Burkina is an amazing country: so
laid-back and beautiful in its raw, Sahelian way. We soaked up being
on the edge of the desert, driving through low scrubby bushveld and
miombo woodland, stopping for water at small village pumps and
passing little surprises of small damned rivers where villagers were
washing (themselves and their vehicles), cattle were drinking and
where even our Pegs could have a little splash or two.
Our first stop was Kompienga Lake,
close to the border with Togo and Benin. We camped in the parking
lot and used the freezing cold pool. Abundant bird life held our
attention (we saw nearly 60 birds there) and one evening, a herd of
ellies made their way to the water's edge. And we weren't even in a
reserve.
On the way to Ouagadougou, we
bush-camped for two nights. Burkina-Faso isn't very densely
populated, so it was relatively easy to sneak into the bush away from
villages. Harder to keep Peggy quiet as she chased bats and swallows
competing for evening insects. One morning, we managed to get
slightly lost finding the road (see Jen's earlier post). Do you
really get lost, or do you just see more than you bargained for? I
wonder how the toothless men on bikes who we asked for directions
would answer that?
Ouaga was a real surprise. Wide
streets, gentle traffic and great shopping – gorgeous fabrics and
stunning brass work at the artisinals. By now we have the space to
stock up on curios, but not the money. Memories will have to do. In
Ouaga, we camped in the parking lot of the OK Inn Hotel. Parking lot
camping was a bit of a feature of Burkina!
From there we went on to
Bobo-Dioloussa, stopping at the Parc de Deux Bales en route, where
Peggy had her first close encounter with elephant who came to drink
at the river next to the camp. She wasn't that impressed and barked
a lot at them. Imagine being allowed to camp in a national park with
your dog! And then not getting kicked out when she barks!
In Bobo, we saw the beautiful
stick-and-mud mosque and then visited the old town which was
interesting, until we were shown the sacred catfish flopping around a
stinking pool of water! Part of the tour is to throw chunks of bread
into the water and watch the catfish wrestle for it. Hard to
understand sanctity in such a cesspit.
Having had our fill of cities, we
headed for Lake Téngrela
near Banfora where we hung out for another 5 nights, laughed at by
hippos joking in the lake while Peggy stalked hundreds of Jacanas
screeching at her in the reeds. We racked up our 100th
bird here. 100 birds in one country! Djin also racked up another
marriage proposal. These men would stand a better chance if they
could remember her name!
Further
south-west, the landscape becomes more hilly, with peculiar rock
formations. At Sindou, we stopped for 2 nights to see the peaks at
dawn and dusk. It's hard to describe them and the photos don't
really do it justice. Mostly, we had the whole place to ourselves
which was a real treat. Even further into the south-west corner
where Burkina, Côte
d'Ivoire and Mali converge, we visited Niansogoni where villagers
once moved their homes up into the cliff to escape marauding
tribesmen and other nasties. They only came out 33 years ago,
disbelieving that the country had been independent for 27 years and
the colonials were long gone. We had visited a similar place at Nano
in northern Togo and we showed our guide photos from there and from
Pays Dogon in Mali as well. (No, we didn't get to Mali: those pics
were from a previous trip!) He had heard of these places, but was
blown away by the visuals. One good reason to have a laptop with all
your photos on it!
We
took really minor roads to get back to Banfora, seeing even more
marvellous landscape on the way. Near Banfora, we stayed for 2
nights at Campement Baobab (not a bao in the whole establishment!)
and spent International Women's Day at the Karfiguéla
Falls, cooling off after walking to the fantasy land of the Dômes
de Fabedougou in the midday sun. Only mad dogs and English women,
they say!
On
our last night in Burkina, we arrived late at Diébougou,
near the border with north-west Ghana. We hit a blank with the
guidebook, so I asked at the police station for directions to a cheap
hotel. The man on duty knew of none, but offered us the police
station's backyard, complete with brambles and curious neighbours
stopping to stare. What a way to end our Burkina adventure!
