West Africa 2012 | Jason Around the World

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire to Washington, DC via Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines First Class

Airports, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 212013

Got to the airport, check-in was nice and easy, and the line for security and passport control were non-existent. So far, this was definitely the most modern and well-kept airport I’d seen in West Africa. It was clean, good facilities, and everything seemed to, for lack of a better word, work. Wandered around for a couple of minutes, before heading to the lounge.

The lounge was a multi-airline lounge, and it looked like my Brussels Airlines flight would be sharing it with Air France tonight. The attendant brought over a small plate of finger snacks, and offered me a drink. It was warm, so I asked for a bottle of water…when she brought it, she asked for my lounge invite and marked it. Seems you only get TWO drinks, and I’d used one of mine on a bottle of water. Eventually she did say you could BUY more drinks if you wanted, but only two were included. Why can’t Brussels and Air France pay for their business class passengers have drinks? Poor image in my book.

There was one other major shortcoming for the lounge – a lack of outlets. I’d arrived early and managed to get one to charge my phone, but many others were wandering looking for them. I think there were a total of maybe 4 or 5 for the whole lounge. Having consumed my water, free glass of wine…and another glass of wine I sweet-talked my way into, I decided to wander the airport for the 45 minutes left before boarding. It grew old pretty quickly, and I decided to sit at a gate cafe and people watch. You can’t really tell well in this picture, but those are discoball-studded silver stillettos. I know that’s what I always wear to fly. Wasn’t going to post this picture, but it also shows a bit how the airport is really rather nice as well.

Another shot of the gate area:

Soon, it was time to board,which was done through a jetway. A rarity in west Africa!

Brussels Airlines flight 231
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ABJ) to Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
Depart 22:50, Arrive 07:25, Flight Time 6:35
Airbus A330-300, Registration OO-SFU, Manufactured 2000, Seat 5K

On board, and welcomed with a flight of bubbly…and thanks to a friendly flight attendant a second.

Day in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Attractions, Cote d'Ivoire, hotels, Restaurants, West Africa 2012 5 Responses »

Nov 172013

Slept in a slight bit, but not too much thanks to what was rapidly becoming a very, very warm hotel room. 24C in the morning. Enjoyed a couple pain au chocolate for my last day in Africa, and then headed down to grab a mid-morning taxi to the centre city to walk around and explore a bit. It was a short, 10-15 minute ride, and then it was time to explore. With no plans of how to get back, this promised to be an adventure. When I’d shared plans for this trip with people I knew who’d traveled west Africa recently, Abidjan was the one place they cautioned to be a little careful. The recovery from the recent war is still somewhat fragile, and there’s a bit of tension.

I had the taxi drop me off at the Place de la Republique, where I snapped a couple of shots:

Ouagadougu, Burkina Faso to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and first day in Abidjan

Airports, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Flights, hotels, Restaurants, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 152013

Got up relatively early thanks to being early to bed, and decided to explore the hotel grounds a bit more. Breakfast was included in my rate, and it turned out to be extremely good. The Laico Ouaga 2000 put on quite a good spread. Super fresh baguettes, lots of nutella, fruits, omlettes made to order and fresh-squeezed juices. I was quite impressed.

Walked around a bit, and then caught the hotel shuttle back to the airport. I can’t say enough good things about this hotel. Reviews online were pretty mixed, but the rooms were comfortable, clean, and cool, fastish WiFi, free airport shuttle, nice grounds, etc etc etc. The only negative at all was that it was a hike into downtown, but that was honestly a plus in this case. I can’t recommend this hotel enough!

So, back to the airport, and time to try and find my passport, lolz. My driver was kind enough to try and assist because “I know how things work in Ouaga” but I decided to brave it alone.

Inside the airport, and walked towards the door where you exit from immigration. There were two guards there, and I told them they have my passport inside for a visa and I need to get it. That worked, and they let me in. Walked past the immigration booths, and straight to the counter from yesterday. Told them I was there for my passport, gave them my name, and voila…got it back. Did a quick check of it, and there was no visa inside. I asked where the visa was, and they told me I didn’t need one for a one day transit. You may go. Back out the door, and into the departures hall. It couldn’t be this easy…and cheap…could it?

