Traveling with the local means in the country of the real men... Burkina Faso travel experience

content:
photos:
Vote this travel review

Bobo Dioulasso, Post south-west on the road leading in Mali, Bobo is the second city of Burkina with about 400,000 inhabitants. Characterized by an extremely quiet environment, away from the chaos and frenzy of Ouaga (everything is relative!) And a rich subtropical vegetation, with wide avenues bordered by mango and Ceiba, his true strength lies in its location. Close to Mali and Ivory Coast with which divides the language (the Dioula is a strain of the Bambara language widespread in central and western Africa), Bobo has always been an important crossroads and meeting point of different ethnic groups that make a town very active and lively from the cultural point of view (from Bobo-time hosting the National Week of Culture and the Festival Yeleen: two of the most important and interesting artistic events throughout the French-speaking Africa.)
The old Mosque: Built in 1880 is an exquisite example of Sudanese architecture in mud - it is said that a few years ago the town wanted to demolish for a new build but the bulldozer did not touch the solid walls of the bank - once inside strikes the charming interior that reminds one of a labyrinth and is characterized by a low ceiling and an extreme simplicity in the details with mud walls, many columns and no type of decoration - also this is an old church converted to Islam Animist -.
- The old neighborhoods and sya Kibidwé: are the oldest part of town. 'S you can see traditional houses and Dioula bobo - these are two floors: upstairs the woman lives with the children on the ground floor living humans - and the first house built in this city - attributes at of Sunda, Mande glorious emperor lived, apparently, the time of Charlemagne -. Many blacksmiths, potters, weavers and dyers work here following the ancestral methods. Great animation arm died along the river and Huet, in the evening, in the many cafes in the neighborhood. The streets are made lively by the incessant labor of the craftsmen can be observed at work.
- The Grand Market is one of the finest in West Africa due to its size and its Sudanese arhitettura that which gives it a special.
Inside is a veritable hive where fever is all that you can buy in high tunnels are beautiful masks, old stools, jewelry, necklace bobo, traditional puzzle games, magic potions wherever you ......; encounters in small objects - pots, stools, combs .... - Crafts and fabrics printed cottons (batik and bogolan). Do the butcher cover really impressive!
Banfora
Transfer by bus from Bobo Dioulasso to Banfora.
It 'a big village from agricultural districts and strangely quiet scattered on the ground and from agricultural fields around a little' everywhere (in a principal fields of cane, which the district Banfora is the first producer in the country).
The beauty of this town are on the outskirts, however, certainly one of the most affiscinanti Burkina true paradise for hiking.
Banfora is also known for some of the cabaret where you can listen to traditional music played with balafon - sort of xylophone made of wood and gourds of various sizes, is one of the oldest musical instruments in Africa - and a coffin - ancient percussion instrument consisting of a large pumpkin carved and covered with goatskin that has drawn a special rubber that gives it special sound - the willful tasting - beer of millet red - or Bangui - wine borasso -.
AROUND THE Banfora
- Lake Tengrela: is located about 10 km of gravel road from Banfora. On site you can see fishermen in action (especially interesting when the networks throw in the boat), numerous species of tropical birds, monkeys and hippos.
Are particularly suggestive of the "trembling dances" that women of the village is close to the shores of the lake.
- Waterfalls of Como: there are about 3 km from the lake Tengrela, where the waters of the Koba river rushed with beautiful waterfalls in a natural pool with a thick vegetation all around - it is not uncommon to encounter huge and legendary Baobab - and bizarre rock formations.
The warm water and make it a great place to cool off and splash freely.
- The heights of Febedougou are reached after a journey on foot for about 3 km from the waterfalls.
The rocks of the landscape are very evocative: some of the huts sembgano carved in poetr, others seem to trees, birds, pumpkins, masks, visi ....
THE VILLAGE Sindou E PICCHI SACRI
We rented two motorbikes and a Banfora we direct towards Sindou.
Sindou is a village located 50 km from Banfora, in the region of Como.
Known for its characteristic peaks sacred, is an interest both in tourism at cultural and human affairs.
In 1995, the famous filmmaker Dani Kouyate running his first feature film "Keita, l'héritage du Griot" (premium Fespaco'95, Cannes'96 Junior,'96 Mannheim) in the backdrop of the peaks of Sindou. Dani will be the same as a bridge between the village - with its community of old and young - and artists of Koron TLE and the association Siraba.
In recent years has been based association Youth and Students of Sindou that has as objective to promote and enhance the cultural and tourist village - for example, was recently completed construction of a host to host "friends" of way.
The interest in proposing Sindou in our journey is not only important for tourism due to the beauty of the place, but also and above all in friendship that binds us to the village and its people and then allow the traveler to penetrate aspects most intimate of daily life as the cultural-artistic-traditional.
The cliffs of Sindou
In the valley of the river rocks Leraba of Sindou rise into the sky in long paths carved by the wind, attorti, tortured. Anyone watching these bizarre rock formations of fun in attributing the rocks and forms the similarities that his imagination suggests.
The surrounding landscape offers a wonderful view and the chance to meet birds of all colors.

Ouagadougou was founded in the century. by Nyonyonsé that Kombemtinga called the "Land of the Warriors" and tired of being subjected to assaults by neighboring peoples, it is put under the protezoine dell'Imperatore moved Zoungrana. Following the town changed its name by taking the current one, in 1441 became the capital of the motion, and in 1919 the colonial capital of Upper Volta.
Today is a strange city that looks like a cluster of large villages built in the middle of the plains rather than the metropolis africn-western style Abidjan. Although we are rapidly urbanized, Ouaga manages to maintain a certain harmony as the new tall buildings up to 4-5 floors constructed with a very elaborate.
The capital of Burkina faso is therefore a city with a relaxing atmosphere (although likely to be considerably lower than Bobo) but at the same time offers a lively nightlife of the most lively in West Africa.