So - Burkina Faso. After Mali this is a bit of a shit hole. It might be all of the traumatic African buses it took to get here or the bout of diarrhea I just had - but ugh....I am strongly disliking Burkina. I'll start from the beginning. Leaving Dogon Country in Mali. It was market day in Burkass (which is where we were trying to get to - so we could start our buses to Burkina) so our guide took us to the cross roads where everyone was waiting to go to market. So many people going! And its amazing because all the women just carry kilos and kilos of stuff in tubs on their heads.
Did I mention the other day when we were trekking we went down a rather steep incline. It was all rocks and I had to hold on to the sides to balance so I could get down. We paused in the middle so our guide could tell us some history of the area and like 6 women came down. They each were balancing a tub full of veg on their heads to bring to the market in the next town and most of them had a baby strapped to their backs. And they were walking down the hill no problem!! LOL - we took some pics and they made us pay - then they laughed at me and said we needed to be friends and they would show me how to walk and carry stuff on my head. Awww - I loved Dogon Country - such friendly people!! Anyways - so everyone was going to market and mini buses would come along and everyone would strap their stuff to the tops and pile in (some would also pile onto the top) and drive off. We must've gotten into on of the posh ones because there were only a few of us inside! But we got to Burkinass but didn't get to go to the market because we had to focus on getting a bus to Koro. So we stopped at the "bus station" and had some people start looking. I think from there we found a guy that had a car and was willing to take us to Koro...after a lot of negotiating we got a semi-reasonable price and off we went. It was quite a comfortable ride in a relatively new car. So up to this point the journey wasn't too bad. All things looked good for getting from Koro and then across the border and into Burkina Faso. Well, Koro is where our luck ended. The big bus services that used to cross the border are no longer in service. So we had to sign up for a mini bus service. These go whenever the bus is full. These mini buses are about the oldest things you have ever seen!! In the UK they would have failed their MOT like 10 years ago!! So not only are they falling apart (all the ones I've been in have had to be pushed to get them started) but they jam an unreal number of people into them. So our bus needed 20 people to leave. So we got it to number 11. Then we just had to wait. So we had lunch and sat around in the shade (its so bloody hot). The guy tried to get us to pay for the rest of the seats, but we decided we had time to wait. I should have paid for the rest of the seats. We finally left Koro around 2:30. The road is unpaved...we were hoping it was just unpaved until the border and then in Burkina it would miraculously be paved and smooth. No such luck. The dirt is super thick and dry and red. By the time we finished the journey you couldn't really tell who was black and who was white because we were all red!!! Thank god I had a scarf to cover my mouth with!! We got through the border reasonably easy but we had to stop before the border to get stamped out of Mali then stop to get stamped into Burkina and then there were like 3 police checks after that. One where we had to get our bags down and open them up for the inspection guy! Ugh!! All this in like 100 degree weather with dry red dust everywhere. Then we would have to jam ourselves back into the mini bus!! Miserable. The journey took about 4 hours all together. I think I was shell shocked by the end. There are no windows on the bus - so its all dust and wind and then bumps of unpaved Africa roads. But eventually - after lots of misery - we arrived in Ouahigouya (Weegooya). Shell shocked we got off the bus and had to find a place to stay. Luckily its a small town. So after learning there were 3 buses to Ouagadougou in the morning - we went off to a cheap hotel.
Now its like 6:30 so of course I'm starving and so is geoff so we are all getting a bit grumpy. But we found a semi-decent place to stay with showers and toilets. We all had a quick shower (I've never seen so much mud on the ground after a shower before) and then went for dinner. Oh - even cleaning my ears was a chore - I still think I have red dirt in them!! Lucky that I had a scarf for my hair or I would probably still have red hair too!!
So that was about the extent of our time in Ouahigouya. Its the capital of northern Burkina. But there is nothing. Mostly street food - but after our journey we just wanted to sit with a beer and eat somewhere civilized. So we found a hotel with a restaurant that served chicken or steak. We had them cook us a couple chickens, had a few beers then went back to bed.
We slept in a bit in the AM. Jerome (the French guy) took off early, but Geoff, Eti and I caught the later bus at 8:30am. Again - it was just a mini bus that they packed full of people. Eti and I got to sit at the front by the driver - which I thought would be good - but again for a 4 hour journey - we were still crammed in. Everytime the driver had to shift I needed to move! And we stopped constantly. They put a motorcycle on top of the bus to transport it like 50km!! I don't know why they didn't drive as it takes a while to load and unload a motorcycle. Anyways - it was a long journey. But at least this time the road was paved so not as much dust!! They put amazing things on top of buses. One had a full grown bull on top of it. I don't know how they got it there or how they were getting it down - but amazing. Oh - and even better...one of the motorcycles in a town we passed had a bull in the basket on the back. Of course they couldn't get the bike to stand back up...and it seems a bit dangerous because if the bull wiggles at all during the journey I think the bike would fall over, but they were trying. And the poor goats - they can fit a LOT of goats into a motorcycle basket. Just imagine how many goats can fit if a bull can fit!!! I think they had like 30-50 in one!! With heads and feet sticking out all over. And the goats are still alive!! I'm not an animal rights person by any means - but wow...that was tough to see!
