The last blog post finished in Korhogo, northern Ivory Coast, from where a short days drive via the impressive cathedral in Bouake bought us to Yamoussoukro, the Ivorian capital. Former President Félix Houphouët-Boigny was born here in 1905, which at the time was a small town which he went on to develop into the political and administrative capital once in power.
One of the highlights of visiting Yamoussoukro is a tour of the stunning 'Basilica of Our Lady of Peace', a magnificent architectural achievement of which Ivorians are justifiably very proud. The basilica was consecrated in 1990 by Pope John Paul II and was a gift to the Vatican from the then President. The dome is intentionally slightly lower than that of the Basilica of St Peter, but has a larger cross on top, making it 158 meters high.
The building was designed by Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury, using Italian marble and 7,000 square meters of stained glass from France. The construction is estimated to have cost somewhere between US$200-600 million and was said to be a gift from God, though others claim it doubled Ivory Coasts national debt!
From Yakro we headed west to a small village for the night where we got to witness a stilt dance ceremony, a tremendous afternoon and evening of entertainment for which the whole village turned out. The warmth of the welcome we receive here is always humbling, with our time here offering a fascinating insight into traditional village life.
The dancer above came on towards the start of the ceremony, as the men drummed and the women sung and clapped, inviting all those from the village to join in the ceremony.
Several youngsters showed off their acrobatics, above, starting nervously but gaining in confidence before the adult acrobats took over, below.
The dancer below rattled from bells tied to his ankles, spinning around on one leg at times, and was followed by a woman who came on to dance, symbolising the beauty and fertility of women in the village.
The stilt dancer is a feared spirit, starting slowly before building into wild spins in the air and shrieking out with a piercing cry. He then came crawling around the crowd giving his piercing cry, genuinely scary!
From the village we headed west on rough dirt tracks and entertaining log bridges towards the Guinean border. Here we waved goodbye to Ivory Coast with a memorable wash in the river that forms the frontier to rinse off the dust from the journey.
Above, from left to right, Jan, Spencer, Pauline, Alice, Alice, Douglas, JP, Jase, Al, Pooley, Jess, Steve, Emilia, Nathan and Zoe, just over the border into Guinea.
Below is an avenue of bamboo trees which we drove through. They're 20 meters or so in height, offering strong shade and put to good use in the local construction trade!
Nzérékoré is the largest city in Guinea's 'Forest Region', a bustling commercial centre whose market attracts traders from all around. We spent a couple of nights here after the drive from Ivory Coast spending some time visiting the artisans market. Above are some examples of wooden carvings made by artisans near Nzérékoré.
We also had a great time dancing the night away in what must surely be the sweatiest nightclub in Africa. Inside were several hundred people with 1 small AC unit as the only ventilation, with sweat dripping from the ceilings and flooding the floor as the night and dancing progressed!
Guinea's forest region is known for its traditional vine bridges, though there are far fewer now than in the past. We trekked to see the one pictured below, a truly magnificent structure built entirely of natural materials and still in regular use as one of the main crossing points over the river.
On leaving Nzérékoré we went trekking to see wild chimpanzees near Mt Nimba, a peak surrounded by dense forest close to where the borders of Guinea, Ivory Coast and Liberia meet. It's possible to approach the chimps quite closely as they are used to humans visiting, having been studied by many researchers over the years. It was here that chimps were first witnessed by researchers to recognise traps set by hunters and seen teaching this to each other to avoid them.
From here a short drive took us over the border from Guinea into Liberia. It's a stunning drive between the 2 countries, with the beauty of the forested peaks all around us making up for the many hours of waiting for paperwork to be slowly completed and checked multiple times over!
Our first stop in Liberia was a deserted iron ore mine, operated by Lamco from the 1960's to the 1980's. We drove steeply uphill for an hour on a tarmac road constructed long ago, but now left to rot and ruin, travelling through dense forest and clearing trees off the road as we went. Finally we emerged at the top amongst gloriously open terrain being reclaimed by nature after the decades of mining.
From the top we could see back over the borders into Guinea and Ivory Coast. The barrels above were near a mobile communications tower, powered by a generator and looked after by several very cheerful security guards.
Below are examples of the terraces left behind by the mining.
We then descended to the other side of the site, and had lunch and a swim by a lake in a disused pit which was fed by several waterfalls.
Above, Aminah is parked among rusting mining vehicles which were abandoned when the mine ceased production in the 1980's.
Below, we had fun climbing around on the huge old trucks and diggers! Al fitted in one of the tyres and Jase managed to climb into the rear diff of another.
From the mine we drove on roads being rapidly upgraded by the Chinese to the beautiful Kpatwee Waterfalls, below. Here we spent the afternoon relaxing, surrounded by dense forest on one side and rice plantations on the other.
We're now just a few days from Sierra Leone, looking forward to the usual friendly welcome in Sweet Salone, and meeting the new passengers who will join us in Freetown for the trip north to Dakar. More bumpy roads, wildlife, music and beaches await us!
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