The Capital Goal

Another good night's sleep in a bed for a change, excited to be setting off with the hope that I'd reach my goal of arriving in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'Ivoire's capital city to spend that evening, New Years Eve, with my friends.  I was concerned that the road would be problematic all the way south as I'd heard that it hadn't been upgraded since my last time on this stretch in 2009.  I had 387km to complete today, venturing out of Ouangolodougou the south side of town was a mess with trucks all over.  I soon discovered why, the road to Ferkessedougou was being re-done and had just been completely resurfaced.  Lovely smooth road for 45km to Ferke where I stopped to withdraw some cash and have some breakfast whilst receiving a call from a Moroccan friend Hamza who works in Abengourou and wanted an update on my progress!

Things never change, I'm always too optimistic whilst travelling around Africa in regards to the time it takes to get from one place to the next or the state of the road.  Of course, I left Ferke at 930am with the dream that this smooth road would continue southbound, of course it didn't!  It was a crazy, tiring, zigzag drive all the way to Katiola, 186km of pothole slalom with police and gendarmes stopping me every 15km or so, asking for a chicken to eat, my hand in marriage or just plain paperwork!

Bus from Niamey, Niger - a long tiring drive!

Poor old sheep, sun, exhaust fumes and staying upright with the bumps

Finally I pulled into the southern edge of Katiola, it was about 1pm and I decided I deserved some lunch.  I found a small shaded maquis and parked Franki under a tree.  A young guy was serving a few bits and pieces on the side of the road, ordering some spaghetti with liver I sat in the shade under a mango tree with a drink.

Setting off again, I reached Bouake with a few less potholes, this is where the north/south divide used to be prior to the 2010/2011 crisis.  Initially I came to Bouake in 2008 when the Forces Nouvelles (now the united FRCI) were in charge, getting through 'la corridor' to enter the north on the southern edge of Bouake was always interesting as being white they usually assumed I was French.  Luckily, having an Irish passport made things somewhat easier!  Bouake had grown since my last visit, I was surprised by the change in town and development that had gone on, I drove through fairly quickly, almost able to smell my Yamoussoukro goal now!

Bouake

The road from Bouake was in a similar condition to the Katiola - Bouake road, in relatively good condition until finding a sizeable pothole that could cause serious damage.  I certainly decided I preferred the roads that really slowed you down with gaping potholes.  Driving along this one was hair-raising as it gave drivers confidence to speed along, and then dodge the potholes.  It wasn't much fun at all.  I pulled up in Tiebissou, a small town I've stopped in before, it's the centre of Baoule cloth weaving where there are many stands with cloth for sale.  The cotton is hand loomed on extremely long looms found throughout the village and surrounding area.  It comes in strips, like Kente cloth in Ghana but then sewn together to make one large piece about a metre wide and 1m70 long.  After a bit of negotiation I bought some more and set off south again.

Ridiculous place to take a photo whilst driving!  Should be ashamed of myself!!!

41 kilometres later I finally entered Yamoussoukro, so happy to be back, I was in very slow moving traffic due to the police stopping vehicles ahead of me.  I got my phone out and took a photo of the 'Orange' telecom sign welcoming me to Yakro!  A bit of a stupid move, doing this in full view of the police who of course watched me take it.  I was STOPPED!  

Police:  "Madame, where have you come from?"

Me:  giggling "ummmm" more giggling ... "today or originally"

Police:  Scratching his head trying to work out what drugs this 'blanche' had been taking

Me: "From The Netherlands"

Police: "Alone?  You can't take photos whilst driving in Cote d'Ivoire"

Me:  Still giggling, "sorry but I'm so happy to be here in time for New Years Eve with friends"

Police:  "I should fine you, just go, but Happy New Year Madame"

My welcome into Yakro, I was so elated!!!

I pulled up a few hundred metres later and called PC to ask where he lived.  I was told to wait exactly where I was and he came to find me in his car.  He was in front of Franki less than 2minutes later, massive smiles, screams of joy to see him again, I followed him back to the house.  I caught up with his three children, the smallest of which I hadn't met before, she's a real little character.  His son who was born just after the 2010/2011 crisis, I welcomed in the early hours of the morning when we were part of a group on Twitter and then his older daughter.  Both his son and older daughter I'd met before, but his son was about 3 years old last time and petrified of me, he hadn't met a 'blanche' before and we had all had a good giggle in their old apartment in Abidjan in 2013!

New Ivorian beer, made from rice, brewed by Heineken

PC - to who I owe a lot over the years, a true friend!

After a decent shower, some clean clothes and my sandals a little cleaner, PC took me out to a maquis nearby.  He bought me an Ivoire, a new beer on the market that seems to be doing remarkably well.  We sat and talked for ages whilst Irene, his wife, was on her way back from shopping.  I was so happy to be back with them all.  Returning to the house, they got ready to go to church, I was left in charge of the house, with the keys.  I curled up on their sofa watching TV, the air conditioning on feeling thoroughly spoilt and promising to be awake when they got back ... I fell asleep.  They returned from church and spent quite some time trying to wake me up, finally PC managed to wake me with a phone call, I was a very embarassed house guest!!!

