After stocking up on everything in Ouaga, we left early on the morning of the 25th November, after the best omlette breakfast yet (makes such a difference to have some tomato and onion with it, and I've also become accustomed to black tea with lemon). Bought a few postcards and small souvenirs from a Women's Association, better to buy from them than the guys selling stuff from a box at the side of the road - really random things like torches, netting, sunglasses, watches, postcards, soap, miscellaneous, unmarked pills, batteries, toy guns, EVERYTHING!
From the various bus companies in Burkina, we picked out Sogabef as a good company, and got a ticket to Boromo, where we would be spending the night by a watering hole in Deux Bale National Park, hoping to catch some elephants. We had spent a couple of days trying phone numbers and emails for the place where we hoped to stay, but nothing seemed to work. Arriving in Boromo a few hours later, which has a pretty cool bus station, more like a market-cum-bus station, and snacked on the best stew sandwich yet - probably goat, but so tasty and full of chillis! Dree fell down the steps of the bus, which at least shut up the hawkers and "Tuobab" criers as we disembarked.
Me and Barnes took a walk down the road to the turn off for our hotel - 9km away - but were told that the elephants had migrated away, but were given a new number to call, as it has changed hands, ; Maurice. We gave Maurice a call and were told that he is the owner, but the site is being given a makeover, and there is nowhere to stay. So, changing plans, we hopped onto a passing bus for Sabou and decided to head straight for Koudougou, to catch a music festival, a few days early.
We got off in Sabou, and waited there for a connecting minibus to fill up to get to Koudougou. Kez gave a little baby a balloon, who loved it until it burst in front of her. Don't think she was having a good day, as she scared herself by grabbing a sleeping chicken as well! On the other hand, Yahtzee caused a stir with some of the locals who were trying to fix a car (possibly ours).
We got on a minibus, after a push start, and saw yet another great sunset (sunrise-down) along the way; just a shame we didn't stop so we could get some pictures. The border guard at the entrance to Koudougou (Kou from here on in) was very friendly for a bloke holding a gun and wearing a bullet-proof vest, welcoming us to the town and the festival. We pushed the van to get it started again, difficult in sweaty flip flops but good fun, and arrived in the centre of Kou after night had fallen, about 7pm. The poor lady sitting in front of us, with live chicken, also had a tub of arichnade sauce that had fallen over on the bumpy road into town. As we got off we realised, by smell at first, that it had spilt all over her bag and the floor. Poor woman had lost it all, but was still terribly chirpy!
As our guidebook is from 2006 (the latest version, as so few people visit Burkina), a lot of the hostels we had chosen as places to stay had shut down, or in one case, had upped the prices dramatically. As me and Barney checked out another place that was probably now a brothel, a French guy called Tongay spoke to Dree and Kerry as they waited at a bar for "the man" to turn up about renting a place in a bar called Bache Bleu. Tongay, and his Canadian girlfriend Natasha, were staying at a volunteer house on the outskirts of town, and offered us a lift in their pick-up. What a stroke of luck! We were about to cut our losses and have to stay in the expensive hotel!
We got the pick-up back to the house, where the really nice lady, a single mum, made up a bed on the roof and said there was room in the dormitory, a small building separate from the house. We dumped our stuff and took Tongay and Natasha up on the offer of a lift to the festival that night. We were all shattered, but thought it would be cool to catch as much of the festival as possible....
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