Un Paradis A Ouaga Ouagadougou

... t point my camera at whatever looked interesting to me as freely as I had the day before in the morning. Hence pretty soon I changed the strategy. I went back into the hotel and climbed the stairs all the way up.

And on top I discovered a roof terrace, complete with iron tables and chairs. OK, they were dirty, the white paint was peeling off, and it seemed like this terrace was not in use much, but for me it was more than fine. I was up there on top of the hotel with an excellent ...

... and my French was so rudimentary that it would be a blasphemy to call it knowledge at all. That’s what happens when your grammar school professor isn’t exactly the best in the world and when she is more motivated to catch who of the students is cheating on tests than to really teach them something. One would be tempted to think that students would have been less motivated to cheat if they had been better prepared. Or more to the point, better taught. Anyway, that was a long ...

... yes, it’s also cool to just roll off the name of Burkina’s capital as it sounds so unmistakeably African. When you say Ouagadougou, ev**yone correctly guesses you’re going to Africa, except almost no one knows exactly wh**e. But all that can’t be the reason why you decided to start your African exploration from th**e, can it? Right, it can’t. So how do you arrive at Burkina Faso in the first place?

In a bit of a roundabout way.

It ...

... Watching the heat from the confines of shadow is fine with me, but I can see the shadow creeping away as the sun not only heats the air but takes away my dark and cool refuge. I know what Kapuschinski means in "The Shadow of the Sun" when he says that a man is only as good as his shadow. Without your shadow, without shade, you melt away invisible.

It smelled like Europe th**e sitting on the t**race: the smell of croissants from the morning and the continuous baking of fresh baguettes ...

... worse. I got almost 12 hours of sleep last night; it was great. I kept waking up, though, to itch my feet which are still covered in mosquito bites. Mamie says we should go to the pharmacy to get anti-itch cream. I had cortisone, but of course left it at Klefe. People are starting to wake up and start the day; the rain seems to be subsiding, but the thunder is still strong and frequent. I hope I can get something accomplished today. My time here wanes. -- Apparently, the torrential ...

... woman dies and the town tailgates for the church s**vice. I loved it. I want a huge party like this when I die. I am currently all packed and in my room. I am waiting for B**tha to come and get me for the church s**vice, but I fear it will be a while before she gets h**e. And so, while I wait, I take in the last memories of my room in Klefe, Ghana. I have left some bug spray, nail polish, Band-Aids, cards, soap, a pad of pap**, a book, and a jar of honey h**e for the family and/or the ...

... zip across the city like beautiful earthbound bees. Occasionally, the bikes crash into each oth**.



Strangely th**e are no helmets worn by anyone, but in this gentle and courteous city, which is saf** than most in the world, this does not seem to worry anyone.





But more than all these things that the city is known for, Ouagadougou amply des**ves its reputation as the undisputed film capital of Africa. The country ...

... around to see. Sure enough there was a sign. So we took a dirt trail into the country side. Considering that this is the rainy season it sure is dry. We drove by some rice paddies that really needed water. The book said we needed to drive four kilometres off the high but it seemed a lot farther than that. Sanga asked directions from a number of people working in the fields and we finally arrived.

There were only two ...

... Dave’s hat and then it charged Ann and tried to grab her!

Back in Ouaga, we decided that we would go to an Indian restaurant for supper. The one in the guide book was no longer there but one of Sanga’s cousins gave us the location of another. The restaurant was quite posh and the meal was very good. We finished with Indian ice-cream and Madras tea. It was one of our most expensive meals at 41,000 cfa, close to $100 CA for the three of us.

... or not to-go? That was the question all last week, though the incredibly bad pun was not spotted by anyone involved until after the event, as I tried to decide whether to head for the problem-ridden (perhaps?) charity in Lomé, or whether to find other work. This decision involved much debate and dramatics - you find out how nice the Burkinabès, famed for being friendly, really are when you burst into tears in a café! (They are ...