By 1am we were out again, at PC's maquis Restaurant Alie-Fe near the centre of town with his business partner and other friends.  A long night with too many bottles on the table by 4am, I had a very sound sleep for the rest of the night!

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

Hiatus for a reason

There's been a hiatus from the blog, but certainly not from travelling.  Since that last post, I've probably made 15-20 trips to West Africa and a few to the east of the continent including a short trip to Burundi to see friends on the spur of the moment whilst in Uganda for aviation work.


Lately the focus has been very much on C.R.E.E.R (www.creer-africa.org) that was set up in 2010 and finally operational in 2014 in Cote d'Ivoire as a safe house for child trafficking victims.


Leaving again in a few days for West Africa looking forward to seeing my 'little brother' who just got married.  I've mentored him over a few years whilst he built up Nima Tours (www.ghana-nima-tours.yolasite.com) in Accra, Ghana.  Charles will be joining me on the overland trip to Abidjan and then up to Abengourou for Christmas along with a US friend.  I'll be posting updates and thoughts whilst over there, hopefully not like buses coming all at once!

Have a great festive season in the meantime!

Yako 5th August in Abidjan & an update

5th August: No gunfire, just a simple accident with bus No19 apparently trying to avoid a collison with a car on the FHB bridge in Abidjan.  Simple isn't the word, it went off the bridge into the Ebrie Lagoon beneath, killing 12 passengers at last count and injuring 9 that were taken to the CHU at Treichville.

Yako a tous; a massive loss of life in a peaceful era in Cote d'Ivoire; not sure if that's the final count.  The fatal 12 deaths are enough.  The bridge judging by the photos released it's a mess and needs reinforcement again.

Trying to be upbeat, www.medicineonthemove.org has some great news about their project along with www.waasps.com having been at OshKosh in the USA a massive aeronautical conference.  'The Calling' the documentary video by Rex Pemberton was screened, judging by the trailer, a sponsor of tissues was probably doing well there!  Here's the trailer by Rex Pemberton  http://medicineonthemove.org/index.php/media/videos/the-calling

Incredible, moving story; if you've not clicked above for almost 4minutes of trailer, you really

don't know what you are missing!  Their young lady, who isn't as abled as the rest of us; 

continues to improve having recently had another operation!  She'll be flying us all soon! 

However a 'product' of www.waaspscom  gave an impressive interview about women in 

aviation and Ghana:

http://www.aopa.org/aopalive/?watch=NlMmZwMjp62dn23PfhuLyLy9ckwog1Ix 

http://wafric.org is building up to their 3rd Annual Conference, hard work but very determined 

to get more young ladies interested in aviation!  Hoping to have a massive turnout in Accra 

in late September! 

Nearing normality ...?

Unfortunately there still seems to be a lot of chaos in Cote d'Ivoire.

Children returned to school yesterday, many still confused, lost & upset by the situation. Banks are due to open today; which might give many adults the impetus to re-start their lives. Fuel is slowly being distributed around Abidjan; hopefully deliveries will go further afield soon.

However, 'IB' the head of the 'Invisible Commandos' was killed in the Abobo district of Abidjan today. 'IB' - Ibrahim Coulibaly was the head of the small guerilla group that assisted Ouattara's forces to oust Gbagbo's patriots. However it seems that IB was on his own mission, continuing to fight with his militia. He was given the chance to turn in weapons to Ouattara's government or have them taken by force; along with 6 of his men and 2 FRCI soldiers, he was killed in battle yesterday.

A fellow Tweeter @senambeheton explains IB's political background & recent politics: http://senambeheton.posterous.com/in-new-ivory-coast-old-rivalries-threaten-ret

However, seeing AlJazeera shots of disturbed schoolchildren yesterday in a relatively 'quiet' area of Abidjan. I can't imagine what the children of Abobo are thinking. The trauma that they have gone through during this conflict is beyond anyone's imagination having been living through this nightmare in one of the hardest hit districts.

Yet, somewhere out there are the children that have really suffered; the children that have been living on the streets. What must have they seen? witnessed? succumbed to? How many were coerced into carrying weapons?

Time will tell if this latest drama of the crisis is finally the end of a long five months ...

Melting Pot

I've mentioned before I condemn any violence.  I have friends in Cote d'Ivoire who are strong Gbagbo supporters, others who are behind Ouattara and many who were with Bedie but have gone towards Ouattara.  Never mind their political allegiances, many of them are in danger, without money & unable to escape the violence in Abidjan ... Their blood is cheap, not even the media wants to expose the situation to assist.

So I find it difficult when I'm chatting online or by phone to Cote d'Ivoire trying to assist them, when the question of politics comes up.  I had one such encounter this afternoon.  A friend was telling me that the press reviews were depressing & I agreed.  'So much of it is anti-Gbagbo and people don't know the real truth when it's Ouattara's mercenaries doing the killing' - I thought for a moment and was surprised by this comment from someone who usually sticks in the middle & wants peace for Cote d'Ivoire.


I shot back; 'well never mind the press, the videos must be true surely?'  It all went very quiet ...

