Being on cook group I was up around 6:00 and we were ready to roll out around 8:00. Bad news though, a bypass hose on the heater burst and Dave had to traipse all over town to get some parts welded at a small machine shop. We went in on our way out of town and said a mass thank you for their service. People in Ghana are very formal. I think it is left over from the British days.
We got on our way around 10:30 and were at the border into Burkina Faso about an hour later. The border was in the middle of Paga. First we had to check out of Ghana, then go and get our Burkina Faso visa, then transfer some money through the money sharks waiting outside the police station, then finally, after doing another group "thank you" to the police, head across the border around 5. We sat outside the police station and made our lunch, which we shared with some of the border officials. They loved it!! So now we are in Burkina Faso. Same sort of scenery, little villages with round mud brick huts, and sun baked ground with goats, and now donkeys, running all over. Mosques are becoming more prominent in all of the little villages. We headed straight north to Ougadougou, the capital about 200 km maybe. We also had the usual police/army checks, but at one of the checks we were given two armed guards to travel with us. Apparently there had been a highjacking earlier that day, and I guess tourists and other groups were being made to travel with armed guards. The only thing that bothered us was there was not any way of really telling if these guys were police, militia, or legit, or if in fact they were the bandits and they were going to pull their guns on us. So, it was a tense half hour's drive through a very deserted part of the countryside. However, we got to the next check point, and off they got. It got a little busier after that and soon we were entering Ougadougou.
Our hotel The OK Hotel, is quite nice and we upgraded to quite a quaint little room. I think it is about 54EU. For the first time in Africa, we have hot water! Funny though, it is too hot and one of the guys came down with a scalded leg. We met in the bar and a group of us decided to go to a restaurant called Le Jardin Ammitie - something like that!! We got out to the main road after walking through the truck stop that separates the hotel from the main road. Wow, are there trucks, masses and masses of them; most overloaded. In fact one vehicle was so overloaded it was lying up against another vehicle and would have fallen over if the load hadn't had something to rest against. We grabbed two cabs and got in. Well, our cab wouldn't start, so eventually we have about 4 guys out there pushing it down the road to jump start it. Then we were off. You are never sure if the drivers really understand you, or know where you are going, but you always set off with them confidently telling you they do!! The restaurant was quite an interesting place. Just like an outdoor garden with tables, and a stage. There was a guy on stilts entertaining the patrons, then some bands came on. The food was awful though, and it wasn't very busy and we agreed a bit of a rip off!! Ray and I left after that although the others went on to new adventures in the nightclubs and a reggae bar.
This morning we had a nice relaxed hot shower and were down for breakfast around 9. Decided to go to see some skulptures out of town. I am not very good with museums, and also we weren't sure they were open it being Sunday - which we later found out they were not. I had read about the sculpture site at Laongo where each year foreign artists are invited to come and do some sculptures in the granite rocks that abound in the area. It was really unique with some quite interesting skulptures done by people around the world, including Canada. They mostly depicted life in Burkina.
When we arrived, we were a little alarmed to see a trotro drive past with 2 armed guards on the roof, along with some other people and their luggage. But apart from a few jokes about bandits didn't really think anything more of it. We had come a rather long way on a rather deserted road to get there. When we were ready to go, our taxi had a flat tyre so had to wait till that got fixed and then we were on our way....back down the rather deserted road. Arrived safely in town and stopped at an ATM. Taxi wouldn't start...so Ray and Jamie got out and started pushing. I think this caused quite a stir as everyone seemed to be getting a good chuckle from it. Got the car going though and soon we were back at the hotel. Shortly after, I walked into the bar and Dave our leader came up to me and said that he had heard that we had headed into the "red zone" in the afternoon and seemed quite alarmed that we would have done so. So, I guess maybe we should have been a little more cognizant as to where we are because we were heading close to the Mali border. Anyway, that explained the armed guards; fortunately we are safe, and will be a little more cautious in future!!
We are looking forward to some more culinary experiences tonight which I can probably tell you about tomorrow as we don't leave here till around 10:30 a.m.
