Burkina Faso

January 2009

 

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Burkina Faso. Generally, it is pretty much like Mali, only poorer and dryer. We got the visa at the border in Bankass (10000 CFA for the transit) and the whole procedure (immigration and customs) was very correct and friendly. There are no campsites, but some hotels allow to stand on their parking place and provide shower and toilet facilities.

Traffic in Ouagadougou is terrible, but if you managed Bamako, it’s okay. There is some kind of regulation that trucks are only allowed at certain hours in the inner city, so consult your guide book.

The main roads we drove along were tar and in good condition. Watch out for cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, donkey carts and bicycles. Burkina Faso is said to be of some “Prussian” mentality. In fact, everything appears to be tidier and less chaotic, almost organized compared to other West African countries. Quite relaxing.

It’s worth to negotiate about the taxi fee. The inner-city taxis are old cars that are just able to move (and, hopefully, break), no suspension, optional windows (it’s too hot for closed cars anyway), bent metal.

ATMs are working with Visa and (perhaps) Maestro, but prepare for some hiking around to find the one that IS working. Money (Euro) change at money transfer bureaus such as Western Union is possible, too.

 

There aren’t any special activities for tourists; you just drive through and visit one city or another. In the northeast the market at Gorom-Gorom is very famous because a lot of different people meet there, Fulbe and Touareg for example. It’s once a week and we would have had to wait for several days so we skipped that. Bobo-Dioulasso is said to be very nice, too. Roman was there in the hospital because he had malaria. Ouagadougou is a big town, but not too ugly. There is a famous African film festival every year; the also famous market (the black African equivalent of a shopping mall) has burnt down and the shops are now in the buildings around the ruin. Perhaps the market will be rebuilt. Very nice is the espace culturel ZAKA in the middle of the town: there are a souvenir shop, a restaurant and cultural events. All in all, I found the city more relaxed than Bamako and felt quite good there. The only hassle can be the hawkers, but they only try to earn some money and the Touareg are quite friendly. It depressed me a bit seeing the Touareg in the city trying to sell “silver” jewellery (I could bet it’s more copper than silver at this price) or even swords. If you need a metal bucket, a box or something like that, the ones in Ouagadougou look nice and of good quality.

I think Burkina deserves more time to travel through than we gave it.

 

Most people in Burkina are very poor and try to make a living somehow (mostly as farmers or nomads). Like in Mali, they seem to be proud of their culture and traditions even when they can’t afford such fancy dresses as in Mali, the majority is still wearing traditional clothes. Some of the taxi drivers in Ouagadougou had decorative scars in their faces. Most people are friendly and nice, hawkers and shop owners can be a nuisance, but most of them accept a No. Some guys expect money if they help you with something and they can be over-eager to help. But no one got aggressive or turned out to be a nuisance. Don’t tip too much, people are used to low amounts and don’t teach them that white people are rich. I tried to figure out the right amount by thinking what a taxi ride or food costs.

 

I don’t know much about the local food, at the Zaka or in the hotels they serve (as far as I remember) European-style food. The baguette is good (sold in bakeries), but there are no dairy products around, despite all the cows, goats and sheep around. Vegetables are sold per piece or pile in the street, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and green peppers mostly. In Ougadougou are some supermarkets, but they are expensive. I liked the local mango juice. Try the common snacks, roasted groundnuts or refreshing watermelon slices (sold on the street, good vendors cover them to keep off the flies) for around 50 CFA.

 

From the border we drove straight to Ouagadougou where we first stayed at the Hotel Ricardo. But it’s not very comfortable to sleep in the car there because you have to stay at the parking where you can’t sit around plus they keep 11 (!) dogs and these are running around the parking place. We spent the day in the hotel (they are very friendly and don’t mind as long as you order some food or drink) at the pool (which we were allowed to use, we were supposed to use toilet and shower there). But for 5000 CFA per person we considered it too expensive and moved on to the Hotel O.K.Inn. Which is known as Hotel Okay, if you ask for the way or go there by taxi. It’s behind the truck parking for douanes (customs) in the south of town. In front of the hotel is an area with an abandoned minigolf field and there you can stay for free, use the shower, toilets (European style) and pool of the hotel. The watchman keeps an eye on your cars but of course would like some tip (according to the length of your stay). They expect you to have dinner at their restaurant, which is a good deal, because the food is good and quite cheap for this kind of quality. We enjoyed ourselves there while waiting for the visa for Ghana to get ready. Outside on the street fruit and vegetable stalls, the bakery, shops and a supermarket are within walking distance. But you’ll need a taxi to go to the city centre; we started at a 400 CFA rate and ended up at 250.

 

As mentioned above, Roman and Almu travelled with Roman’s brother a little bit more around and spent some time in Bobo Dioulasso. We met them in Ouagadougou at the hotel O.K.Inn where we helped them to start their car.

 

It seems that I hadn’t taken any pictures, so the photos are from Jonas. Or at least from his camera, we started to take pictures with each other’s one, so the copyright isn’t clear, but we don’t mind.

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