Le Monde isn't a propaganda machine it seems!

Posted 2 years ago almost to the day, but still holds true!

Thrilled today to see an article in the French press.

http://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/04/29/un-vent-de-colere-contre-le-quai-d-orsay-souffle-sur-le-sahel_4910753_3212.html

Yes, it's in French but no doubt google will be your friend to translate it.

It talks about the government's security warnings (this could apply to most Western governments) that they continually shade parts of Africa.  Red means the region is extremely dangerous and off limits which then downgrades to grey, yellow then green.  This isn't to say that there aren't dangerous areas that you really shouldn't be stepping foot in at the moment with AQIM or Boko Haram in situ, but as I've always said you need to keep an ear to the ground locally.  Reading the news, listening to the radio etc isn't going to give you the real lowdown on the local situation, local residents will!

This was put to the test last week by the company 'Control Risks' who 24h after the event, warned their clients that the Bouna region had flared up with a mail entitled "Côte d'Ivoire - Northern border areas: Clashes in Niamoue underline potential for violence, need to avoid non-essential travel".  In actual fact this situation was a small affair that I heard about a few hours after it happened and was in touch with UN contacts who were then alerted to it and see if it was a repeat of the situation in March 2016.  It wasn't, but two Lobi who refused to stop at a checkpoint in Niamoin (not Niamoue) and were shot, unfortunately there was a revenge attack against the gendarmes involved who also lost their lives.  A very local incident that unfortunately sent unnecessary alarm bells ringing elsewhere!

So back to the article; the African nations implicated Mauritania & Mali are mentioned amongst others, a little annoyed that their nations are ablaze with red and yellow on their maps.  Yet Belgium, parts of France remain green and therefore 'safe', as does Turkey.  Where's the logic after all the attacks in Europe and Turkey?

However, it's also widely known that if you do travel to these red zones, many travel insurance policies are invalid should you need assistance.  It really doesn't help tourism, nor peoples feelings and fears about this wonderful region of Africa.  This has been a pet hate of mine for some time now, it's unnecessary to throw a blanket over a whole country, yes, there are problems that come up from time to time as they do in Europe. Like many of my friends, I feel safer in the West Africa region than I do in many big cities in Europe!

Lobi country

It was a scenic drive on rough roads to Loropeni for 45minutes or so, it was Saturday and therefore market day.  I got out at the station and asked about transport to Banfora.  Ahmed was at the station, he wasn't at all pushy and seemed to genuinely want to help; surprisingly for me, I let him take me under his wing and we walked about 200m to where an old Mercedes minibus was parked.  He organised a front seat for me and we went to find some shea butter in town as I'd forgotten to pick some up in Bouna.

Loropeni on market day

He took me to his house, his mother with some other women have created a little cooperative and had shea butter in abundance.  I paid for a kilo, a little more than in Bouna but I was thrilled to find these women taking the initiative to create their own enterprise.

Shea butter

Finally on the road again, I said goodbye to Ahmed who had been incredibly helpful for the hour or so I was in town and I was looking forward to getting back to Banfora.  I had been told it would be a 4h journey, as usual I was stupidly hopeful it would take that long or less, it in fact took us 6 hours on horrendous roads at times.  My front seat was incredibly uncomfortable, the back of it didn't work so I had to sit bolt upright for the trip!

Transport to Banfora

After 5 hours we reached Tiefora, I hadn't eaten all day, bought a baked plantain, some severely roasted sweetcorn which was inedible and we set off again at sunset for Banfora.  It had taken an hour to get what seemed to be someone's house contents off the roof.  

Tiefora at sunset

Finally around 7pm we rolled into Banfora, it was good to be back, a town I have always enjoyed!

Finally heading for Burkina Faso

So we headed out of Bouna, the taxi was full, 4 of us with the driver.  The road was good, it didn't have tarmac but was well graded for the first 50km or so.

The rest of the journey wasn't too bad at all, the road wound through villages and the red earth new with the morning dew sped up at us.  A few large puddles we continued on, until I heard a noise; looking into my front passenger wing mirror I realised the rear bumper had detatched!

We helped fix the bumper back on and set off again for Doropo.  Passing more villages.

Finally arriving in Doropo, I met a Burkinabe who told me that after Friday prayers in a few minutes, he'd be ready to take me to the border in a gleaming silver BMW.  I told him I'd be waiting after he exited the mosque and that in the meantime I'd wait in a nearby maquis.  However, for the second time on this trip my bags were firmly locked inside the vehicle, a crowbar was set to action!

I waited and waited, ate lunch, removed my bags from his BMW, waited and then did some more waiting but it became clear he wasn't wanting to leave soon.  I headed to the end of the road having been the centre of attention for all in Doropo who hadn't seen 'une blanche' for years it seemed and joined a Mauritanian family nursing a splitting headache!  After a while the Mauritanians became annoyed that nothing had moved despite my protestations to the Burkinabe who had promised to get going after Friday noon prayers at the mosque, they went to see what the problem was on my behalf.

Centre of attention in Doropo

It was clear he wasn't going to leave soon,  The family found a moto-tricycle to get me to the other end of town with my luggage, I sat in the back.  This has to be one of my worst experiences, being driven through the centre of town, the market where all & sundry had a good laugh at 'la blanche' seated in the back of the moto-trike going through town.  If my headache hadn't been so bad I would have been more alert but at that moment I just wanted to find a bed and sleep.  We finally arrived at the only hotel in town.  At 6pm I was awoken by the BMW's side-kick, he had been told to find me, he'd been given my hotel room number by the watchman and I was fast asleep.  When I opened the door and he told me that we were now leaving for the border (that closed in 30m) I wasn't amused but neither was he as he had lost a paid seat in his vehicle!  I went back to bed for another forty winks!

