Banfora Archives - Wandering North

Africa Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Trip 2016

Bus from Banfora, Burkina Faso

I left Banfora for Ouagadougou on the bus. I had hoped to bus to Bobo-Dioulasso and fly the rest of the way but there were no flights on Sunday, so i committed to a bus journey of indeterminate length. The buses here seem to leave punctually but the arrival times are vague. This is due mostly to the great number of security checkpoints, which i understand have increased. About every thirty minutes a couple of machine gun bearing soldiers will either board the bus or haul everyone off the bus to check IDs. No questions are asked. I can’t figure out what they are looking for. So this slowed down the journey a lot.

The bus was crammed with people and about half of the women had babies or toddlers on their laps, including the woman next to me. On the whole ride music and videos were played at a volume that was not extreme, but on the loud side. Decent African music in the more traditional or jazzy vein, as well as contemporary African pop music, accompanied by videos that showed women of all sizes shaking their asses, and men dressed as though they were in early 1990s rap music videos. At one point they showed the movie “Taken” in French, which i quite enjoyed; otherwise i listened to podcasts.

Every time the bus stopped women would appear and flock to the windows, selling fruits, bread, hard boiled eggs, chicken, fish, farina beignets, bags of onions, baguettes, and little sesame snacks. People leaned out of the windows, buying the food and before long the smell of body odour on the bus was replaced by a variety of food smells.

At the only stop long enough take a brief break, i dashed off the bus for the toilet, which was a squat thing which became immersed in total darkness once the door was closed. I’m fairly certain i peed on my own foot.

The seats had no legroom and i spent my time with my knees jammed into the back of the seat in front of me. There was AC, but it barely functioned, so i sat sweating the whole way.

If this all sounds like 9 hours of horror, well, while it was not pleasant, it wasn’t that bad. I was able to relax. The child and woman next to me where quiet. I slept a bit. And like i said, they showed Taken.

I arrived in Ouagadougou just before sunset and hailed a taxi to my hotel (the lovely Chez Giuliana). Once there i showered vigorously and had a vegetarian pizza delivered (as there are no restaurants in the immediate vicinity). I ate my pizza and enjoyed two cigars under the stars in courtyard before falling asleep. The next day i would be back on the bus.

Africa Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Trip 2016

Burkina Faso Village Hospitality

My final full day in Banfora started as did the day before: roosters and coffee. I made a little coffee at the house once i got over my fear of the gas stove, and then returned to the local corner cafe for an espresso. Today all of the men were filling out their racing forms. There are gambling kiosks here everywhere painted with pots of gold and horses head. People (men) bet on horse races in France hoping to win big. They din’t get to see the races, not even on TV. It seems to be a popular pastime. I was asked to assist with picking horses. The only one that jumped out at me was La Baguette Magique.

My guide picked me up on the moto and we headed on a dirt road through fields of sugar cane for Domes de Fabridougou. Similar to the Sindou Peaks i saw yesterday, but more round and less pointy. Still, it was nice to go on the hike. It was so serene and beautiful and hot, but dry. We hiked and sat on the top of a dome and took in the view and i had a smoke, trying to be in the moment as much as possible. On a dome, in Western Burkina Faso.

We left and, much to my surprise, made a stop in my guide’s village, near the domes. This is where he grew up until he was 15 and where most of his family lives, including his mother and daughters. About 25 people live in the small collection of tiny huts in the middle of the fields under a huge tree. Some smoke French, but all spoke in a local, tribal language (not Moore, something else).

This was some serious, rural poverty. Not all the kids has clothes and those they had were in very poor repair. No water or electricity. No phone, no lights, no motorcar. But they were very friendly and hospitable. They swept off a place in the dirt, clearing it from debris, and laid out a straw mat for me to sit on. Several of the women and children started making lunch for my guide and i. While they cooked i sat and watched women tend to the children and the women and children doing each other’s hair in braids. I tried to make some small talk, but mostly it was a lot of smiling.