Over to the Air Burkina counter, and no trouble checking in. Then, it was off to official immigration to leave Burkina…with stamps in my passport, but no visa. This is where it got entertaining. “Ou est votre visa?” “J’ai pas besoin d’un visa….chu en transit.” Um, yeah, that went over about as well as a lead brick. I tried to explain. See, the lady inside the arrivals area kept my passport last night, because I had an overnight transit. She gave it back to me 10 minutes ago, and told me I didn’t need a visa. “Ok, so you leave Burkina Faso now?” “Yes.” Ok. Stamp stamp, and that was it. One hurdle down!

Then, it was security. They, surprise surprise, wanted my passport…and started hunting for a visa. Not finding one, they asked for it. Time to tell the whole story again. “Oh, American. Barack Obama!” Great, that again. “Ouais, chu Americain, mais j’ai pas besoin d’un visa pour transit.” They were a bit thrown off. I continued to explain to them. They’d never heard of someone getting in…and out past immigration…without a visa. They tried a different strategy. “Vous avez un petit cadeau pour nous?” Um, no, no gifts for you. Bags on the xray belt, and I walked through the metal detector. They all just laughed, handed my passport back, and wished me a good journey.

This stop completely validated the biggest lesson my 2013 travel has taught me. When confronted with “officials” who smell blood and want a gift or bribe, the best strategy is to stay happy, joke with them, be nice, but not give in. Almost every time they end up respecting you, and you get out of it without paying anything.

Then…it was time to find the lounge. Up the stairs, and look, there’s a sign!

Before you get too excited, however, let’s talk about the lounge.

On the positive side, bathrooms were clean. Free water and Coke Zero…but working Wifi? Hahahahah, um, no. The chairs were pretty awesome, big overstuffed leather chairs, and the AC worked nicely. It was overall, 75% of what a lounge needs to be in my opinion. Only serious downside was the total lack of functional WiFi. I waited out the last 15 minutes before boarding in the gate area, which also wasn’t too bad at this time of day. Then, it was time to board!

Air Burkina flight 515
Ouagadougu, Burkina Faso (OUA) to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ABJ)
Depart 12:25, Arrive 13:55, Flight Time 1:30
Canadair CRJ-200, Registration TZ-RCA, Manufactured 2000, Seat 2A

Yup, it was the same plane that brought me into Ouaga the day before. I was curious to see if service would be any different on a slightly longer flight. Business class was only booked to three people again, so time would tell.

Shortly after takeoff, the crew sprang into action, delivering a cold meal along with choice of drinks. Champagne? Of course! Now that was quite the pleasant surprise. For a flight that was just over an hour, I was quite impressed how Air Burkina performed!

Soon, it was time to land. Parking, we exited the plane onto a bus, where I had a chance to snap a picture as we headed to the terminal.

Niamey, Niger to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Attractions, Burkina Faso, hotels, West Africa 2012 3 Responses »

Nov 142013

Woke up relatively early, because although things had gone smoothly until this point, I was still convinced that airports and flights in Africa could be seriously unpredictable, so wanted to get there in plenty of time. Check out at the hotel yielded a lower than expected bill – when I put my company’s name on the bill, they reduced it to the corporate rate which I hadn’t expected. Saved me over 15,000 CFA – $30+ and still a free shuttle to the airport. Can’t really beat that!

I was excited for this part of the trip. Ever since I had heard about it when I was young, I thought Ouagadougou had to be the coolest city name ever. I just hoped it would live up to the hype!

Got to the airport about 1.5 hours before the flight, and check-in wasn’t even open. There were some chairs in a covered area of the airport, and just a few minutes later they opened the check-in hall. We were the only flight leaving, and it appeared only about half full, so there would only be about 25 people checking in for the flight. Check-in was super easy, no problems, and 5 minutes later I was clearing immigration and security which were both also a complete non-event.