We got on our way around 10:30 and were at the border into Burkina Faso about an hour later. The border was in the middle of Paga. First we had to check out of Ghana, then go and get our Burkina Faso visa, then transfer some money through the money sharks waiting outside the police station, then finally, after doing another group "thank you" to the police, head across the border around 5. We sat outside the police station and made our lunch, which we shared with some of the border officials. They loved it!! So now we are in Burkina Faso. Same sort of scenery, little villages with round mud brick huts, and sun baked ground with goats, and now donkeys, running all over. Mosques are becoming more prominent in all of the little villages. We headed straight north to Ougadougou, the capital about 200 km maybe. We also had the usual police/army checks, but at one of the checks we were given two armed guards to travel with us. Apparently there had been a highjacking earlier that day, and I guess tourists and other groups were being made to travel with armed guards. The only thing that bothered us was there was not any way of really telling if these guys were police, militia, or legit, or if in fact they were the bandits and they were going to pull their guns on us. So, it was a tense half hour's drive through a very deserted part of the countryside. However, we got to the next check point, and off they got. It got a little busier after that and soon we were entering Ougadougou.
Our hotel The OK Hotel, is quite nice and we upgraded to quite a quaint little room. I think it is about 54EU. For the first time in Africa, we have hot water! Funny though, it is too hot and one of the guys came down with a scalded leg. We met in the bar and a group of us decided to go to a restaurant called Le Jardin Ammitie - something like that!! We got out to the main road after walking through the truck stop that separates the hotel from the main road. Wow, are there trucks, masses and masses of them; most overloaded. In fact one vehicle was so overloaded it was lying up against another vehicle and would have fallen over if the load hadn't had something to rest against. We grabbed two cabs and got in. Well, our cab wouldn't start, so eventually we have about 4 guys out there pushing it down the road to jump start it. Then we were off. You are never sure if the drivers really understand you, or know where you are going, but you always set off with them confidently telling you they do!! The restaurant was quite an interesting place. Just like an outdoor garden with tables, and a stage. There was a guy on stilts entertaining the patrons, then some bands came on. The food was awful though, and it wasn't very busy and we agreed a bit of a rip off!! Ray and I left after that although the others went on to new adventures in the nightclubs and a reggae bar.
This morning we had a nice relaxed hot shower and were down for breakfast around 9. Decided to go to see some skulptures out of town. I am not very good with museums, and also we weren't sure they were open it being Sunday - which we later found out they were not. I had read about the sculpture site at Laongo where each year foreign artists are invited to come and do some sculptures in the granite rocks that abound in the area. It was really unique with some quite interesting skulptures done by people around the world, including Canada. They mostly depicted life in Burkina.
When we arrived, we were a little alarmed to see a trotro drive past with 2 armed guards on the roof, along with some other people and their luggage. But apart from a few jokes about bandits didn't really think anything more of it. We had come a rather long way on a rather deserted road to get there. When we were ready to go, our taxi had a flat tyre so had to wait till that got fixed and then we were on our way....back down the rather deserted road. Arrived safely in town and stopped at an ATM. Taxi wouldn't start...so Ray and Jamie got out and started pushing. I think this caused quite a stir as everyone seemed to be getting a good chuckle from it. Got the car going though and soon we were back at the hotel. Shortly after, I walked into the bar and Dave our leader came up to me and said that he had heard that we had headed into the "red zone" in the afternoon and seemed quite alarmed that we would have done so. So, I guess maybe we should have been a little more cognizant as to where we are because we were heading close to the Mali border. Anyway, that explained the armed guards; fortunately we are safe, and will be a little more cautious in future!!
We are looking forward to some more culinary experiences tonight which I can probably tell you about tomorrow as we don't leave here till around 10:30 a.m.
1 comment:
Hi, Liz and Ray-
Saw an interview of the president of Burkina Faso last night. CBC is in BF and interviewed him about the request by him and other African leaders for millions of aid dollars for the refugee camps that have sprung up within their borders for the Malians fleeing their country. There is a big camp inside BF's northern border. Say safe.
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