Bobo
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2005
1
25
103
Trip End
Jun 24, 2006
Bobo-Dioulasso,
Burkina Faso
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
We made it, though, and hiked down a canyon to the fish pond. These are huge catfish -- over 3 feet long. How do they get so big? Some people throw pieces of raw chicken into the pond to feed them
01 On the way to Bobo
. Some of the activity is for tourists, but we did see a couple of men talking to the fish (praying?) as they threw chicken intestines in... In any case, it was interesting to see.But then, there is the matter of the cab ride back...
We make it back to our taxi and our driver checks the water in the radiator before starting. It must be low since he gets some water out of the trunk to add, he pours it in but it just flows to the ground. Hmmm I think there is a problem. We pile out of the car and in 15 minutes he has the radiator out. The bottom coils are completely shredded and water pours out. Hmmm, now I'm pretty sure there's a problem. I should also point out that the fan just has stubs and no blades. I wonder how long he had been driving around like that. He goes over to the little mud hut that is near where we parked and borrows the bicycle leaning on the side of the house. He straps on the radiator on the back and then comes to talk to us under the shade tree where we have taken cover. It's kind of a difulicult conservation since he is speaking in French and we don't know French, but we figure out that he needs money to get the radiator fixed. The previously agreed price for our round trip ride is 15,000 CFA (about $30) for all of us
02 Rock formations
. Considering that we already gave him 3,000 CFA to fill up with gas on his way out we just give him 5,000 CFA (about $10) and hope that he will come back for us. We watch him ride off into the bush and wonder when he might be back after all his precious car is here. I need to remind you that we are in the middle of nowhere. There is one mud house next to us but no other building in site and we are a good 30 minutes (by car) from the town. We spend the next hour under the tree and watch the cows that have come to graze near by and ponder when and how we will get back to the town.Then, our taxi driver returns on a motorcycle with a new (used) radiator and fan, along with 5 little bottles of water that we drink within minutes. 20 minutes later the car is "fixed". Of course it still doesn't start, so we need to push start it down the dirt road, which is fortunately flat. Nathan and a few others get behind and start pushing. Within a few feet we hear a large sputter and a catch of the engine and the guys are lost in a big puff of black diesel smoke (got to love the non-existing smog control)
The whole thing seamed like it was out of a Crocodile Dundee type of movie. It will be a cab ride not to forget.
03 The sacred catfish
For $4 we have decided to upgrade from our tent on the hotel grounds to a hotel room for the 2 nights we are in Bobo. Now before you think we are staying at the Holiday Inn I'll describe the room. It is a concrete slab with concrete walls and a thatched ceiling. The walls were painted years ago but now are covered with squashed bugs and other mysterious stains. There is a plywood bed with slats and a foam mattress with one sheet provided, but of course we pull out our sleep sacks. The window and door are just metal slats without screens so thankfully there is a mosquito net over the bed. For a nightstand there is an upside down wood stick crate. We also have a little metal table and a stand up fan. The fan works ok but I am surprised it is still standing considering that it is taped together. We don't have our own bath so we use the squat toilet on the ground about 50 feet away (at least it has running water in it) Then there is also a shower that looks like one outside an old beach house. All except one of the showers on our trip has been cold water only, but I do have to say that the cold water here is more like room temperature due to the heat.
Comments
Sacred Fish, according to Geoff
I found this on the internet, posted by a traveller named Geoff.
The catfish is a sacred fish to the Bobo tribe (as well as the crocodile) and people come down to the river just to watch these fish and to make sacrifices to them. This explained the silent group of old men standing beside the river. The legend of the catfish goes back hundreds of years. One of the great chiefs of the Bobo people became lost in the bush. He was close to death as he had run out of water when he suddenly saw a catfish sliver past him in the grass. He followed the catfish, which lead him to a stream and the water that saved his life. Ever since and to this day the catfish is sacred and worshipped by the Bobo people.
Re: Sacred Fish, according to Geoff
Geoff's website is: http://www.geoffstravelscrapbook.co.uk/main/reports/2000/burkina2.htm
cab ride
Sounds like you had quite an adventure on that taxi! I'm amazed he found a radiator and got it 'fixed'. That's way better than I would do!
Don't wear red
The pond, called Dafra is a sacred place where Bobo and other peolple from all over the country come to sacrifice. This is serious business so be respectfull when you go there. Go by bike or mobylette instead of cab. Much more fun and more comfortable. By a chicken at one the families before the descent down the escarpment, you can leave your bike also. It is a nice walk, good shoes are a plus. If you have the chicken, people will take you automatically to the rock where the sacrifice is performed. The intestines are given to the fish. The chicken is barbecued and eaten.
It is forbidden to wear red, as it is in all sacred places in Burkina.
By the way, the sacred crocodiles are in Sabou, on the way to Ouagadougou. You can sit on one if you like.