Friday Feb 1 - Sindou Peaks - Soutrala
Had another good nights sleep without interruption and up in the morning for breakfast at 8. Breakfast today was porridge, and a fruit mix of paw paw and mango, grapefruit segments to die for, and toast if you wanted it. The bread here is fantastic. I guess the French influence it is mainly baguette. Our cook group is up for dinner tomorrow night and breakfast the following morning so we had to go shopping in the market in Banfora. We went through the covered market but didn't find too much there so ended up out on the streets where all the vegetables were. They had bright green, crisp lettuce; small bright red plum like tomatoes; little garden eggs; massive courgettes, aubergines, fresh green beans, plump cabbages; even ssome potatoes; and of course yam. The other exciting stalls were the spice stalls all kinds of marsala, and the others I didn't really recognize. But there was lots of food. We tried hard to find meat or chicken without too much luck. We did eventually find this old building set back from the main street - like a big aluminium shed where they had tables set up for cutting up the carcasses of meet. There wasn't a lot in there, and what we saw we decided to pass. We had noticed one stall in the market where an old man sat chopping up meat which was immediately swarmed by the flies - so we ended up planning a vegetarian meal of veg and rice. Not the most balanced diet, but what else can we do? We have eggs for breakfast, with pineapple and bananas so a little protein there, and then dinner we will do the veg like a stir fry and serve it with flavoured rice. The 'super market" was another store not to be missed. It was a small dark metal building with not very much in it. Tons of biscuits, tinned spam, tinned veg such as corn, lots of Fanta and Coke, some spirits such as scotch and rum, and I even noticed wine. I was looking for milk and went on a search of the town but didn't find any packets of milk. Shopping is a great experience!! The women were lovely, and bargained, and laughed, and generally enjoyed the white shoppers.
We came back to the truck to find our driver had been hauled off to the police station for parking in the main street. There are no 'no parking' rules, so it is all explained by being in Africa. The police didn't know what to do so the next thing is that the military arrived! Well, they didn't know what to do either, so they left, Dave came back and we got in the truck and drove off! A study of Africa is fascinating. In many instances they just don't know how to handle situations and phaff around with conversation. It usally ends with lots of laughter and handshakes all round.
We drove down a red road lined with trees. We went through an area with lots of bigger trees, then back into the Savanah. Burkina seems to have more farming than Ghana, but it does seem very much poorer and the people appear less educated. There seem to have been some huge plantations here and often we will see buildings and other structures that were clearly built in the 50s but have not been maintained and are now in ruin. What happened in between? Why has Africa not continued the development? There are so many questions here with no answers.
The road looked more like a track cut through the trees - really bumpy, dusty, and of course red. We are staying in a campement at the Sindou Peak -Campement de Liberte - something like that. It is another rocky formation that stands above all of the flat land and stretches from here into Mali. The shapes are quite "phallic" and walking through them was like walking through the Valley of Death. It was a very powerful experience, beautiful in some sort of macabre way.I think the r ocks were left behind when the surronding softer rock wasworn away and have been weathered over the years to from the symbols, and shapes found today.
We got back to the campement, where we actually have running water for a shower, but the most horrible drop box toilets that stink of urine and are alive with the sound of the buzzing flies. The bush is much nicer but there are so mnay people around that it is hard to find a spot where there are no little faces watching, pointing, and laughing. One little kid tried to take my toilet roll from me this morning in Banfora.....they couldn't see what it was - they just wanted it. This is a real issue here. Everyone sees "white man" - they should give us something. I guess we have done it to ourselves when you consider all the aid we have poured into the country. Dambisa Moyo has a reall point in her book on "Dead Aid".
The police arrived just before I went for the shower and seem to be staying over night in the mud huts which we could have "upgraded to". Actually they are not badl. Like a yurt in shape - round with peaked rooves, a bed and a small window...and a mosquite net inside. So, we should be safe tonight!! The police were aparently returning from a patrol on the Mali border.
Ray is on cook group and i am sitting drinking a beer, in the midst of our group, listening to all the conversations about photography, travel, and football, etc.
