Break from Ouagadougou

typical african family residence.
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Chapter 5.5: Break from Ouagadougou

Thanks to my job, I got the chance to see a big part of the country. You see, I work for an organization that takes care of agricultural matters, amongst which enquiries about food reserves, and agricultural trans-border flows. So they took me on a mission through South-Western Burkina Faso to check up on and to pay their agents that are situated in villages close to the border. We left Ouaga on Monday in a big 4x4 and drove South to the Ghanian border, and then turned West and followed that border. I saw numerous villages, small towns, markets, and a lot of landscape. But most importantly, the more South-West we went, the more the vegetation was becoming tropical ans green and the more hills I could see. Finally some green!!! You don't understand how happy it made me to see palm trees... You see, the central part of the country, where Ouaga is situated, is on a flat and arid plateau. Saskatchewan anybody? Boooring...

So Ouaga was the problem after all...

work travelling partners.
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Every time we stopped to talk to one of their agents, we were given food and something to drink, as is the custom here in the faso, and probably on the whole continent. It was very pleasant, and I couldn't refuse, right? so I ate lots of little pieces of lamb, of liver, a local drink here and there... Hmmm, I was a happy man... Until, on Tuesday night, BANG! I got explosive diarrhea... :) Haha stupid white man... Bacterial gastro-enteritis the doctor said the next day... I slept extremely bad that night, if at all, waking up every hour or so to go to the bathroom... When I woke up I felt as if someone had beaten me with a stick all over my body during that night...

driving along side a donkey.
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We were already in Bobo-Dioulasso, the country's second biggest city, and  needless to say, my mission had to stop there, and I didn't follow my collegues to the other two towns they had to visit. I took Cipro and slept/rested the whole day...

It is now Friday and I feel fine, thank god, because Margie and two other volunteers, Lionel and Veronique, are coming to Bobo this evening, after they finish work. We have Monday off, so a joint decision was made to get the hell out of our dusty hometown and visit something worth seeing. Apparently, the place we are going is a tropical paradise... :) Can't wait...

early misty morning in bobo.
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So far I had the chance to walk around Bobo-Dioulasso a bit, and damn this city is better looking than Ouaga. The huge baobabs lined up on both sides of almost every street are so gorgeous, the vegetaion is so green, palm trees abound, fruits are bigger, there is even a small creek, and... something you cannot even dream of in Ouaga, I found a small parc where I could actually sit on a bench and read a book!!! Happy happy joy joy!!! Mind you there was half of a dead rat by my bench being eaten by flies, but I didn't even mind that I was so excited... :) This city simply rocks. So it was Ouaga that was the problem this whole time, not the country itself... :) I can't wait to see the waterfalls of Banfora, the next place we're going to after Bobo... This sight of luxuriant nature gave me a lot of mental strength and brought me lots of happiness, and I know it will do the same for Margie when she sees this. We are both tired of Ouaga. It's like a dusty Toronto, and Bobo is probably a Montreal (best analogy I can give).

misty morning in bobo, in the only park found so far in burkina.
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In my hotel, I met the pesident of Burkinas Volleyball Federation. Really nice guy, and he got me to play some volley yesterday. Excellent level, big smashes, lots of fun. I almost forgot I wasn't in Montreal, except for the language barrier, the ciment on which we played, and the rock-hard ball that we used... Everything is so ghetto here, you gotta love it.

There are no pictures yet, but I'll post them on Tuesday.

Write back, if just to say hello. We miss you all.

ps. the pictures are now here! there are more than those you see on this page, so click on one of them and you'll be able to access the rest.