My friend knew that I was referring to the horrific video with a Pro-Gbagbo military vehicle in it, where people were being thrown onto a bonfire, still alive.  I've heard of many accounts of pro-Gbagbo attacks, I am also aware that Ouattara's 'Forces Nouvelles' - renamed this week as the 'Republican Army' aren't choirboys either.  But it has to be said that the photographic & video evidence shows much more pro-Gbagbo violence.  I was shocked to hear a Gbagbo aide talk on AlJazeera about a week ago in a debate saying that the 7 women killed & video of it was a fake.  He has the full video which apparently shows these women getting up afterwards & walking away.  Well if that's true why isn't it all over the internet or on YouTube???

Show the world the truth on both sides ... but stop the violence!

This conflict is creating many problems between people, friends & even family.  Those who are 'with' one of the Presidents and those who aren't but supporting the other one.  I'm loyal to my friends & treat them all with the same respect no matter their creed, colour, religion or political views but fear that I will lose friends who cannot see both sides of the situation.  Rumours are abound, another friend told me that Ouattara had made a bad choice of bringing in 2,000 Burkinabe UN troops.  I asked around about this and it seems to be completely unfounded ...

It's gone past the 'election debate' which votes should be counted, which were fraudulent; dependant on the camp you belong to.  The problem is now the violence, escaping Abidjan and towns in the west and sheer survival.  The 'Ivoriete' problem seems to have returned with a vengence; but look at any country in the world, we're all a cosmopolitan melting pot!

Ta voiture est allemande.
Ta vodka est russe.
Ta pizza est italienne.
Ton kebab est turc.
Ta démocratie est grecque.

Ton cacao est Ivoirien. 

......Ton café est brésilien.
Tes films sont américains.
Ton thé est tamoul.
Ta chemise est indienne.
Ton essence vient Libye.
Tes appareils électroniques sont Chinois.
Tes chiffres arabes, tes lettres latines...
Et tu te plains que ton prochain est un immigrant?

 Yako mes amis!

On my way out ...

My hosts nephew got a very deep cut to his foot whilst I was at the coast, aged 10, he's pretty robust but it worried me more & more.  I kept cleaning it but it was deep & needed stitching, eventually I persuaded him to talk to his aunt & uncle to get him to the hospital.  One of the barmen from the maquis came off his motorbike, yet again the medical bag came out.  My friend from Abengourou I'd not seen for 2 years turned up having heard I was there, his wife & family were still at home.  However, he introduced me to a gendarme who also approached me to ask what I could do for him & his cut leg.  My host's maquis became a little clinic for cuts & wounds!!!

Eventually I got a meeting with the Mayor and the project was agreed; I was thrilled, made up for the stress of the last few weeks, waiting & waiting.  The following day I had to leave, time was getting tight, I had a lot to do before leaving Cote d'Ivoire.  But we walked about 4km one way to see the land, which was wonderful.  Some guy who runs a small stall was stunned to see me racing in & grabbing as many plastic sachets of water I could get my hands on for the three of us that had walked there.  We were all very thirsty, hot, dusty & tired!!!

I finally left.  It was horrible leaving, the nephew had tears streaming down his face asking why I had to go .. the girls were the same.  I couldn't say goodbye to my host's wife properly, I was in full flow, crying ... we returned to the maquis to say goodbye to a few others, I selfishly couldn't face saying goodbye to everyone.  A taxi pulled up who'd kept a spare seat for me and asked if I had to go ... Really really difficult time, I didn't want to go, but one of those things, I had to ...

I went as far as Aboisso the first night.  I stayed with my friend from Abengourou who also has a girlfriend in Aboisso ... had a lovely meal together & fell to bed exhausted from the day.  I rose at 5.30am to get the early bus to Abidjan in intrepidation as to whether I was taking on too big a risk.  E was ready to meet me in Abidjan and we had a meeting for C.R.E.E.R in Marcory with a friend of Alpha Blondy's.  Getting off the bus was fine, it all seemed normal, then I started seeing vehicles with guns, a lot more than I'd seen previously; two UN gun-mounted vehicles went haring past me at some lights.  I was glad when I got to the meeting & we were in relative safety inside.  The meeting went well and E & I made our way to Koumassi Remblais, a district of Abidjan that's seen more violence than many this side of the lagoon.  I got to see Marcelline, the reason I'm setting up C.R.E.E.R, she was amazed that I'd made it to see her.  Told me about the 'bad' days when there was fighting outside the gates, tyres & wood being burnt, helicopters circling overhead.  It was wonderful to see she was alright despite all the violence she's witnessed.

We left & headed back to the road out of Abidjan, I was lucky to have E with me, as usual people looked at me strangely being white in CI & on the street, not in a vehicle like the expats.  We both felt some of it was hostile but nothing happened & we managed to get transport quickly out of town again.

