Yamoussoukro
Hello!
I am continuing to delight you with my trip to Cote d'Ivoire. I usually do a 2 day summary but for this following destination, I had to write a solo post because there was so much to say and so many pictures to share.
Bag - Numero Uno
Sandals - Soumbedioune market
I knew that I wanted to go to Yamoussoukro, the capital city of Cote d'Ivoire, because of the Basilique Notre Dame de la Paix. I also knew that the capital was 3 to 4 hours away by bus. But the hassle of trying to book and board a bus by myself and not knowing any of the logistics made me anxious. Luckily, I found this tour guide on Instagram that offers tours around the country. There was a one day tour of Yamoussoukro exactly two days after I landed. So I booked it from Senegal. We were supposed to depart by 7:30 from Cocody Saint Jean church, but we had many participants who were an hour late. I was myself delayed for 10 minutes due to traffic. We took a 15 place mini van to Yamoussoukro. We were a small group of 10 people with two guides and the chauffeur. I discovered later that we had an older couple from Chad, one lady from Togo, three young ladies I assume must be from France and the rest from Ivory Coast. The drive felt really long because we were stuck in traffic around Yopouguon. But it was beautiful. There were only huge roads and greenery everywhere you look.
We arrived in the city at around 1 PM. We visited the Felix Houphouet Boigny (the first president of Ivory Coast) foundation for peace first. Truth be told, my stomach was upset (I have recently discovered that I was lactose intolerant, but I had a cheese and salami sandwich for breakfast that morning) so I was not really into the visit at all particularly when the tour guide kept on bragging about how great the first president of Ivory Coast was. However the more we visited, the more I learned about FHB. And I truly was hooked about his legacy. This man was a visionary. The foundation is a huge 7 story building that is used for state affairs. It holds the Senate but also important international meetings. It also has huge conference rooms and small galleries dedicated FHB. It is entirely built in imported marble and wood.
After the visit, we quickly went for lunch in a maquis or food joint in the open air surrounded by huge trees. Our guide already ordered for us: Attieke (cassava couscous), Alloko (plantains), grilled chicken, chicken in Kedjenou sauce, plain white rice and grilled baby goat meat. The food was delicious but I could not eat a lot to avoid upsetting my stomach even more.
Lunch at the Maquis
We chilled there for an hour before leaving for the main attraction: the Notre Dame de la Paix Basilica. I am not even sure I have words to describe how huge and how beautiful this place was. It was ordered to be build by the first president of Ivory Coast in a plot that belonged to him, between 1985 and 1989. On september 1990, it was inaugurated by him and the Pope Jean Paul the Second. To this day, the exact price of construction is not known but looking at it, it must have cost a huge fortune. Everything about the place was intelligently built from the air conditioning to sound system, to the displays. Our guide explained all the details of the basilica, the story behind the architecture. He was very funny so it was not hard to keep up. My only regret, not being permitted to take pictures inside the basilica. The stainted glass windows were so beautiful to look at. I was in awe.
At the end of the tour we took some videos and pictures around and left for our final destination: caiman lake next to the Presidential Palace. We saw some caimans inside the lake, some barely moved making us think they were statues. Our guide told us a story of how one of their caretaker was devored by them some years ago.
We rode back to the city of Abidjan at around 5PM. We arrived at our pick up location of Cocody at 9PM. There was a lot of traffic around Yopouguon again. I thought it was usual except we saw lots of police cars around, fires and rocks on the road. In the morning, while taking the cab to the pick up location, I heard over the radio that they were planning to remove illegal housing in the Yopouguon area. I wonder if there were some protests due to that. It was ironic that I left Senegal to get away from political protests and civil unrest to find some in Côte d’Ivoire.
I really had a wonderful time in Yamoussoukro. I would recommend the tour guide because they were practical and very nice. I just wanted them to have a bigger bus which would have been more comfortable for the long ride. They should also stick to their timetable. We waited over one hour for some participants. And because of that we did not have time to enjoy Yamoussoukro more which was unfortunate.
Nevertheless it was a wonderful day. I just hope to take my Catholic Mom there next time I visit Côte d’Ivoire Inshallah. I am sure she would appreciate it.
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