Visiting the Capital

 The actual and lesser-known political capital, Yamassoukro.  The capital was moved from ABJ to "Yakro" in the 1980s because it was realized that making representatives come for government meetings from the far corners of the country all of the way down to ABJ did not really make sense and so they figured Yakro would be a compromise.  Of course, all of the major agencies and international institutions are a bit lazy and stick to the more cosmopolitan ABJ, but I really liked Yakro.  Here are some highlights:

My first week in Cote d'Ivoire, the Chief of Party was (correctly) concerned that I would be bored to death just hanging out in my room here in Abidjan and organized a "mission" for me to travel to the political capital of Cote d'Ivoire with one of our drivers to "test drive" one of the new USAID/PEPFAR cars.  The car needed a practice drive and I wanted to see more of Cote d'Ivoire, so a 3-ish hour ride north was just what the doctor ordered.

Orange+green tricolor

The day before, I was handed an official "Mission Order," in case any security or military forces questioned us.  Sure, there were a few checkpoints on the way out of Abidjan and into Yamassoukro, but with our USAID/PEPFAR sign, we had smooth sailing--well, except where the road was bumpy.

I spent the whole ride staring out the window, AMAZED at the number of TREES!  Cote d'Ivoire is soooo green, and the ground so orange.  I understand now why the flag colors are what they are.  It looked so different from the greener, more tropical parts of Senegal or The Gambia that I've seen and I realized that I really am in a new country and part of the continent.  Very cool.  Also, LOTS of banana trees everywhere--I think I've found my country!

Our first stop, the Hotel President on the outskirts of the city.  The spaceship at the top?  A bar and restaurant of course.  We walked inside and I was the only one inappropriately dressed in flipflops.  I'm definitely not classy enough for this place!

After swimming 3 times a week in June, I was ready to jump into this pool.  Alas, we were just there for  a walk around, but still tempting!

This hotel was actually a little creepy in that you could tell that the people who stay here are power players but also that 20 or 30 years ago, it was in it's hey-day, like the rest of the country.  It still feels like a fancy hotel that was obviously built in the 1950s or 60s, but it has seen a lot of hard times too.  I guess there's no easy way to put words to it, but I felt the ghosts of post-colonial Cote d'Ivoire, when ties with France were close and the country was on it's rise.

A view of the Basilica from the top of the spaceship/hotel.

In my years abroad, "Winning" apparently became a catch-phrase, so I had to take this picture!

At the hotel, we met up with our Chief of Party's nephew, David, who works at the hotel as part of the CI Ministry of Tourism.  He acted as a tour guide and took a friend of his up on an invite for a special, traditional meal, bringing us along.  He invited more of his friends over and we feasted on this messy dish, village style.

Sugary banana mash with spicy mushroom sauce.  Weird but soooo good!

Take a bit of banana mash (futu), make it into a stick ball, and roll it in the slimy mushroom sauce.  Yum!

Then David took us to meet a fellow tourism friend who works at the Basilica, which has become the landmark for the city.  

You can't tell from this angle, but it's designed to resemble St Paul's in Rome with outstretched arms.

 The church is circular, which I love, and the bottom portion of all of the window sections open up to doors so they can have even larger crowds.

Very easily one of the coolest churches I've ever seen.

The capital city?  Yep, all you can really see is the white mosque in the background.

Looking up

Looking down on the church

Looking out on the entrance way and the arms

Unfortunately we ran out of time to check out the crocodile basin outside the palace where Boigny is buried.  They feed them every evening around dusk, especially dring Ramadan.  Alas, next trip!

A beautiful mosque covered in latisework closer to the town.

Though it was a quick trip and long road, Yamassoukro seemed more like a large town than a capital city, but also felt a little more like the West Africa of the Sahel I'm used to (if you ignore the trees, let's be honest).  Something about the dusty road, small stores, and general pace felt familiar.  I would love a chance to go back before I leave, but that might have to wait until my next visit to this country.