I eventually got back to Aboisso after a bit of a scare on the road.  In the middle of a rubber plantation where the road goes through there was a truck on the side of the road.  The driver had seen it, we'd all seen it, just as we approached it at speed we heard a whistle & 5 men in fatigues racing out of the rubber plantation.  It was the military; by the time the driver braked we were 300m down the road.  He got out of the vehicle with his papers in hand, it was the first time I'd seen a whole taxi load of people very, very frightened .. which rubbed off on me a little wondering why they'd almost ambushed us.  The driver came back a bit puzzled as to why they'd stopped us like that, we continued in silence. 

Arriving in Aboissso where my luggage was waiting for me at my friend's maquis, I was offered a quick drink to say goodbye; little did I realise that she'd called my friends who'd driven down to say goodbye again!  I got a minibus finally to Noe & the border to get to Ghana.  Difficult journey, I was torn, didn't want to leave, wanted to help & stay in the country, so much needs doing, so much help ... yet again I had tears in my eyes as I walked through immigration ...

2011 - Year of Peace?

All as normal here, although there have been some changes which are a little worrying.

New Years Eve was a normal day till I got a call late in the afternoon, my second death threat but I wasn’t too worried.  The caller was convinced that I was in my Czech friend Tomas’ house in Abidjan like last year.  I’m still trying to work out who has given my number to someone and doesnt know I’m not in Abidjan.  My close friends in CI know exactly where I am, but quite a few people I know I’ve told I’m in Aboisso, the nearest large town.  I’m fine for the moment, but keeping my ear to the ground, there are informants all over including here, kidnappings & deaths that aren’t yet reported.  Friends here have been great but warned me to continue to keep a low profile.  It makes it difficult, I’m’grounded’ and incredibly bored still waiting for the Mayor to give me the green light for the project.

New Year’s started at the Mayor’s house, a big reception, meal & a bit of dancing then his daughter who has become a good friend gave a ‘post-election’ speech.  His chauffeur drove me down to my host’s nightclub the other side of town.  We all had a good night, I now have a reputation for falling asleep there … I fell asleep at 4am, at 5am I was woken to be taken home. 

To my horror, a friend had gone home in his Toyota estate that I drive around, there was no transport except the back of someone else’s motorbike with my host driving it.  I’m paranoid about accidents now, my insurance is completely invalid due to the state of the country … everyone has left, even the Nigerian’s have gone, the Burkinabe’s are evacuating their Embassy this weekend.  I sat on the back of the bike for the 5km, yelling occasionally to go slowly before I arrived home.  It’s now a big joke that I won’t go near a motorbike!!!

I waited patiently for a meeting with the Mayor, then he left early on Monday for Abidjan as the Education Minister suddenly decided that school started on Monday rather than on Thursday.  I was devastated  it meant staying on, I had so many other things that needed doing.  I got a call from friends on the coast demanding to know when I was going to see them. 

Tuesday morning I got a 7 seater (takes 8 passagers) taxi to Aboisso where Attito (my cerebral palsy ‘brother’) managed to find me having gone to see his parents but had no idea I was heading away. I then got 3 other taxis down to beach.  Friends who have 2 hôtels there gave me a room for free, no clients around, even New Years they finished before midnight.  Everyone is fed up with the lack of economic activity, it’s so sad to see friends really suffering due to the chaos that’s going on with the Presidency.

I promised my hosts that I’d return for Thursday night when the Mayor was expected back.  Leaving the coast was a problem, absolutely no transport around.  I was also waiting for Paul, a Ghanaian fisherman who had promised some fresh ‘bar’ that I could take back with me.  Paul finally turned up at 1pm, I’d seen 2 vehicles since 8am and knew that I probably wouldn’t see anymore.  I walked with my pack and a plastic bag of 5kg of fish that I hoped wouldn’t go off during the trip; it was 3km back up to the canal area to find a taxi, in the heat & dust it was tortuous! 

The taxi from Samo to Aboisso I had to make it very clear that I’m not French, that led to a lady asking me to stop before Aboisso to eat at her house, I had to decline, but normally I would have followed her … she was really keen that I stopped at her village & I don’t believe there was any malice about it.  I made it back to Aboisso & went straight to maquis whose owner has become a good friend.  Chatted to her for a bit with a few drinks before heading back up to base, a bad move, I’d not eaten all day; I was offered another drink here before heading to the house where I crashed out immédiately !!!!!!!

The Mayor is now back, I was promised a meeting at 8am this morning,  yet again he cancelled at the last minute … I think due to stress that I found myself sleepwalking last night trying to get out of my bedroom … convinced that there was a light the other side of the door; it woke my hosts up - finally I came to & managed to open the door.  I’ve never knowingly sleptwalked before and it’s really shocked me.

Amnesty Int’l are in constant touch with me, I’ve had quite a few mails and am awaiting a call, the atrocities that are going on here are terrible.  A friend was talking to me last night about it all and that it’s getting worse not better.  I was offered an armed escort to Abidjan at the weekend by a few friendly gendarmes in a private car. I’m desperate to see Marcelline, the girl that was found on the beach 2yrs ago, a trafficking victim.  She’s in a centre in Koumassi the airport side of Abidjan's lagoon.  The other girls have left & she’s there alone, I can’t make contact with her by phone, I can’t get her out as she dosent have any papers so was looking for a safe way to get there.  I was offered the escort but it didn’t work out in the end as I wasn't keen going to Abidjan in an armed vehicle - gendarmes with kalashikovs.  I’m still keen to get into Abidjan to see her & am looking for an alternative way.  Most of the gendarmes & the military aren’t happy with the situation 63% voted for Ouattara but it’s the generals that are holding the keys to removing Gbagbo.

