Hotel Ran Somketa Bobo Dioulasso

... them, and too early for supper. So of all restaurants we considered, „L'Entante“ was the only available option. But neither of us was emotionally tied to any of the places, so „L'Entante“ was just fine.

Good thing about coming to eat at this unusual hour was that „L'Entante“ was almost empty. Just one French family was there dining when we arrived. So we could choose any table we wanted. Our pick was one on the veranda overlooking the ...

... much choice anyway.

Koumi is a village located to the west from Bobo-Dioulasso, on the road to Sikasso, a town across the border in Mali, where we planned to go in a few days. But that was yet to come. Right now, we wouldn’t go that far. Fifteen kilometres or so was all we would do today. So the taxi we took didn’t have to go exactly to the end of the known world to get us to our first destination. Before long, our driver pulled over by the roadside and the ...

... I walked faster when all by myself, so it was best like this.

So early in the morning, when the sun was not so high up yet, it was really pleasant to be outside. People were already there, of course, but you didn't sweat yet. OK, locals hardly seemed to sweat at all, regardless of the time of the day, but for me it certainly made a difference. I thoroughly enjoyed this early walk.

Main Bobo-Dioulasso post office is located just off the Avenue de la R ...

... our hands, we looked around for a taxi. I took two or three pictures until Naprisca negotiated the price and then we got started to the hotel. When we were inside the cab, Naprisca said:

„Did you hear the man on the station?"

„Which man?“ I asked. I'd heard nobody.

„One man was very angry that you made photos,“ she said. „He said he would call the police.“

„Did he?“

Now I got angry. OK, I didn’t ...

... br>
Our second stop was thanks to Van Damme. He knew of a company that dried mangos and arranged for a tour. A number of women sorted and cut the mangos that were then put in the driers. The mangos stayed in the driers for about a day. They are then packaged and sent to Switerland.

It was quite the experience being welcomed into a village as a visitor and not as a tourist. Sanga’s Uncle ...

... a straw hut with a bed in it. The number of mats on the bed signified the number of herds the owner had. It was very hot in the museum and we needed to cool down.

We decided to have lunch at the Ran hotel and work on the blog. Still warm we paid to swim in the pool. It was extremely refreshing although Ann said the change room reeked and needed to have lots of cleaning done. Dave doesn't take as long in the change room so it did not bother him as much. Both ...

Breakfast today was at Sanga Patisserie/Boulangerie. We did not know the Sanga family also owned this and a Bakery but also are working on a hotel. Sanga's cousin, Adama, is going to be our guide today.

Sanga took us to his three mothers’ home. It is much bigger than our homes as there are three mothers living there with their children and grandchildren. Sanga’s dad had his own quarters ...

Sanga came by to pick us up at 8 am and we went back to the Istanbul Café for breakfast. Again the food was good and then we were on our way. Ann had to stop and take a picture of a grave yard for a friend who likes graveyards. On the way back she tripped on a string that was set up by some workman. She fell and cut her leg. Dave had to dig through his suitcase to find the first aid kit. Ann then washed and cleaned the scrape ...

I'm in Burkina Faso!!!

So far, Burkina is... cooler (temperature-wise, I mean...), wetter, greener (is that a word?? I think I'm forgetting how to speak English.) than Mali.

I spent last night in hotel called Casafrica.... but I moved this morning, because, yesterday evening I went for a wander, some man latched on and wouldn't leave me alone, despite my progressively less-polite requests for him to do so (I remained surprisingly polite, actually ...

... was on offer when I could find it. I have lost a couple of belts sizes and my clothes are slightly more baggy than when I started so I should do my best to try and fit back into my clothes.



During the night a couple of us headed out for the night to a local club to listen to some local live music. The musician named Vincent (I cant remember his last name) was playing his brand of Jack Johnson style African music. Being a French ...