The waiting room for the flight was completely empty, but there was also a “VIP” room. It was nothing more than a couple of overstuffed chairs and sofas – nothing special, and I’d call it a nice quiet place to wait, but the regular hall was pretty quiet itself. I suppose it was probably a bit different when the Air France flight left, but today it was nice and quiet. A shot of the waiting hall:

An ancient Government of Niger 737 right outside on the tarmac:

Niamey, Niger – Part II

Attractions, Niger, West Africa 2012 3 Responses »

Nov 072013

Driver picked me up as promised, and we were off to see more of Niamey. First thing on my agenda was the mosque. Built around 10 years ago, it was a gift from Colonel Qadaffi of Libya when he was in his big rah rah I’m the uniter of the African people phase and was lavishing gifts around the continent. Real sorry how things ended for ya bud….

On the way to the mosque, some goats hanging out on the side of the road.

The mosque’s minaret:

We walked up to the mosque, and were met by a curator who had keys to show us around. No money expected, but there were more than enough places we could make a “small donation” to show our appreciation. So it began… Continue reading »

Niamey Niger – Part I

Attractions, Niger, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 072013

Lots of pics of my day in Niamey, so I’m going to split this day into two parts to make it a bit easier to read. Slept in a bit this morning, and definitely needed it. I felt like I’d hit the ground running when I landed in Benin several days prior and hadn’t let up until now. Plus, the room was nice and cool and dark so pretty easy to sleep.

Made my way down to the hotel breakfast, and there wasn’t much there except a few baguettes, a jar of store-brand hazelnut spread (aka imitation Nutella) and some instant coffee. It was pretty sad, but I was starving and it was only 3,000 CFA (around $6.50) so I went for it. Plus, it would allow me to wake up in the safe confines of the hotel while coming up with a plan to tackle my day.

The strategy was to find a driver who I could hire for the entire day who would take me to the sites I had read about online, as well as show me some things I might not consider. After breakfast, I headed out into the courtyard area of the hotel to hang around and see who approached me. Didn’t take long until one of the guys sitting around under the trees asked if I was looking for a taxi. First strategy “sure, how much would it cost to take me to the museum?” “Hmmm, 10,000 CFA” “That’s pretty steep – let’s say we do that and make it the whole morning, how much then?” “20,000 CFA” You see where this game was going. Finally, I asked him a price for “3 hours in the morning” then “2-3 hours in the afternoon after lunch” and finally take me to dinner, wait, and bring me back. “30,000 CFA.” I knew $65 was a fortune for a day’s work in Niger, but considering I was trusting this guy with perhaps my one and only time ever in Niger it would be worth it.

He seemed very happy with the deal, and was very anxious. He didn’t speak a word of English, but was very easy to understand in French, and I feel like even if I overpaid I got some great French and cultural lessons out of it too. Told him first thing I wanted to see was the Niger River. So off we went. The car even had AC, and he had no problem turning it on. It wasn’t very powerful, but just enough to turn unpleasant, dirty, dusty, smoggy air into mostly clean indoor air. I’ll take it!

First stop was the “Pont Neuf” or “Pont Chinois” – the “new bridge” or “Chinese Bridge.” Built by the Chinese just a few years ago, this was the second bridge in Niamey over the river. Until this, all traffic was on one narrow old bridge. Not exactly a picturesque river:

Not a bad bridge though…

The mud on the banks of the river give you an idea just now nasty and brown it was. Continue reading »

Lomé, Togo to Niamey, Niger and Hotel Terminus in Niamey

Airports, Flights, hotels, Niger, Restaurants, Togo, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Nov 012013

My driver showed up right on time in the morning, and soon we were off to the airport. About one or two miles into the drive, the car started going slower and slower…and slower…until it completely stopped. I asked what the problem was, and the driver said he didn’t know…but it seemed pretty clear to me that this had happened to him before. He just pulled over to the side of the rode, and flagged down a passing taxi.