Return to my Koulango family

Sheep waiting with us at the northern Bondoukou police barrier

After a long six hours in the massa, trouble with the police for some of my fellow passengers south of Bondoukou followed by further problems with the anti-drug gendarmes at the northern Bondoukou police barrier, we rolled into Bouna.  It's a lovely drive, Tanda is a pretty town, stunning valley after Bondoukou then driving alongside the National Comoe Park sometimes spotting monkeys on the road.



Thrilled to see the hills of the Boukani region as we sped ever northwards after Bondoukou, I was looking forward to seeing my friend's family in Bouna.  Previously met the extended family in early April 2016 towards the end of the fatal conflict that occurred between the Peulh (Fulani) and Lobi people; where an estimated 70+ people lost their lives (official figures put it at just over 30 but it was indeed far more!).

Photo taken whilst in Bouna in early April 2016 after the conflict

Arriving at the bus station, the town had a different atmosphere to my last visit.  People were going about their business, the refugees had dispersed and returned home after almost three months in camps and there was a positive, calm air.  Greeted by my Koulango friend's younger brother as my friend was in Abidjan having had lunch together the day before in Abengourou.  We walked back to the house, part of a 'cour' behind closed gates, the extended members of the family all live in separate dwellings around a rectangular courtyard.

One of the three refugee camps in April 2016 in Bouna, housing 3,200 refugees in town

A wonderful welcome as I came through the gates, the different members of the family came out to meet me and then scurried around to get his house ready for me.  No one was aware that I was arriving!  Totally spoilt, I walked into the sitting room, air-conditioned with a television showing the 2016 Olympics from Rio.  I felt as if I was in total luxury, we don't have much at the centre for CREER not even tiled floors!  After a much-needed shower to rid myself of the dust, I headed five minutes away to an excellent restaurant where I'd eaten in April to be greeted by the staff there.

An early start, I needed to have my meetings finished by 9am to have any chance of getting transport to Doropo and onto Burkina Faso.  Firstly with the head of social services, he was thrilled to see me back waiting on his office doorstep since before 8am, unaware I'd come back to town and we had an interesting meeting, he was keen to listen to our ideas to assist trafficked children that found themselves in the Boukani region.  As Ghana and Burkina Faso are both under 100km away, it's an area that can find traffickers with children crossing the border.  Next was the police, again it all went well but unfortunately the officer I'd met in April who agreed to be CREER's representative for the region was on holiday in Abidjan.

As I left the police station, my friend's brother was outside on a motorbike talking to a friend of his, I hopped on the back of the friend's bike who drove me back to the house whilst a seat in a taxi was being organised for Doropo.  Quickly packed up my things much to the sadness of the family particularly the children, the youngest of which told me he was coming with me!  The taxi arrived within minutes, I said my goodbyes and left ... to be driven around town looking for other passengers for the 2,000CFA 1.5 hour journey north to Doropo, the nearest town to the border.

My taxi north to Doropo

De-railed journey north

After a month back in Abengourou dealing with matters for C.R.E.E.R the thought of the return journey to catch my flight from Ouagadougou was one that I'd been looking forward to for years.

There's a train that plies the Abidjan - Ouagadougou route and several times I came close to boarding the train to go between the two.  This time gave me a perfect opportunity to travel north on the train, the weather in August isn't too hot so the thought of a 30,000CFA first class seat with a possible destination of Banfora in Burkina Faso for a few day's R&R filled me with joy!

Ten days before I was due to leave I started asking about the departure days.  Luckily our Prosecutor's bodyguard's neighbour in Abidjan works for SITA Rail, so a call was duly made and I decided on when to leave.  I then had to find a friend in Abidjan to go and buy a ticket for me, a taxi driver who has become a good friend over the years & had saved me in Bassam during the 2010/2011 crisis was ideal and I gave him a call.  This is where it all started to go wrong.

I discovered another friend, a Burkinabe, had gone to the station with my taxi driver friend to find the train was full until 25th August, a week after my flight from Ouaga departed.  My plans were de-railed quite literally (and in early September a freight train went over the bridge near Dimbokro which collapsed whilst it was still on the steel framed structure!)



Plan B was put into action.  To return to Bouna in the north eastern part of Cote d'Ivoire and cross the border a little further north.  Bouna is a 400km journey from Abengourou, I tried to find a lift with friends north but that didn't happen.  A friend from Bouna called the 'massa' (minibus) station in Abidjan and arranged that the driver should stop and pick me up in Abengourou on his way north. A stop Bouna was ideal as I needed to talk to various people in town about trafficking and our transit centre.

I had already visited Bouna earlier in the year in April during the conflict between the Lobi and Peulh with some 3,200 refugees being looked after by the UN in various camps around town.  They were also in the King of Bouna, Djarakoroni II's compound who I was formally introduced to, enabling permission to enter.  A good friend is a senior figure in town and asked me to visit during the crisis in case there were trafficked children as refugees which there weren't but we assisted the UN organisation OCHA with a meeting of all the main townspeople.

Finally the day dawned and I went by taxi across town to the bus station area and waited in a kiosque where we were aware that some Beninois children were working and presumed trafficked. Waiting for the massa to arrive, initially it was due at 9am, it didn't arrive until after 11am, finally on board with 20+ others, I was in a front seat and we headed north.