Cote d'Ivoire Part 1

We sat in our tro tro on the way to the capital of Abidjan, waiting for what seemed like forever for the soldiers who had our passports in hand to decide whether or not it was worth it to try and extort any money out of us. Our new friend Mustafa sat behind us, and told us to just sit back and not say anything. He had been to Ivory Coast many times and was returning with a woman and child for business. The officer gave one last glance at our passports, decided against it and let us continue on our journey.

The ride to the capital was lush and green with something I hadn't seen in a while: large scale agriculture. The Ivorians definitely seemed to have tamed the land with endless rows of pineapple bushes and major deforestation visible every so often but often hidden by trees close to the road. I fell asleep for a while but was awakened suddenly as we sped around a corner and just in time to see the passenger side mirror explode into thousands of pieces, some grazing Alex's face through the open window. We pulled over and Alex began his first hand recount of how the driver, using the hand break, sped around the corner and hit a woman with the side mirror. We all got out of the car and Mustafa began yelling in French at the punk kid driver, his earbuds still plugged into the side of his head. We quickly decided that this driver was pretty illegit so we thanked the fired up Mustafa and flagged down a cab for Abidjan.

As we approached the city, I realized that I hadn't seen a skyscraper in a very long time and that I was about to be in a proper city. We had the taxi drop us off at a hotel and after failing to persuade the hotel manager to let Alex, Joe, Stirling and I share one room, we reluctantly accepted two.

I hailed a taxi and made use of my petit francais to negotiate a price to "le plateau", the center of the city where the skyscrapers originated. On the way we stopped at an awesome market inside of what seemed like a kind or parking structure but made for individual shops to be stationed. Giant snails as big as my hand were being sold at one end, and various meats were being butchered on wooden blocks and displayed for sale. If we wanted, we could have bought anything from cow's kidney to a whole dog, but we weren't too hungry and decided to continue to le plateau.

After a satisfying cheeseburger and a few beers in the city center we decided to go back to the room and get some rest. We chilled in Joe and Stirling's room and watched the Bourne Supremacy in French while lethargically playing psoi until we could barely move. The day had wiped us out and it was time to rest for the next day's adventure.

We woke early and hoped into a taxi. Our first stop was for some French Pastries. I told the driver to take us to a patisserie and soon enough we were at a bustling little Lebanese-owned pastry and sweet shop. We all grabbed at least three pastries that brought me back to France with their chocolaty, buttery and cheesy centers and warm flakey outer covering. We finished our breakfast with a small pot of coffee and 4 small espresso cups. I was impressed with the presentation and the black coffee, with the addition of a sugar cube was surprisingly delicious.

We walked into a small market across the street that seemed to be owned by another Lebanese family. I liked the addition of another race thrown into the mix. I liked the French influence and culture that they brought in with the pastries and the market had a lot of middle eastern goodies like hummus that I hadn't seen in a while. They seemed to be living pretty comfortable lives and ran business quite well. After picking up some freshly baked pita bread, we got into a taxi and went to the bus station and quickly hopped on a bus to the capital of Yamassukro.