I don't care who voted for what, I just want the violence to stop ...

Rain, Lady Snakes & Accidents

I was laughing when I heard that most of Europe was under the white stuff. My neighbour sent me pictures of my car under a ton of the stuff, the guys in the office were amazed by it but I wasn't looking forward to returning to that!!! However we had had strange weather patterns in Cote d'Ivoire also, there was a fair bit more rain than there should be during this season!!!

I wasn't looking forward to returning because to be quite honest I didn't feel like I'd been on holiday. I'd not even travelled but that might be due to a) waking up thinking of the accident in Burkina daily and b) having too many friends here who demand that I spend a day or so with them!!!

As for the accident, Francis the gendarme from Bobo was in touch with me a lot. He was great the night of the accident and is now following the incident up. The three Togolais are in prison sadly we also saw the news that the Togo football team were ambushed in Cabinda, northern Angola where the coach was killed on the way to the CAN, African football Cup. Francis is head of the child protection unit for the gendarmerie in Bobo and wants me to set up something in Bobo to help the street kids there (there's only one of me I can't manage every project - but he seems to think I can!).

So, I was in Abidjan for 10days now except for a weekend back at my US/Ivorian friends in Bassam. I went to see the children at the centre and we set up a world map I had bought them with all their friends and sponsors names on it! Saturday night I went out with the same crowd and the centre manager joined us chatting about the children. Suddenly a girl started running and screaming; just behind my chair in the sand was a long thin snake!!! The guys jumped around with sticks killing it whilst others were saying not to kill it; its a lady snake and only comes out when there are a lot of ladies around - yeah right, pull the other one!!! Anyway I sat tight in my chair not too worried about it laughing at them all!!!

On the Sunday I left Bassam to return to Abidjan via Marcelline's new 'home'; she's the girl that was found on the beach 5 january 2009 after 3 years there aged 12/13 when she was found; we have a really close relationship now. She had forgotten her towel and sponge so I offered to go via Koumassi where some 'sisters' are looking after her and quite a few other girls who had been found on the street. It was very impressive, large modern buildings and the children are all schooled on site. I was also keen to go as the centre manager wanted me to talk to her about her behaviour last week when she threatened one of the sisters with a machete!!! We had a long chat about it whilst it poured with rain, she understood I wasn't happy with her behaviour and seemed to take it all on board. She escorted me to the gate with an umbrella, when I asked what she had to do for the future she said 'Pray for you Maman' which was funny but not the answer I was hoping to hear!

I came out of the 'village' where she's studying to find a woro-woro (shared taxi), it was now down to a drizzle. I found that the ladies coming out of church at the village had managed to get any available woro-woro's and I was looking up and down the road as the heavens opened again with lots of lightning! 'Suddenly a taxi came and I decided to splash out and pay the 2.70euro for the 45min ride back to my 'home from home' rather than get 2 woro-woro's for 75c! Initially the driver wasnt happy with my price so as usual I told him to go and I'd find another. The rain got harder and the taxi reversed back up the street and I was told to hop in for the price I had given!

We met several accidents in the streets of Koumassi and managed to get onto the autoroute that would take me across Abidjan. Once on the other side of the lagoon the rain got harder again and how my driver managed to see anything I dont know, we went through one large puddle after another then finally we hit a big one at speed. The driver lost control and we went sideways into a 4x4 as the engine packed up. So I found myself in lane 3 of a 4 lane autoroute in knee deep water with a vehicle that wasnt going anywhere, luckily neither the driver or I had a scratch! Suddenly I heard someone calling to me and a guy in another 4x4 was offering me a lift, typical Ivorians always hospitable, he was going in completely the opposite direction but was prepared to take me home sopping wet in his lovely clean car!!!

I'd made friends with my neighbour in the compound, the Libyan diplomat I was invited round one afternoon to meet his friend, another diplomat from the Embassy!!! Spent an interesting 30m chatting to the pair of them, neighbour in his underpants telling me how much he loves Abidjan & vodka whilst the maid was cleaning and looking for a mouse - all quite bizarre!!

Two New Years!

I left Ayame for Assouinde beaches again much to everyone's disgust in Ayame! They wanted me to spend New Years with them but I'd promised the gang in Assouinde that I'd return, plus I spent New Years in Ayame last year!

So New Years was a fairly quiet affair till the early hours. Stupidly Mino a Lebanese/Spanish friend and I got put to work by Arsene to sell tickets to his party on the beach in front of his hotel .. So the two of us celebrated on our own at a little table prior to the entrance until 3am getting the staff to bring us drinks whilst we sold tickets to juvenile Lebanese kids. These kids were completely drunk and tearing up and down through the coconut trees on quads and their parents vehicles, one Mercedes and a 4x4 met with coconut trees on separate incidents that night and were written off!!!

