Le Dauphin Beach Grand Bassam

... I waited with them. They motioned me to a spot on the bench they were sharing. This place, I was told, is called Belleville. There is no running water in this area and so water carriers bring it in handcarts by the barrelful to sell to residents. As I watched, other carts went by also carrying barrels. I would love to have taken a photo of the scene, but I didn't dare with tempers still hot and Abidjan soldiers notoriously skittish about ...

... lined the road. I counted eight stops before we got back to the main highway, but bananas had to be dropped off, hot peppers sent out and papayas passed out to the locals. It was hot, humid and I should have been happy to get back. But I had a bad feeling in my gut for some reason and it wasn't from being sick. I was going to the Canadian Embassy to ask some questions before I left this Friday and I just didn't feel right. Of course, the staff there filled in the ...

... are better off than the rest, but it is the poor people that tug at your heart strings when you look. And beleive me, sometimes you want to turn the other way and wish that you didn't see what you just did. I imagine that it is like that in other places as well, but the masses of poor people compared to a middle class is astonishing. And yet, to them, everything is somewhat normal. Most people are clean, well fed and from what I can tell, in good spirits. When I scan ...

... hand and to eat with a few bigwigs. I asked if I would be allowed to take some pics and with a wary eye, they said they would ask once we got there. I wish the cyber cafe here could download the pics I have, but I guess I will wait until I get home to do it myself. Anyways, I want to wish you all the very best for the new year and I hope that your holidays were shared with the best that you could surround yourselves with. I will send another update in four or five days. Chow.

... I will be forced outside; again. Ah well. I probably won't get back to the cyber cafe for a few more days, so by then I should have more to tell you. I will add this, however. Traffic in Abidjan is a nightmare and if there is one thing I am really happy about, it is that I left my licence back at the airport in the car in Canada. I could not imagine trying to drive here and stay sane and calm like the locals do. One more toot of the horn today and I just might have to roll up my window.

... with ground cassava and hot sauce. I usually stay clear of fish due to a childhood `trauma`at the Boston aquarium, but this was incredibly good and I gobbled it right up. We washed it down with the local lager Flag and I had a great conversation with the wife of one of the local diplomats about her life in Abidjan and their plans for the future. I couldn`t help but be a bit envious. Abidjan was full of surprises and I was bitten by the French West Africa bug. There was so much joie de ...

... safe and yet would allow her to be immersed. Sure enough a big wave came in and covered Juliette as Mr. Fiaboé and I held her in place by her arms and kept her from being pulled out to sea. It's not the usual way we baptize people but there was no other safe place available (the lagoon is very polluted) and all the Biblical requirements were met. I went back to my room and showered and finished packing my suitcase. We checked out at 8:00 and were on ...

Pour aller de la frontière ivoirienne à Bouaké (limite sud de la zone dite des Forces Nouvelles, comprendre anciens rebelles) on nous avait prévenu, il pouvait y avoir une cinquantaine de contrôles avec tentatives de racket à chaque fois. On atteste de cette réalité dans la zone de non-droit de 400km. Mais notre histoire sera bien différente. Partis à 6:00 du matin de Banfora, nous atteignons la frontière burkinabé vers 7:00. Douane, police, gendarmerie en 15 ...

... bag (for cameras and things I can't check. "Ah we must weigh the carryon bags" she told me seriously. I placed them on the scale. "Over 15 kg!, they are too heavy, you cannot take all that in the cabin" she scolded. I replied that I took them both in the cabin all the time: on Delta, American, Air France, Air Senegal, Kenya Airways, Cameroon Airlines etc, and that it always worked just fine. "Ah non" she continued, "I cannot let you on the ...

... The point man for the money changers gets in the front passenger's seat. "C'est quoi que vous avez?" he starts, "what do you have, dollars, euros?" About six men, apparently his associates, are standing around the car gazing in through the closed windows. I say I have dollars. "We are paying 430 francs per dollar" he says. I tell him he'll have to make a little effort. He sys that, really, that is all they can do. They are only charging ...