destination: cote d'ivoire

Purpose: Eat French baguettes, renew our Ghana visas (they were only valid for 60 days so we had to leave and re-enter the country), have an adventure!

Language: French and other local African languages

Currency: CFAs (1000 CFAs = 3 cedis = $2 USD)

Day 1
Left the university: 5 am
Arrived in Abidjan: 9 pm

Nina, Arsalan and I started out bright and early in hopes of catching the bus that went straight from Accra to Abidjan because we figured that would be the easier way. When we arrived at the STC bus station at 6:30 am, however, we found out that the bus had already left two hours before. So, we found a tro-tro that would take us to Elubo (the town in Ghana closest to the border). We arrived in Elubo at 2 pm and walked off the tro-tro, only to be swarmed by taxi drivers who wanted us to take their taxi to the border and men who wanted to exchange our money into CFAs. Thankfully we had made a friend on the tro-tro who was from Cote d’Ivoire, and so we stuck close to her, her friend, and their huge pile of luggage to get to the border. We had absolutely no problems at the border, although it did take awhile. After several more tro-tros and numerous stops at police checkpoints, we arrived in Abidjan around 9pm. The cousin of a girl who lives in our hostel, Jean-Claude, met us and helped us find food and a hotel for the night.
Most important thing learned: Smiling at police officers and responding positively to winks will help you not have to pay any bribes

Day 2
The majority of our day was spent in Le Plateau, the commercial district of Abidjan. We stopped for a look at the one of the largest Catholic cathedrals in Cote d’Ivoire which has beautiful African-themed stained glass all throughout it, and the Museum of Civilization, which, unfortunately, turned out to be a museum about Jewish history with posters from National Geographic hung on the walls (??) In addition, we walked around several shopping areas that looked very European, ate many pastries and baguettes off the streets, saw a mosque, and took a water taxi. We also randomly met Jean-Claude’s brother, who works with the military, on the street, and then were invited to hang out with the Ivoirian military at their compound. So random…but still fun! We also had ice cream…and not the Ghanaian version of ice cream, but ice cream that tasted like American ice cream!! It was so great. We also got to try some Ivoirian food, including ‘acheke.’ So good!!
Most important thing learned: Finding a giant menorah and a large elephant skeleton next to each other in a museum is not considered strange in Africa

Day 3
Our guidebook told us that one of the most interesting sites in Abidjan was an outdoor laundromat, apparently the largest in the world, where men could be seen furiously washing clothing in a river on old tires and rocks. After some confusion, we made it to the place, only to find out that all of the people washing clothes are from a nearby slum and wash their clothes there because that is the only place for them to do their wash. We had to pay the ‘security guards’ there money in order to take pictures, and later found out that the people washing clothes never actually see any of that money. Sigh. We then traveled a few hours with Jean-Claude to his village outside of Abidjan, called Bonn. The village is named after Germans who came there and built wells for the community so they could have a water source. The kids in the village were enthralled by us foreigners, and often followed us around. We took a tour of the village, walked through a savannah and were fed an incredible dinner. At night, drummers came and everyone got together and danced. Little children taught me how to dance…it wasn’t very successful, but I had a great time!
Most important thing learned: I will never be able to dance

Day 4
Early in the morning we walked around the village to say our goodbyes. Little children started following us around, and before I knew it, there were children all around me, touching my hair, rubbing my arms, and holding onto all of my fingers. It was adorable. We traveled back to Abidjan, and then went to Grand Bassam to go to some of the markets there. Marcel, Jean-Claude’s brother, went with us and was extremely helpful when we were bargaining. The best part was our taxi ride back to Abidjan… we were on a two-lane highway, and there was a ton of traffic on our side of the road. Our taxi driver got annoyed, and so started driving in the other lane. When cars started coming at us, we went for a little off-roading adventure on the opposite side of the road we were supposed to be on. Then, our taxi breaks down. Arsalan and Marcel get out to push the car, but it won’t start because we are stuck on rocks and dirt. So, we had to wait until cars weren’t coming to push the car on the road, where, after a little while more of pushing, the car started again. We finally got back into our proper lane…Would you think that the taxi driver would stay in that lane? Of course not…so we went off-roading again, this time at least on our side of the road. What were Nina and I doing this whole time? Laughing hysterically, of course. When we got back to Abidjan, we went out for French dessert and then went to a club. When they played some popular American songs, Arsalan, Nina, and I got up and did stereotypical American moves…the Ivoirians were all laughing and videotaping us on their phones.
Most important thing learned: I LOVE taxi rides and dancing very embarrassingly in public

Day 5
Left Abidjan: 9:45 am
Arrived at the university: 10 pm

We woke up and found the most incredible food on the streets…on our last day! A French baguette with hard boiled eggs, avocado, beans and other vegetables…a vegetarian’s dream! I think it was the best thing I’ve eaten since I’ve been here. The ride back to Accra was similar to the ride there, although we did encounter far less police checkpoints on the road which was nice.

All in all, we had a great time and no problems considering we were in a politically unstable country with no real government and a dissolution of the peace process just a few weeks earlier.