Hotinter Central Hotel Ouagadougou

Naprisca didn't precisely seem to be in a hurry. So upon waking up and having breakfast, I had enough time to take it quite easy. The day was sunny, but the sun wasn’t singing the streets yet, so it was in fact quite pleasant outside. I started the day same as yesterday, coming out in front of my hotel and finding a place to sit down and watch people pass by. But maybe due to Naprisca’s obvious uneasiness with my photographing, I somehow got rather wary, as well. I just couldn ...

Naprisca had said she would be in the hotel by eight, so I made sure to wake up at seven. True to my old habit, I wanted to have breakfast before the day started, and also I didn't want her to wait for me. That’s why I figured one hour was a fair estimate, both to her and to me.

I was the only one when I came down to the hotel restaurant. A few minutes later some guy showed up, brought me some jam and butter and a few pieces of French bread. He didn’t speak any English ...

How does someone who has nev** been to Africa decide which country to go first? Or, more to the point, how come of all the countries th**e, the first country to go to happens to be Burkina Faso? Yes, c**tainly, th**e may be some charm in telling the people you know you're going to Burkina Faso and then watching their expressions of utt** bewild**ment. Since, of course, most of them will be completely at loss, look at you unsure of what you mean and ask „Bur... what ...

... into my head and translated as fast as I could before the pow** went back out. It inevitably did, and I found sev**al CBDF documents to read ov** and familiarize myself with their activities.

Eventually, I just sat outside staring at the sky. It was a clear and faded blue with singular and thin streaks of cloud blowing across. Birds played between the trees and useless pow** lines. The green leaves swayed with the cool breeze that was noticeably getting hott** as the sun reached high ...

... Burkina; I even feel like I'm in France. Everyone is speaking French, I'm sitting on a nice leather chair with my laptop in hand, watching the news about the US Open, wildfires in California, and advertisements for American TV shows dubbed in French. CSI, "les Experts," is a popular one. Last night, we watched "House." It is hard for me to watch that series in English, let alone French. I got the gist of the story, though, but was still upset with myself that my French has gotten ...

... late. Joy and Devlyn w**e th**e, too - ev**yone who is anyone is coming to Klefe today because of the fun**al. They are dressed to the nines in red and black. Klefe is abuzz with visitors and little parties. On the taxi ride in (th**e w**e five us in the back seat - I was squished up against a window), I couldn't help (lit**ally, because I was smooshed against a window) but notice men unloading large cool**s from the trunks of taxis and their cars. I was reminded of tailgating. Odd: an ...

... complete with indigo blue robes. Hawk**s fill the streets p**sistently off**ing their wares – music, phone cards, jewell**y and art ev**ywh**e. Impossible not to marvel at are the scoot**s and bikes: th**e are thousands.




The most elegantly dressed women you could ev** hope to see sit upon them in elaborately tailored west African outfits or simple and chic west**n daywear, some with two or more children p**ched on behind them ...

The days seem to be getting hotter all of the time. After breakfast we decided to visit a women's cooperative where they take raw cotton and turn it into finished product. According to the travel book on Burkina it is very close to Ouagadougou. You need turn left at road marker 163 on the highway south. When we got to that road marker there did not seem to be a left turn. Sanga had thought he saw a sign a few km’s back so we ...

... at the park gate!! What an experience! We all laughed about it and considered ourselves lucky to have tickets.

We were hyped about going to the park but were quite disappointed. Most of the animals were hard to see and they were in cages. Some were in very small cages. We got a few good pictures and both of us had to dodge an elephant’s trunk! The calf elephants were in a cage too but there were holes in the fence and one tried ...

... the sky blackened. Dust was flying all over the place and suddenly the sky opened and the rain came. The torrential rain lasted about an hour at which time we decide to go for supper. There was water all over the place as we headed for supper at an outdoor café. It was pitch black and we couldn’t really see what were eating but it was good and we felt satisfied. We agreed to meet at 9 the next morning to start the day.