After that my guide took me to two more unexpected stops. First was a visit to a ritual sacrifice area for the animists, of which he is one. Around a beautiful pool ringed with ricks and trees the ground was thickly carpeted in white chicken feathers. It looked like snow. The trunk of one tall palm tree was thickly hung with ropes, which were tied on to skulls, jaw bones, goat legs, and what looked like the skin of a cow’s face and head. From other trees and from the rock wall around the pool were more ropes dangling bones, skulls, and rocks. All for sacrifice and offerings or protection.

It was really interesting but it really looked like something out of a horror movie. Like if Leatherface and the Blairwitch collaborated on a little outdoor decorating.

Near the sacrifice area was the waterfall, which is a ridiculously picturesque series of small waterfalls and green, tropical pools. Had i been prepared i could have gone swimming. It was so beautiful it looked like something created for a film or Disneyland.

I usually don’t want a guide because i prefer to do things myself, but this was a time when i really could not have seen everything i did had i just been alone.

The ride back to Banfora from the village was terrifying. It was dusk to dark. The road was so bumpy that at times i bounced off my seat. We dodged small goats, a large lizard, and regular size pigs. We brushed shoulders with herds of cows. Not only was it dark and treacherous, but it was windy and the dirt road coughed up a haze of orange. I was certain that i would die, but was delivered to my lodging safely, and quite filthy.

I spent the rest of the evening chatting with Marion, the owner of the house at which i stayed and playing with the many kittens and puppies.

Banfora was delightful. Full of outdoorsy retreats and adventures. The next day i would return to Ouagadougou.

Africa Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Trip 2016

Sindou et Banfora

My second or third day in Banfora began when the roosters started crowing. I showered and headed out in search of coffee. The main, central restaurant here is McDonald’s…that is, a local restaurant with the name but which otherwise bears no similarities to the chain. I went there, as i had had a yummy vegetable couscous the previous day, but it was closed.

So i walked around looking for some place that looked like it served coffee. Success! A little café, typical in that it is basically just a corrugated tin roof, a wooden counter and some chairs. Different in that it had a TV and and espresso machine (most places just boil water for instant coffee). It was a good spot. Men sat around watching boxing and it was on a corner, good for people watching.

After that, Djubrie, my guide, picked me up on the moto and we headed for the country. I’m getting more comfortable with the no helmet thing, but it doesn’t help that the distance markers on the highway are shaped like cemetery headstones.

We had to stop for the police a couple of times to show ID. Apparently this is a recent thing. This area of Burkina Faso is currently in the “orange zone”, meaning that there is some additional threat of violence. A girl i met in Bobo Dioulasso was there working for an NGO and wanted to go to Banfora but was not allowed to go because of the potential for violence. But nothing here seems threatening to me.

We stopped at a village on the way where my guide knew the people. I was shown around. There were women preparing bissap flowers for boiling to make juice, women pounding rice with big wooden poles to separate the husks and then sifting then to get at the rice. Men shelling peanuts. Children chasing chickens and staring at me with curiosity. I learned that the women live in the round huts and men in the square ones. (I don’t know how this plays out for married couples.) Unlike other villages i have been to, there was no electricity. Lots of goats and a few sheep. They were kind enough to let me try my hand at rice pounding and to take some photos and one man filled my bag with fresh peanuts before we left.

We carried on. It was about an hour or so to the peaks, diverting down a dirt road under a canopy of trees. When we arrived we were the only ones there. It was majestic and peaceful, hiking through the wind worn rock towers.

Climbing up we had a terrific view of the green valley.

After that we went to a little camp of huts and a lunch of cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions was prepared. We ate and i relaxed in a hammock with a cigar, watching chickens and goats and children playing with sticks and hoops. Very peaceful.

We then rode back to Banfora, stopping at another village where my guide had some family. I sat with some old men, smiling and not able to communicate (they spoke only Moore), while my guide tended to some business. Then we were on our way again.

Back at the house i slept then ventured out into the dark streets in search of dinner. Rice with peanut sauce. The streets were busy with traffic, women still selling fruits and vegetables and every roadside shack had a fire going, with meat and fish set to grill. I spent the rest of the evening at the house, relaxing under the stars with a book.

Africa Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Trip 2016

Hippos!