Mino was sharing a room at Jardin D'Eden, Arsene's hotel, with another couple and the DJ who didn't turn up till after midnight. I was heading back to my pailotte (beach shack) to sleep to then discover that a whole family had managed to get in and were squatting in it! I ended up on a beach lounger on the shore watching the remains of the fires along the shore that light up the coast of the Cote d'Ivoire from Ghana to Liberia. We had three such bonfires in front of the hotel & my beach shack - I watched the sun come up over the Atlantic, a lovely start to the New Year. Then went for a dip before claiming my beach shack again for an hours sleep only to be disturbed by the guardian waking me wanting to do some work on it!!!

I headed back to Ayame on 2nd January for the second party, the Mayor's wife is from a village 8km away and has a successful maquis (bar) there. Originally I didnt know exactly which village it was in and Marcel was offering me a lift there on the back of a scooter at 10pm. From my past experience of night time driving being on the back of a scooter without a helmet didnt exactly go down well with me ... So I scoured Ayame (population of 14,000- 60% unemployment) for a vehicle, I eventually discovered Marcel's older brother had returned from his taxi duties with a minibus so begged him to drive me there.

On arrival I discovered that I'd been put next to the mayor as the token 'blanche' on his table next to a few others who I'd met at the Christmas reception and a few had come from Abidjan!. The mayor made me dance which of course went down too well and I had trouble getting back to my table being held hostage on the dance floor for 15mins or so!!! I fell asleep very shortly afterwards in a comfortable white plastic chair till Philippe drove me back to Ayame with his wife!

I left the next day with Philippe and his wife for Abidjan and got back to my friends house where the maids aunt, who works next door, tutted about my arrival as the house hadn't been cleaned since I'd left. She soon had her niece show up who I gave a ton of dirty laundry to do as well!!! Debra had malaria over Xmas/new year apparently - Im not so sure, after lots of exchanges about her lovely new hair do!!!

So I spent some time working, using my friends office in Angre, being looked after by the guys there and his business partner's wife who is their administrator. Interestingly I found that my neighbour in the compound is a Libyan diplomat and having postponed twice I went for dinner with him, I was shocked by the with all the wine & beer he'd bought!

Two days later I was invited by my BBC friend and his wife to eat at her wonderful new restaurant in Abobo. We were joined by the new Reuters guy who had only been here a fortnight having just spent the last two years in Baghdad thinks its complete paradise in comparison! We had a long interesting discussion on W.African politics and the role France plays here ... or stirs might be more to the point!

Essentially my days in Abidjan were spent working and catching up with friends in the evenings. I was very fortunate to have a base there this time and got to know Abijdan a little better.

Hypocrite

I finally got to Abidjan, I turned up at 1am in a bedraggled taxi from Adjame with Brice who'd travelled with me since Ouaga; an Ivorian studying environmental engineering in Ouagadougou.

I had almost 48hrs in Ouaga, enough time to get my visa put into my passport for a fraction of the cost of an Ivorian visa in Europe, have a lovely lunch with old Burkinabe friends and their 4 kids.

The bus left Ouaga at 11pm, as usual it was perfectly on time with 4 gendarmes on board armed with kalashnikovs in case of bandits on the road; we were the lead bus of 4 TCV vehicles.

Burkinabe transport still amazes me - it is so well organised compared to the rest of W.Africa, large, clean, air conditioned, comfortable new TCV bus headed out on the road to Bobo Dialausso to arrive at 4am where I would have a wait of 3hrs before catching the connecting bus to Bouake, CI. What ensued was unimaginable ...

I fell asleep, at 12.10 in the morning the brakes were jammed on, what had been a great ride and a lovely sleep was broken. A few of the guys got off with the gendarmes and came back to say there was an accident. We all started getting off for a leg stretch when things became clearer and there was a bus 2 vehicles in front of us that had gone head first into a truck; possibly due to the age of the bus and the pot hole a few meters beforehand. Whilst on the side of the road a tall Burkinabe guy came up to me and asked me to help; turns out he is one of the heads of the gendarmerie from Bobo called Francis - passenger on the bus behind mine. I explained I wasnt medically qualified but I'd go and do what I could.

Arriving on the scene we found most of the passengers sitting on the side of the road in shock but no injuries to speak of apart from one or two scratches. The truck driver had died and the bus driver was being freed by a few guys from my bus along with a girl sitting behind him. Someone had called the ambulance which was on its way from Ouaga along with the firemen to cut the wreckage. The bus driver had a fractured leg and I said it needed a splint and straightening, it was an open fracture and even in the early hours it was warm but I couldnt do anything for him. The girl had a broken foot I think and dirty cuts to the base of her foot, I offered to go and get my bandages and disinfectant etc and try to clean her up; she was about 14. The traffic was going through the field to one side of the road as the accident had completely blocked the road.

I walked back to my bus with Francis and asked around for my bus driver so that I could access my pack and medical stuff, couldnt find him, just the other driver of the bus behind us who had bought me a coffee just prior to leaving Ouaga. Suddenly the gendarmes starting screaming at us all to get back on the buses, at the same time someone said 'they're firing' and I ran down the slope into the bush in the pitch dark with Francis not far behind me. The noise did sound as if bullets were being fired but then it changed and got louder and nearer but I couldn't see anything until this 10 wheeled truck pulled up narrowly missing the front of our bus.

