Twenty Four in Burkina

After 2 months without any serious sessions, a night of light drinking gave a bit of a hangover, accentuated by the humidity and heat in Burkina's second city. Climbing out of the mozzie net, the guys had made me a card and gave me a birthday balloon - anything more I'd have to cart around for the next month and a half! This was followed by a compulsory lay in till half ten (ah student days), when we checked out of the hotel and marched to the bus stations. In Bobo, as in most of Burkina, there isn't one set bus station for a destination, there are different companies to try - all with various states of cleanliness, friendliness and reliability.

We eventually chose 'Sogabef' to take us to Banfora, a smaller town in an area where there sounds tonnes to do, and where we can hone our moto-riding skills! We had a bit of a wait, as per usual, but we passed the time with cards, and Dree bought a new bag, as his old one broke as we arrived. As we were all sat on the back row, waiting for the bus to start, Dree suddenly shouted "I've got to get off!". We assumed the worst and thought that he was having a sudden attack of travellers diarreah, but we watched as he fished out his old bag from the bin, and retrieved his phone AND wallet! You just can't take him anywhere!

After a close shave, a multi-manned push start, and lots of bags blocking up the back exit, we got on the road. The drive wasn't too bad at all, passing huge Government-backed fields of sugar cane along the way, most with machinery that wouldn't be out of place in Suffolk for watering the hundreds of acres. Getting off was another matter, with most passengers determined to get out quickly - over the boxes in the aisles and pushing in front of others. Madness - JUST WAIT!

As soon as we got off in the Sogabef bus terminal, we were spoken to by a number of guides and people renting mopeds. We headed off to eat, but were hounded by the same three guys, before, during and after! We had heard about a place called Campement Baobab, which got rave reviews as a hassle-free and relaxed base to spend a few days exploring the region. The guides said that it didn't exist anymore, and tried to get us to go to other places. We then told them to leave us alone, and tried getting a taxi from the centre of town. The guides hounded us yet again, and even told the taxi drivers to charge us 10,000 CFA (a ridiculous amount - fourteen pounds). We fobbed them all off and got into a taxi that was only 3,000 CFA.

The driver, called Gille, drove us to Campement Baobab (which 'shock, horror' did still exist), about four kilometres down a bumpy dirt track. The set up was exactly what we were after - six small huts, a courtyard with a kitchen and a separate 'bathroom' area - no running water and no electricity. But we didn't really need either of those. Bucket showers, a long drop and gas lanterns for a few days and nights was a nice change. Not for too long though!



We organised renting some motos for the next morning as Banfora was a good base for day trips out in the wilderness. The people at the campement were really nice and friendly, which was polarised by the arrival of one of the annoying guides from earlier in the day as we ate tea. He was saying something about all the moto's being his, but he wanted us to pay more than we'd agreed. He was sent on his way. The menu for a place that was in the middle of nowhere was pretty good, and good value. We had fresh baked pizzas one night, and really good Burkina dishes too. The only problem was that it got FREEEEEZING cold during the night, leading me to sleep in my clothes and sleeping bag liner one evening. Not used to the cold conditions (probably snowing in the UK now as you read this!).