old tiger's Blog

So..goodbye Abidjan..did not like that city too much..
bit too French Paris style??and that sticky heat...woohh..
so..went back up north...to N'Douci..we had a stop there..
taxi brousse picks up folks..I saw a pile of pineapples in N'Douci..
could not resist..the extra vitamins..ahah..reached Bouak? again..
http://goafrica.about.com/library/bl.mapfacts.ivorycoast.htm
the lady from the grill stand..remembered my face..
don't recall where I stayed..next day..was aiming for Katiola..
and maybe Bobo again..I liked Bobo..so..was hoping to get there...
the French missionary...was always there..I told that priest..
I might come back to Bobo Dioulasso one day...ahah..
after that place..It was gonna be Ouaga=Ouagadougou..
and after that Niamey(Niger)..I'll keep you all reading..is it??
crazy Tiger

Well..took a taxi brousse..from Bouak? to Abidjan..
I was quite confused...of Abidjan city..capital..allright??
it was luxury..not the real Africa i knew..there are 2 regio's
in Abidjan called Treichville and Adjam?..that's Africa..
the Plateau..was just a French impression of Africa..
skyscapers..hotel Ivoire..luxury shops..fashion..money..
the real Africa..is in the villages..not in cities like Abidjan..
I did not like Abidjan as such..and..it's a humid sticky climate..
Abidjan..is called Paris of West Africa..ahah..nice African ladies.
with lots of money..on their way to the hairdressers..beauty shop??
beauty..is in the heart..I rather enjoyed my visit to the village chief..
big hotels..fancy restaurants of Abidjan...were not for my pocket..
and one more thing...the contrast..of rich and poor in Abidjan..
created a kind of criminality and paranoia..even in the 70's...
you should have seen the armed guards in front of a big bank..
Treichville is the hookers district..dangerous to go..
criminality...was a clash between culture gaps...even then..
I did only stay 1 day in Abidjan..I saw..and I went..
could not go to Ghana..pity..I would have loved to visit..
no time..no visa..no money left??
instead..I went back up north..
reached N'douci by taxi brousse.I recall the pineapples there..
I'll try to find a good link for Abidjan..
Tiger..

I went by train towards Bouak?...nice ride it was..
a train trip in Africa..is where you meet the people..
same as taxi brousse rides..Bouak? was a nice town..
stayed a day there..very loveley nature in Ivory coast..
it was all so tropical..and green..huge trees..
Ivory Coast is known for pineapples..I stocked up on them..
very cheap..and good source of vitamins as well..
all over in Africa..I found these little roadstalls..
for a coffee..or grilled meat..very cheap food..
and great talking..with the locals..
Bouak? is Baoul? tribe country..
they make beautiful artifacts..masks etc...
nice local market..called Grand March?..
the usual African stuff in there..
I'll try to find a link about Bouak?..
Tiger

So...after 4 days waterfall scenery...walked back to Banfora..
real hot day..I recall..we put up for 1 night in a local hotel..
something weird happened that evening..in the bar of the hotel..
some locals got drunk on local beer...now..one advice..never get
into a fight with drunk Africans...it can become really nasty..
one of these dudes..made a remark to Alain..the French dude..
this fellow(Alain)was a bit of a hothead..he did not take that
remark...and it almost ended up in a fight..the hotel manager..
kept his cool...and things got solved..before worser happened...
funny..it's like nowadays..some people like to judge others...
but they hate it..when they are judged themselves...
well..anyway..modern world..so..we left Banfora by taxi brousse..
towards Niangoloko-Yender?..the border town ..
between Upper Volta and Ivory coast..the customs..did examine
our luggage..and passports..it took awhile to cross into Ivory Coast..
just to give importance to their uniforms..I guess..power game...
Ivory Coast..another nice country..the French dudes were gonna
say goodbye in Ferkess?dougou(Ferk?)because they wanted to go
to Korhogo..to visit some local tribe called Senoufo..I was gonna down
alone towards Bouak?-Abidjan..my plan was Ghana as well..
but did not realize that..pity..I wished I could have visited Ghana...
so we reached Ferk?..town in the north of Ivory Coast..
pity I could not go to Korhogo..Senoufo tribe..
well..very interesting tribe..
they have sacred places in the forests...for girls..for boys..
initiation rituals..some whitchcraft,local masked dances..
where the dancers..get into a wild trance...
it's called Poro,I believe??really mysterious..
pity..but...I was thinking about my money situation..
still a long way back up north to Tunisia..
crossing the Sahara..one never knows...what it will cost??
I will tell you about Ferk?..and the Ivory coast later on..
very lush vegetation in Ivory Coast..real nice nature..
specially down south of Bouake-N'douci..
Tiger..

So..time to say goodbye to Bobo..nice place..very African..
Banfora was not that far south of Bobo..we reached soon enough..
got some information about that waterfall..I believe it was 15kms
away from Banfora..we stayed in Banfora that day..nothing special..
we met a whole group of French construction builders..they were
setting up some factory nearby...all they talked about was women..
hookers..did not like these dudes...we decided to walk that distance
to the waterfalls..it would take us maybe 2 hours..the sun..
can be scorching in december in Africa...so..next morning..
we set off..from Banfora...to Karfigu?la..we reached that place..
like I said..in 2 hours time..now..this place..was so nice..
we set up camp there..I mean..we decided to pick up a place..
where we could spread our sleeping bags..it was on a steep rock..
the waterfalls were down..it's so nice..to see a waterfall in Africa..
Karfigu?la was a place..very remote...absolute silence..nature..
we stayed there for 4 days...of course we took our precautions..
and stocked up well in food at a Banfora shop..mostly coffee..
and tinned stuff...sardines..dried fruits..just survival stuff..
one day...one tribal dude..came to the place where we stayed..
he did not speak French..just pointing out..he was living in a village..
somewhere down..these people..lived far from civilisation..
one day..on one of our walks down to the waterfall..we found signs..
of that tribe..a monkey skull..put up on a stick..just in the middle..
of nowhere...strange...after 4 days of this Robison Crusoe stuff..
ahahah..we got sick of it..and walked back to Banfora town...
I'll try to get a link about Banfora-Karfigu?la..
below..a link with a picture of Karfigu?la waterfall..brings back memories..uhuh..
http://www.twip.org/image-africa-burkina-faso-banfora-waterfalls-banfora-falls-en-6623-2054.html
Tiger