What transpired was that the truck, Togolais, with 3 guys clandestine goods (TVs and DVDs) on board had driven at full speed right through the accident, so the noise was of the metal being hit by the truck. Someone ran up screaming at us saying 'theyve all been killed' - they had driven over all the passengers from the first accident. I'm not going to go into details, but you can imagine what had happened. It turned out later via Francis the gendarme who has been in constant touch, that 7 died, there were a few walking wounded, a few stretchered and one or two very lucky ones who miraculously survived two accidents in one night without a scratch!

We left the scene via an alternative route to Bobo having buried the dead with the gendarmes + pompiers helping out once they had freed the 2 men found in the back of the original truck - I have to say they were very professional in their job and thanked the gendarmes several times - we had all been through a lot and they were excellent and caring!


It's part of the reason I've not been able to write this blog for so long, it's taken a long time to get this out of my head. Dealing with the situation afterwards was far harder than being there on the scene, something I never want to go through again or wish others to experience.

So we continued on, changing buses at Bobo for Bouake there were about 10 of us who had come from Ouaga; we stuck together as a strong group, they really looked after me. We had arrived in Bobo 2.5hrs late which is unusual for Burkinabe transport but they had held our bus back.



We got to the Ivorian border around 1pm and the rebels were there, very much in charge and I had fun and games again. Firstly they wanted 200CFA from each passenger, I went back into 'dont speak French mode' and they gave up with me, took my passport off and I went over to the medical formalities for Yellow Fever, one of the rebels came and got me and told me to go to another hut to get my passport. This guy stamped my passport and demanded 1000CFA, I said in English; no - I paid for the visa yesterday you arent getting any more out of me, he held my passport back and purposely put it out of my reach - I demanded it back and got my phone out saying I was going to ring the Embassy (likely chance getting the number for the nearest one in Abuja, Nigeria whilst in the bush near Ouangolodougou - remembering a text when an Irish friend had arrived there after his stint in Bouake's prison as a spy!!!)


So he gave me my passport and I said; 'ok I go now', he yelled at me '1000CFA now', I couldnt go, I then noticed the hand he had been using to stamp passports now had a gun in it, handgun that looked a little old but 'useful' to frighten some blanche tourist. I told him that he still wasnt going to get the 1000CFA and he could put the gun away again which annoyed him that he hadn't frightened me. Finally 2 Burkinabe diplomats turned up heading to Abidjan and tried to help me with my non-existant French and got me off the hook. 200m away from the hut I spoke to them in French and they doubled up laughing at me that I'd managed to fool the rebels and get away with it!!!

We got to Bouake around 5.30pm and Brice and I got the same minibus to Abidjan, 'Operation Christmas' was in full swing there, checkpoints all over. Money wanted and harrassment by the customs guys to the point of which one in Yamoussoukro told me CI was still at war - I had a real go at him saying that he's killing any chance of tourism for the country.


We finally pulled into Abidjan around 12.30am after losing my temper with the military at a roadblock outside Youpougon who had decided the curfew had started at 11.45pm. The driver came back to the minibus and said it was fruitless trying to get through without giving over something, we'd have to wait till 6am After the journey Brice & I had had, I wasn't standing for it and possibly the horror of seeing a filthy dirty blanche lose her temper the barrage was opened without any money changing hands. Worse still a kilometre up the road I saw a baboon chained to a street lamp, not sure which had me more angry!

The driver dropped us all in Adjame, the worst district of Abidjan. Brice was a saint and told me that he'd find a taxi and make sure I got to my friend's place in one piece. Not having visited my friend's new place, I had our taxi going around in circles, around prostitutes and my phone battery was getting weaker whilst trying to find the address. Finally we arrived at 1am and my friend dragged me out to Alpha Blondy's 'Cafe de Versailles' bar till 3am trying to calm my nerves after a 25hr trip from hell

So, moral of the story is that I will continue to say, dont travel at night and I will respect my own rules - life is precious and I was very lucky!! I admit to being a complete hypocrite!

First leg ...

I got into Ouagadoudou at 3am in the morning; after a whirlwind few days in Tripoli!

My Libyan host gave me an excellent driver who spoke very little English but did remarkably well and taught me bits of arabic - mainly involved swearing at drivers and had me laughing a lot about the antics of crazy Libyan drivers - you'd have to know Tripoli to understand!!!

Libya was incredible; mainly due to a very good friend of mine - who introduced me to another friend who is Libyan. He totally looked after me, saying a million 'shukrans' wasnt quite enough.
Tripoli was great, although I was constantly worried about not being 'dressed' covered up as much as possible but must remember to buy blouses that can touch my knees!!! The town is so different to what I expected but I dont know exactly what I expected, but did enjoy it. The place is booming, construction going on all over, top western brands moving into flash showrooms, new cars and fast food joints selling 'fried viagra' !!! Its aiming to be the Dubai of the med!