He loaded my bags into the new taxi, and said we would go together to the airport. I am guessing since I was paying him a good rate, he wanted to settle at a lower rate with the replacement driver, so he came along. Clearly, the new driver was pro-America:

No problems at all, and soon we were at the airport post office to mail my post cards. After I got them mailed, the original driver walked me over to the terminal so I could check in. I settled the bill, got a passport check by a security guy, x-ray of my bags, and was in the check-in area. While I was waiting to check in, there was a very loud (and apparently drunk) man yelling at the security officers. It seemed, he was claiming, that someone had planted drugs on him and security found them. Of course, they were asking him to pay a fine on the spot or turn him over to the police…

Finally got to the front of the check-in line, and they said the flight had some problems, and was not open for check-in. Please step aside for 15 minutes. ut oh…are we going to cancel? I went back up to the counter 15 minutes later, and checked in no problem. Who knows what the original drama was about.

Accra, Ghana to Lomé, Togo overland + touring Lomé

Attractions, Ghana, hotels, Restaurants, Togo, West Africa 2012 6 Responses »

Oct 312013

Originally, I had planned to take a shared taxi from Accra to Lomé, but when I found out my friend’s driver wouldn’t be doing anything during the day while he worked, I asked if he might be willing to drive me to the border…of course he would. He was paid by the day, so as long as we paid the gas he would be happy to. Certainly more comfortable than a couple of hours squished into a small space!

We got on the road just before 9am, and traffic really wasn’t all that bad. We stopped around an hour in at a toll, and I snapped this picture of a street vendor working the toll plaza:

About 30 minutes before the border, we stopped at the bridge over the lower Volta river to get some pictures:

Visit to Cape Coast, Ghana

Attractions, Ghana, Restaurants, West Africa 2012 1 Response »

Oct 242013

Up pretty early to get a start ahead of what we were told was likely to be pretty heavy traffic out to the Cape Coast. Our plan was to see two forts/castles which had been major shipment points for slaves headed to the americas. After around a 2.5 hour drive, we came to Elmina Castle, built by the Portuguese as a trading post in the late 1400s which later became a slave trading post. The view from a short distance away:

After parking, we walked towards the castle. A view of the fishing boats right outside the castle:

Inside the castle courtyard:

We had to wait about 10 minutes, but shortly a tour was given which lasted about 45 minutes and was very informative. Highly recommend waiting for the tour if you come all this way. View from atop the castle:

Cotonou, Benin to Accra, Ghana on Air Cote d’Ivoire

Airports, Benin, Flights, Ghana, hotels, West Africa 2012 No Responses »

Oct 182013

Up nice and early to get to the airport well in advance of our flight. In most places, I don’t take airlines’ recommended check-in times too seriously, but in Africa I definitely do. Corrupt immigration officials are often looking for any excuse to “fine” you, and I didn’t want to take any chances.

One last word about the Novotel hotel, since I realised I haven’t mentioned the breakfast yet. We had asked the night before and they told us it opened at 6am, but when we got down there around 6:45 it wasn’t yet open. Turns out it was 7am on weekends, but the helpful staff member just told us to be seated and help ourselves – they were still bringing food but we were welcome to get started. Very nice! Lots of fruits, breads, cold cuts, etc, and made to order eggs – quite a decent breakfast spread. More than enough to get fueled for the day.

Got to the airport roughly two hours before scheduled departure time, which turned out to be more than enough. There was a bit of a line for check in, but approximately 15 minutes later we had checked one bag each, and were walking around the corner to immigration. No questions at all from immigration, a quick stamp, and we were at security. There was a small business lounge before security, and according to the Priority Pass app they would accept it…we decided to try. No problem at all, and John was able to access with a Canadian AmEx card for some reason. Unlimited booze in the lounge and a few tiny munchies, but more importantly an air-conditioned comfy place to wait for the flight.

30 minutes or so later, it was downstairs, through a quick security check, and time to walk out to the plane:

It wasn’t reassuring that this plane was parked right next to ours, LOL!

…and this ancient L1011 was parked just a short way away!

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