she was delighted to see me but of course asked the obvious - where's Dani???
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Back to travelling ...
A mad flight over, 3 of us hooked up from Toulouse, the Ivoirienne married to a Frenchman and a Burkinabe born in CI whos a musician in Toulouse.
The Ivorienne + I managed to get out to the free Royal Air Maroc hotel, the Burkinabe couldnt come with us; one rule for one African and another rule for others and its always the Burkinabes that get shafted, no matter how much I begged for him.
We later joined the others later on back at the airport as we were joined by a group of 3 off to Ouagadougou who caused a lot of noise in the cafe area in Casablanca and had had a fair few beers! Two French guys who had never flown before and were shocked how modern Casa airport was; took them 2hrs to get out of immigration and 3hrs to get back in - a story that caused a lot of hilarity!
Anyway; arriving in Abidjan only just over an hour late, I was 2nd to get off the plane but my pickup missed me in the immigration hall. I had an argument with Mr Immigration who wasnt happy about me doing my landing card on his desk; reminded him that CI needs a few happy immigration guys and a 'bienvenue' wouldnt go amiss. Just about to clear customs and a soldier comes running up to me with a piece of paper with my name misspelt!
"Is this you????"
"Why?"
My pickup, a mechanic; had managed to get airside for me but as he missed me he was getting a little worried he'd lose me altogether! I was ushered out by 5 soldiers pushing my trolley through a hole in the wall at the side of the airport (turned out he'd managed to get me into the Presidential parking area!) ... alarm bells were ringing and I asked the poor guy 6million questions about who he is etc ... told me the soldiers were his friends -
We drove up to the barrage and he left me in the car for about 45mins while he negotiated with the military to get us through at 3.45am, I sat in the car trying to be inconspicuous listening to the waves on the shore just the other side of this shanty area known as La Corridor and we parted with 5,000CFA to get us through! So all was well; no coup d'etat happening we talked at length about it driving back ... all seemed quiet! At 4.30am he drove me around town for half hour or so + bought me 5 baguettes, quite WHY I needed so much bread Im not sure! However that's typical Ivorian hospitality for you ..
The Ivorienne + I managed to get out to the free Royal Air Maroc hotel, the Burkinabe couldnt come with us; one rule for one African and another rule for others and its always the Burkinabes that get shafted, no matter how much I begged for him.
We later joined the others later on back at the airport as we were joined by a group of 3 off to Ouagadougou who caused a lot of noise in the cafe area in Casablanca and had had a fair few beers! Two French guys who had never flown before and were shocked how modern Casa airport was; took them 2hrs to get out of immigration and 3hrs to get back in - a story that caused a lot of hilarity!
Anyway; arriving in Abidjan only just over an hour late, I was 2nd to get off the plane but my pickup missed me in the immigration hall. I had an argument with Mr Immigration who wasnt happy about me doing my landing card on his desk; reminded him that CI needs a few happy immigration guys and a 'bienvenue' wouldnt go amiss. Just about to clear customs and a soldier comes running up to me with a piece of paper with my name misspelt!
"Is this you????"
"Why?"
My pickup, a mechanic; had managed to get airside for me but as he missed me he was getting a little worried he'd lose me altogether! I was ushered out by 5 soldiers pushing my trolley through a hole in the wall at the side of the airport (turned out he'd managed to get me into the Presidential parking area!) ... alarm bells were ringing and I asked the poor guy 6million questions about who he is etc ... told me the soldiers were his friends -
We drove up to the barrage and he left me in the car for about 45mins while he negotiated with the military to get us through at 3.45am, I sat in the car trying to be inconspicuous listening to the waves on the shore just the other side of this shanty area known as La Corridor and we parted with 5,000CFA to get us through! So all was well; no coup d'etat happening we talked at length about it driving back ... all seemed quiet! At 4.30am he drove me around town for half hour or so + bought me 5 baguettes, quite WHY I needed so much bread Im not sure! However that's typical Ivorian hospitality for you ..
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Out goes Guinea's Conte ...
I have to be honest and say that I was very happy to hear of Conte's demise; watching France 24 in Bassam I was literally turning cartwheels ... then suddenly stopped!
Hearing about a possible coup d'etat happening, the confusion amongst the Guineans I was concerned that things could quickly get out of hand. Confusion reigned, the anchor on France 24 was talking to a variety of people, each giving their own conflicting story to the previous person! It was a worrying time not knowing what was going on in Guinea ...
All ended well, there had been a coup d'etat by Captain Moussa Camara ... I hope he will lead the country as it deserves to be lead. Having met him two years previously whilst in Guinea at Sobane when he drove myself & Gianni to Douprou on his way to a funeral. http://deeper-in2-west-africa.blogspot.com/2007/01/millionaires-at-last.html He seemed like someone who had morals & values. I'd often wondered about his role in the strikes that followed a few weeks after meeting him.