I left Bobo Dioulasso at 10:15 am on a Rakeita bus for Banfora. About a 1.5 hour journey. The bus had teeny tiny seats and leg room that made a flight on a budget airline seem luxurious. There was AC, but it wasn’t working. Thankfully i had a seat by an open window and no seatmate. The journey (despite being hot – the temperature on the bus was between 37 and 39) was pleasant. Rural scenery flowed by. Fields tilled by oxen, small villages, cotton fields, women washing clothes and pumping water, children playing with odds and ends. I snapped a few pictures through the window along the way.

We were stopped about 4 times by police road blocks. Police came on the bus and checked everyone’s ID each time, but beyond that it was a smooth journey.

In Bobo, the women who owned the hotel arranged me a guide in Banfora, as the sights here are nature ones and you need a vehicle to visit them. His name was Djubrie and he met me at the bus station. Being the only whole person and only of the only women on the bus, i was easy to find. I had my backpack and i walked with him to his vehicle, which was, as i feared, a motorbike. And of course, no helmets are available. This goes against everything i have been raised to believe. You never ride a two wheeled contraption without a helmet, right? But, there i was and everyone else was doing it, so i hopped on. We zipped through the streets, which were very poor. Only the two main drags were paved. The others were soft, sandy, orange dirt with stones and garbage. More people here walked or rode bicycles than in the previous two cities. More goats and sheep wandering about. But we swerved around it all.

My lodging is a private house from which the owners rent out a couple of rooms.i think i am the only one staying here. The owners are not here now but emailed me a welcome and someone was here to let me in. I have a simple room with a fan and shared bathroom. There is a lovely yard, with seating and a patio, plants, an orange tree, a dog with puppies, a cat with kittens, roosters and chickens.

I settled in and then my guide picked me up (again on the motorbike) and we left Banfora and headed to Tengrela. The countryside was lovely. The corn fields had been harvested, but there were green fields of rice and sesame and the air grew cooler as we zipped along. We left the road and went through the trees, near a village and stopped at a huge baobab tree.

Another man appeared and told me the story of this sacred baobab tree. It was in French, but as best as i could glean the tree is over 500 years old and it has a natural door leading to its hollow interior where a long time ago people from the village hid inside the tree during a war and survived. So now the tree is worshiped and there are sacrifices made there regularly and a festival annually.

Yes, i did go inside the tree and it was very large inside. No cookie making elves spotted.

From there we went to Lake Tengrela. It was late in the day and the lake was golden. A couple of fishermen were out, pulling in their nets.

We walked closer to the edge of the lake and then we hear loud grunting noises and saw a spray of water. Then i saw a hippopotamus leap out of the water. Imagine seeing a dolphin jump out of the water. It was like that, but less graceful and the size of a car. Amazing. There appeared to be three hippos. They mostly stayed underwater, but would poke their noses out of the water periodically and sometimes their whole heads. And periodically two of the hippos would jump out of the water and lunge at each other. From other places in the lake we could hear other hippos grunting and splashing. It was incredible. I didn’t want to stand there staring through my camera and ruin the moment so i just held it up next to my face and snapped pictures every time a hippo popped out of the water. Consequently, i have a lot of photos of water, sky, and blurs. But i did get a few decent pictures. The only thing i can compare it to (because it was totally different from seeing the hyenas in Ethiopia) is: you know the part in Jurassic Park where they first see the dinosaurs? That part always chokes me up. This was like that, but way better.

We then sat at a spot near a house, a bit further back from the lake (there people there have set up tables and chairs and sell water and soda) and watched the lake. Again, we saw a giant hippo jump out of the water. The sun began to set and just before it got dark we set off back for the city.
It was an amazing experience.

In the evening i went with Djubrie for dinner and i had a delicious vegetarian pizza. I didn’t care for riding the motorbike at night with few to no streetlights and off the paved roads, but i figured i would do it that one time. Djubrie does not speak any English at all, but he speaks in French slowly and uses small words so i can understand. I am actually impressed by how much French i am able to recall. I speak slowly and awkwardly, but i know a lot of words and can usually make myself understood. I consider it a success.

A perfect day in Banfora.

Tag: Banfora