Anyways - we survived that bus journey too and finally arrived in our last solo destination - Ouagadougou (Wagadogoo). This is where we will wait for the truck to meet up with us. Its kind of a boring shit hole (to use that term again). And the people aren't as nice as Mali. There is a lot more begging. Mali is quite poor but there weren't as many beggars - or at least they weren't in your face begging. Here they are just everywhere with their hands out. And I had my shoes (old shitty ones) strapped to my backpack and people just seemed to expect that I would give them away. I think they are too used to aid workers here and see all white people as just wanting to give them stuff. That might be an over generalization of a whole country - but I don't really like it here.
So anyways - originally we thought it would be really lucky if we were able to catch up with the truck. But it turns out that they spent 10 nights in Bamako waiting for their Nigerian visas. And the funny thing - they left this morning and weren't able to get the visas. So they spent 10 days in a shitty campsite in a dirty city for NOTHING!!! I am actually interested to meet up with everyone to see how morale is. If I had been there waiting with them I prolly would have killed someone by now!!
Anyways - so it looks like the truck will arrive in town on Saturday. Sadly its only Thursday. So I spent the day today in bed with a sick stomach...and tomorrow at 7am there is a cool ritual thing at the palace but otherwise there is nothing in town. My room is shitty but it has AC and a bathroom. The water only works about half the days...and the toilet has no seat - both of which aren't nice when you have stomach issues. But I've survived...and I recovered enough to go out and have pizza this evening. This town is quite expat oriented so there are lots of western restaurants - including one with woodfired pizza! Yum!! I can't say my stomach feels better after eating it - but it doesn't feel much worse.
So on that note. I'm going to bed so I can wake up super early tomorrow and see the one semi-interesting thing the town has to offer. Then I'll prolly sleep all day again. Luckily there is free wifi (most of the time) in my room. So while I lay around sick all day I can catch up on facebook and the news!! But of course the wifi doesn't work now - so I'll have to post this tomorrow! Good night!
Did I mention the other day when we were trekking we went down a rather steep incline. It was all rocks and I had to hold on to the sides to balance so I could get down. We paused in the middle so our guide could tell us some history of the area and like 6 women came down. They each were balancing a tub full of veg on their heads to bring to the market in the next town and most of them had a baby strapped to their backs. And they were walking down the hill no problem!! LOL - we took some pics and they made us pay - then they laughed at me and said we needed to be friends and they would show me how to walk and carry stuff on my head. Awww - I loved Dogon Country - such friendly people!! Anyways - so everyone was going to market and mini buses would come along and everyone would strap their stuff to the tops and pile in (some would also pile onto the top) and drive off. We must've gotten into on of the posh ones because there were only a few of us inside! But we got to Burkinass but didn't get to go to the market because we had to focus on getting a bus to Koro. So we stopped at the "bus station" and had some people start looking. I think from there we found a guy that had a car and was willing to take us to Koro...after a lot of negotiating we got a semi-reasonable price and off we went. It was quite a comfortable ride in a relatively new car. So up to this point the journey wasn't too bad. All things looked good for getting from Koro and then across the border and into Burkina Faso. Well, Koro is where our luck ended. The big bus services that used to cross the border are no longer in service. So we had to sign up for a mini bus service. These go whenever the bus is full. These mini buses are about the oldest things you have ever seen!! In the UK they would have failed their MOT like 10 years ago!! So not only are they falling apart (all the ones I've been in have had to be pushed to get them started) but they jam an unreal number of people into them. So our bus needed 20 people to leave. So we got it to number 11. Then we just had to wait. So we had lunch and sat around in the shade (its so bloody hot). The guy tried to get us to pay for the rest of the seats, but we decided we had time to wait. I should have paid for the rest of the seats. We finally left Koro around 2:30. The road is unpaved...we were hoping it was just unpaved until the border and then in Burkina it would miraculously be paved and smooth. No such luck. The dirt is super thick and dry and red. By the time we finished the journey you couldn't really tell who was black and who was white because we were all red!!! Thank god I had a scarf to cover my mouth with!! We got through the border reasonably easy but we had to stop before the border to get stamped out of Mali then stop to get stamped into Burkina and then there were like 3 police checks after that. One where we had to get our bags down and open them up for the inspection guy! Ugh!! All this in like 100 degree weather with dry red dust everywhere. Then we would have to jam ourselves back into the mini bus!! Miserable. The journey took about 4 hours all together. I think I was shell shocked by the end. There are no windows on the bus - so its all dust and wind and then bumps of unpaved Africa roads. But eventually - after lots of misery - we arrived in Ouahigouya (Weegooya). Shell shocked we got off the bus and had to find a place to stay. Luckily its a small town. So after learning there were 3 buses to Ouagadougou in the morning - we went off to a cheap hotel.