So I got into Ouaga; the airport is a disaster ... so little infrastructure. Got a bit of a shock last night when arriving at the check-in counter, they had bumped me off as it was full and the flight was going to Bamako before Ouaga ... but managed to get myself back on it at the last minute & raced through immigration to be last at the gate.

We landed an hour late at 3am which wasnt bad. I found a friendly honest taxi driver, fought off a few phonecard touts + bounced down the dimly lit city streets into the 'village' of Ouaga or thats how it felt; weirdly enough I was missing Tripoli and wanting to be back there! I think I woke most of the auberge that Danika, Maddy and I stayed in 2years ago whilst trying to wake the guardien to let me in and see if they had a room, did the usual trick of no booking prior to arriving but it all worked out fine. Sadly the auberge has gone downhill a little, chairs broken, plaster peeling off but still has the same charm and very quiet in the centre of town with a few French staying there.

My first morning in Ouaga I was up and at 'Service des Passeports' on the Bobo road out of Ouaga for the Burkina Immigration authorities having a VTE visa (5 countries) so that I could enter Cote d'Ivoire on it. I immediately got another taxi across town to purchase a bus ticket (breaking all my own rules) for 11pm the following night to Bouake in CI arriving around 4pm day after, so an overnight journey which is usually a no-no for me but needs must + the ticket selling lady let me choose a place, crossing my fingers we wouldn't meet with an elephant at Boromo in the middle of the night!

So, for the second day running I was waiting to get my passport back; I'd applied two days previously for my Burkina visa in Tripoli and got it back 4pm the day of departing Tripoli after a bit of a battle with embassy staff.

The coast beckons!

Leaving Bouake I had no idea where I was going. South, sea, sand, beach ... were all in my mind plus the salt water would do my infected leg the world of good. So I headed for Dabou on the 'coast' - actually on a lagoon.

I got to Bouake's gare routiere at 7am, it was hell. Reminded me of Senegal, touts all over who all spotted 'la blanche' at once; I walked off to the market & ignored the lot of them! Re-emerging from the market not having spotted anywhere for a coffee, I braved finding a minibus driver to get a front seat on something heading to Yamassoukro, still not sure of my final destination of Dabou.

The driver told me where to get off in Yamoussoukro to get transport for Abidjan. Either he didn't know Yamoussoukro or he wasn't listening but I ended up about 2km away from the gare routiere for Abidjan. Yet again touts descended on me and when I asked the price for a ticket to Eboli, about 80km short of Abidjan they gave me some ridiculous price. My phone came out, I rang Ibi - he was worried for me & wanted to come & help but there was no need, I just needed the price of a ticket to Abidjan so I could work out how much less it should be to Eboli.

Got on a very hot minibus and headed south for Abidjan. Finally we reached the Eboli checkpoint on the autoroute. According to my map there was a village at Eboli but I couldn't see one, yet the driver wanted me off there ... I refused & asked him to drop me at the edge of the village. I walked off the autoroute and 2km through the village asking around for a taxi, I found the gare routiere with taxi's bound for Sikensi where apparently I'd find a taxi for Dabou. It was HOT!!! I got lucky & found a taxi that was ready to leave once I was on board. However I then discovered that the taxi's for Sikensi left from Becedi, not Sikensi. So I had to get another taxi to Becedi which is where I met Abru.

Abru was a lovely guy, saw I was exhausted, stunned I'd managed to get from Bouake since the morning and asked if I'd eaten yet. I said no, so he offered me lunch. Yet again I had another offer of sincere Ivorian hospitality. We got to Becedi & right next to the gare routiere was a maquis. He ordered rice & sauce, or so I thought, but out of the kitchen came the most wonderful piece of meat with a fantastic sauce; turned out to be venison. Abru was telling me about a festival in his village which one day I'd love to go to, gory as it sounded. Apparently they slit their stomachs open so the intestines are showing and then push the folds of skin together and bind it shut with an egg!!! I kid you not! Not for the faint-hearted but would be amazing to see ....

11hrs, 2 minibuses, 6 taxi's, a kilometre walk off the motorway through a village in the middle of the day and a boat later (with a very short temper by the time I got there!!) I was in Jacqueville having been persuaded to go there by Abru. I wasn't too enamoured with Dabou when I went through it, so spent an hour or so in the gare routiere there waiting for transport & being chatted up by a Malinke!

Jacqueville was gorgeous; blew me away; reminded me so much of NZ; so many bachs/cribs - great people; good vibe - I was thrilled except I couldn't swim as the sea was too dangerous! I met a Franco-Ivorienne who lives there, near retirement in France she was happy in Jacqueville and very confused when people met her off the Abidjan transport to tell her that another 'blanche' had turned up. What confused her further was I'd been asking around for someone to change my euros on the black market & everyone had said she might be interested. Unfortunately she wasn't and my 'day off' was looking doomed with an enforced trip into Abidjan just to change money. However a lovely guy called Guy finally sorted it all out for me!

My new 'blanche' friend examined my leg wound which was a bit of a mess by the time I got to Jacqueville and we decided to go to hospital ...