Had another good nights sleep without interruption and up in the morning for breakfast at 8. Breakfast today was porridge, and a fruit mix of paw paw and mango, grapefruit segments to die for, and toast if you wanted it. The bread here is fantastic. I guess the French influence it is mainly baguette. Our cook group is up for dinner tomorrow night and breakfast the following morning so we had to go shopping in the market in Banfora. We went through the covered market but didn't find too much there so ended up out on the streets where all the vegetables were. They had bright green, crisp lettuce; small bright red plum like tomatoes; little garden eggs; massive courgettes, aubergines, fresh green beans, plump cabbages; even ssome potatoes; and of course yam. The other exciting stalls were the spice stalls all kinds of marsala, and the others I didn't really recognize. But there was lots of food. We tried hard to find meat or chicken without too much luck. We did eventually find this old building set back from the main street - like a big aluminium shed where they had tables set up for cutting up the carcasses of meet. There wasn't a lot in there, and what we saw we decided to pass. We had noticed one stall in the market where an old man sat chopping up meat which was immediately swarmed by the flies - so we ended up planning a vegetarian meal of veg and rice. Not the most balanced diet, but what else can we do? We have eggs for breakfast, with pineapple and bananas so a little protein there, and then dinner we will do the veg like a stir fry and serve it with flavoured rice. The 'super market" was another store not to be missed. It was a small dark metal building with not very much in it. Tons of biscuits, tinned spam, tinned veg such as corn, lots of Fanta and Coke, some spirits such as scotch and rum, and I even noticed wine. I was looking for milk and went on a search of the town but didn't find any packets of milk. Shopping is a great experience!! The women were lovely, and bargained, and laughed, and generally enjoyed the white shoppers.
We came back to the truck to find our driver had been hauled off to the police station for parking in the main street. There are no 'no parking' rules, so it is all explained by being in Africa. The police didn't know what to do so the next thing is that the military arrived! Well, they didn't know what to do either, so they left, Dave came back and we got in the truck and drove off! A study of Africa is fascinating. In many instances they just don't know how to handle situations and phaff around with conversation. It usally ends with lots of laughter and handshakes all round.
We drove down a red road lined with trees. We went through an area with lots of bigger trees, then back into the Savanah. Burkina seems to have more farming than Ghana, but it does seem very much poorer and the people appear less educated. There seem to have been some huge plantations here and often we will see buildings and other structures that were clearly built in the 50s but have not been maintained and are now in ruin. What happened in between? Why has Africa not continued the development? There are so many questions here with no answers.
The road looked more like a track cut through the trees - really bumpy, dusty, and of course red. We are staying in a campement at the Sindou Peak -Campement de Liberte - something like that. It is another rocky formation that stands above all of the flat land and stretches from here into Mali. The shapes are quite "phallic" and walking through them was like walking through the Valley of Death. It was a very powerful experience, beautiful in some sort of macabre way.I think the r ocks were left behind when the surronding softer rock wasworn away and have been weathered over the years to from the symbols, and shapes found today.
We got back to the campement, where we actually have running water for a shower, but the most horrible drop box toilets that stink of urine and are alive with the sound of the buzzing flies. The bush is much nicer but there are so mnay people around that it is hard to find a spot where there are no little faces watching, pointing, and laughing. One little kid tried to take my toilet roll from me this morning in Banfora.....they couldn't see what it was - they just wanted it. This is a real issue here. Everyone sees "white man" - they should give us something. I guess we have done it to ourselves when you consider all the aid we have poured into the country. Dambisa Moyo has a reall point in her book on "Dead Aid".
The police arrived just before I went for the shower and seem to be staying over night in the mud huts which we could have "upgraded to". Actually they are not badl. Like a yurt in shape - round with peaked rooves, a bed and a small window...and a mosquite net inside. So, we should be safe tonight!! The police were aparently returning from a patrol on the Mali border.
Ray is on cook group and i am sitting drinking a beer, in the midst of our group, listening to all the conversations about photography, travel, and football, etc.
1 comment:
One time in Mexico we bought meat from a man who took it out of an unrefrigerated cooler, moved over to a chopping block, waved the flies off of the block, cut the meat, wrapped it in a banana leaf and handed it to us. The flies rested back onto the chopping block. We cooked the meat for a long, long time. Sherry
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