Now its like 6:30 so of course I'm starving and so is geoff so we are all getting a bit grumpy. But we found a semi-decent place to stay with showers and toilets. We all had a quick shower (I've never seen so much mud on the ground after a shower before) and then went for dinner. Oh - even cleaning my ears was a chore - I still think I have red dirt in them!! Lucky that I had a scarf for my hair or I would probably still have red hair too!!
So that was about the extent of our time in Ouahigouya. Its the capital of northern Burkina. But there is nothing. Mostly street food - but after our journey we just wanted to sit with a beer and eat somewhere civilized. So we found a hotel with a restaurant that served chicken or steak. We had them cook us a couple chickens, had a few beers then went back to bed.
We slept in a bit in the AM. Jerome (the French guy) took off early, but Geoff, Eti and I caught the later bus at 8:30am. Again - it was just a mini bus that they packed full of people. Eti and I got to sit at the front by the driver - which I thought would be good - but again for a 4 hour journey - we were still crammed in. Everytime the driver had to shift I needed to move! And we stopped constantly. They put a motorcycle on top of the bus to transport it like 50km!! I don't know why they didn't drive as it takes a while to load and unload a motorcycle. Anyways - it was a long journey. But at least this time the road was paved so not as much dust!! They put amazing things on top of buses. One had a full grown bull on top of it. I don't know how they got it there or how they were getting it down - but amazing. Oh - and even better...one of the motorcycles in a town we passed had a bull in the basket on the back. Of course they couldn't get the bike to stand back up...and it seems a bit dangerous because if the bull wiggles at all during the journey I think the bike would fall over, but they were trying. And the poor goats - they can fit a LOT of goats into a motorcycle basket. Just imagine how many goats can fit if a bull can fit!!! I think they had like 30-50 in one!! With heads and feet sticking out all over. And the goats are still alive!! I'm not an animal rights person by any means - but wow...that was tough to see!
Anyways - we survived that bus journey too and finally arrived in our last solo destination - Ouagadougou (Wagadogoo). This is where we will wait for the truck to meet up with us. Its kind of a boring shit hole (to use that term again). And the people aren't as nice as Mali. There is a lot more begging. Mali is quite poor but there weren't as many beggars - or at least they weren't in your face begging. Here they are just everywhere with their hands out. And I had my shoes (old shitty ones) strapped to my backpack and people just seemed to expect that I would give them away. I think they are too used to aid workers here and see all white people as just wanting to give them stuff. That might be an over generalization of a whole country - but I don't really like it here.
So anyways - originally we thought it would be really lucky if we were able to catch up with the truck. But it turns out that they spent 10 nights in Bamako waiting for their Nigerian visas. And the funny thing - they left this morning and weren't able to get the visas. So they spent 10 days in a shitty campsite in a dirty city for NOTHING!!! I am actually interested to meet up with everyone to see how morale is. If I had been there waiting with them I prolly would have killed someone by now!!
Anyways - so it looks like the truck will arrive in town on Saturday. Sadly its only Thursday. So I spent the day today in bed with a sick stomach...and tomorrow at 7am there is a cool ritual thing at the palace but otherwise there is nothing in town. My room is shitty but it has AC and a bathroom. The water only works about half the days...and the toilet has no seat - both of which aren't nice when you have stomach issues. But I've survived...and I recovered enough to go out and have pizza this evening. This town is quite expat oriented so there are lots of western restaurants - including one with woodfired pizza! Yum!! I can't say my stomach feels better after eating it - but it doesn't feel much worse.
So on that note. I'm going to bed so I can wake up super early tomorrow and see the one semi-interesting thing the town has to offer. Then I'll prolly sleep all day again. Luckily there is free wifi (most of the time) in my room. So while I lay around sick all day I can catch up on facebook and the news!! But of course the wifi doesn't work now - so I'll have to post this tomorrow! Good night!
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