Fingers crossed that Guinea will re-enter the stage in W.Africa, there are enough resources there to drive the economy forward; as long as the politicians or international conglomerates don't plunder them!
Hearing about a possible coup d'etat happening, the confusion amongst the Guineans I was concerned that things could quickly get out of hand. Confusion reigned, the anchor on France 24 was talking to a variety of people, each giving their own conflicting story to the previous person! It was a worrying time not knowing what was going on in Guinea ...
All ended well, there had been a coup d'etat by Captain Moussa Camara ... I hope he will lead the country as it deserves to be lead. Having met him two years previously whilst in Guinea at Sobane when he drove myself & Gianni to Douprou on his way to a funeral. http://deeper-in2-west-africa.blogspot.com/2007/01/millionaires-at-last.html He seemed like someone who had morals & values. I'd often wondered about his role in the strikes that followed a few weeks after meeting him.
Fingers crossed that Guinea will re-enter the stage in W.Africa, there are enough resources there to drive the economy forward; as long as the politicians or international conglomerates don't plunder them!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Cyber cafe life
Here I am; been in Cote d'Ivoire for a few days now and thrilled to be back!
I am here for work + play; so spending a fair amount of time in a internet cafe checking e-mails etc.
On the flight over I met Amy, an Ivorienne who left 10 years ago for the US but is now happily married in France. She told me about her sister who is still in the USA and due to be married here in January. Her sister has met a guy through the internet who lives here in CI, they've never met and apparently the sister has sent her 'fiancee' quite a bit of money over a year or so.
Amy had arranged a meeting on behalf of her mother the day we landed; I'm still waiting to hear from her to see how things went. We were both of the opinion this fiancee was probably just out to grab what money he could and a US green card!
So, spending my time in internet cafes has been quite an eye opener. The amount of PC's being used by 2 people, being quite nosey I realised that the girls were in front of the webcams whilst the guy beside them sent a message back to the guy probably somewhere in Europe telling them how much she loved them! Later this will all get far more serious with requests for money to get a passport and visa; flight ticket etc etc - the girl of course will never be seen again!
There are almost 2,000 messages in two threads alone about this on www.routard.com this one in particular has almost reached 1,000posts alone! http://www.routard.com/forum_message/207462/mariage_et_arnaque.htm
I am here for work + play; so spending a fair amount of time in a internet cafe checking e-mails etc.
On the flight over I met Amy, an Ivorienne who left 10 years ago for the US but is now happily married in France. She told me about her sister who is still in the USA and due to be married here in January. Her sister has met a guy through the internet who lives here in CI, they've never met and apparently the sister has sent her 'fiancee' quite a bit of money over a year or so.
Amy had arranged a meeting on behalf of her mother the day we landed; I'm still waiting to hear from her to see how things went. We were both of the opinion this fiancee was probably just out to grab what money he could and a US green card!
So, spending my time in internet cafes has been quite an eye opener. The amount of PC's being used by 2 people, being quite nosey I realised that the girls were in front of the webcams whilst the guy beside them sent a message back to the guy probably somewhere in Europe telling them how much she loved them! Later this will all get far more serious with requests for money to get a passport and visa; flight ticket etc etc - the girl of course will never be seen again!
There are almost 2,000 messages in two threads alone about this on www.routard.com this one in particular has almost reached 1,000posts alone! http://www.routard.com/forum_message/207462/mariage_et_arnaque.htm
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
What is the world coming to???
Beginning to wonder what is going on? Is it in the air?
Not sure now which was first, the attempted coup in Guinea Bissau at Nino's home or the terrorist attacks in Mumbai? Luckily the Bissau one left far less dead than Mumbai's attacks. Then there's Congo, is that going to calm down or not?
Getting reports from a friend in Nigeria; Benin City that she's hearing gunshots and the power has been down for a few days. Towards the north of the country around Jos & Kaduna things aren't good; people being killed there. I've just heard about a possible coup plot in Cote d'Ivoire; great news a week prior to departure! Demonstrations in Thailand ... the list goes on!
When will it all end? Do we really need endless battles?
Life's too short!
Not sure now which was first, the attempted coup in Guinea Bissau at Nino's home or the terrorist attacks in Mumbai? Luckily the Bissau one left far less dead than Mumbai's attacks. Then there's Congo, is that going to calm down or not?
Getting reports from a friend in Nigeria; Benin City that she's hearing gunshots and the power has been down for a few days. Towards the north of the country around Jos & Kaduna things aren't good; people being killed there. I've just heard about a possible coup plot in Cote d'Ivoire; great news a week prior to departure! Demonstrations in Thailand ... the list goes on!
When will it all end? Do we really need endless battles?
Life's too short!
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