Ouaga Where?

At the end of August, Missy and I left the same day on work travel (she went west, I went east).  My flights to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso and Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (my first visit to both places).  Ouaga (as it is called for short) is one of those unusual capital city names you usually only find as an answer to a geography question in trivial pursuit.  Burkina Faso, locals will tell you, is the crossroads of West Africa given its equidistant location between the Sahara desert and the coast.  (Cotton is a major industry -- the Limited Brands purchases organic cotton from Burkina Faso to produce some of its organic-line garments for Victoria's Secret.)

On my first full day in country, a Sunday, my cultural exposure included a visit to the sacred crocodiles of Bazoule.  These crocs are considered to be ancestors of the local village people.  Normally, visitors are able to purchase for $2, petite poulet, or small chickens, to feed to the crocs.  Unfortunately, there were no chickens to be had that day, so we had to content ourselves with satisfying them with ... the promise from our guide that they don't eat humans.  As the dozen or so crocs swam up out of the small lake and began to circle us (I swear hungrily hoping for one of my legs) and a rainy season storm pelted down, I perched above the croc for these photos.  (I'm smiling out of absurdity, not joy)...

After a productive few days of meetings in Ouaga, I flew to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.  Having worked on the post-election Cote d'Ivoire political crisis from December to April, I was fascinated to see the neighborhoods and places that held such significance and mostly existed in my mind as aerial images.  Abidjan surprised me.  Once known as the "Paris" of West Africa, it had all the hallmarks of a modern city (highways, high-rise buildings, traffic lights) that with only rare exceptions had I seen elsewhere in my travels on the continent.  It was hopeful to see that the city is recovering quickly and that Cote d'Ivoire may one day return to its previous glory.

City view from my hotel room.

I had made plans to take a "rest stop" day on my way back in Belgium -- but cut my trip short to return home just hours before the arrival of Hurricane Irene.   Days earlier, we both missed the earthquake that hit Virginia -- but we were relieved to find the house still standing with no signs of visible damage (inside or out).  Thankfully the only danger was having to bail water a couple of times out of the outside basement landing before it threatened to surge above the door threshold.