Africa 2006

Ah, nothing like a little R&R at the half-way point of a trip. And the auberge La Pierredot in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city, was the perfect place.

For the second time on this trip, I was met upon arrival by a man with a sign bearing my name. After a long day’s journey from Ségou in Mali I was whisked away to the auberge - not only the prettiest place I have stayed so far, but the cheapest. It was opened only last year (I found it in my excellent 2006 Bradt guide to the country) and has only three rooms.

The auberge is run by a French couple (they tell me they have lived here so long they are now African) who are in their 60s. They gave me a rather strong aperatif when I arrived, and fixed me some vegetable soup, a welcome change from my normal diet which has often been consisting of bread and Coke. On my second night, I tucked into a huge beef steak and frites while Pierre and his mates sparked up several enormous joints at the table to discuss the predicaments of the African continent.

Day 1 of my Bobo sojourn was spent wandering around the town, trying fruitlessly to avoid all the touts and, after several hours of negotiation, finding, if I do say so, a fantastic souvenir for my husband (shh, it’s a surprise what it is).

Day 2 was reserved for excursions from Bobo: to a touristy village which reminded me of Dogon Country and to a murky pond with sacred fish - huge ugly catfish with long whiskers and enormous mouths who appear at the surface only to gobble up chunks of break I threw at them.

As I was walking back, my guide, Siaka, (the pond is virtually impossible to find without a guide) noticed a discarded square of plastic on the ground. He stopped to pick it up and folded it with his own piece. Ah, I thought, someone who is finally not littering - in fact he even picks up other people’s rubbish! Then Siaka carefully rolled the plastic into a little ball and wedged in a crack between two rocks: “Voila,” he said, happy with his handywork.

And on we walked.

PS: Burkina Faso itself is a pleasant and relaxed place (even the customs official had to call me back from the bus because he had forgotten to charge me for my visa!) and refreshingly cheaper than Mali.