Introduction To This Ivory Coast Blog

This blog is about Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), a fascinating country I had the good fortune to visit in November 2007. I had met some people on the Internet and for several had corresponded with them from my home in Northern California. Finally I decided that since I wanted to take a photographic expedition, because I needed something of a change and a vacation, and because I would be able to assist these folks in getting better known all over the world with my photography, I would take a trip there.

In October 2007, I flew from JFK Airport in New York via Emirates Airlines. Having spent more than a deade some years back in the travel business when I took innumerable trips to many distant places, I can tell you that Emirates proved to be a wonderful airline that greatly exceeded my expectations. The journey to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire did, however, seem endless. After crossing the Atlantic, we flew across the Sahara to Dubai, where we had an 8-hour layover. We then went on, again via Emirates, to Accra, Ghana, stopped briefly, and then continued on to Abidjan.

Later, in October 2008, I returned to Cote d'Ivoire. Photos from both trips are mixed through this blog. This second time I took Air France from JFK to Paris, changed planes and boarded a flight from Paris to Abidjan. Coming from California, where I started my voyage in San Francisco, made this an entirely too long a trip to do in one stretch. Next time around I shall overnight in Paris -- see my relatives there -- and try to get a little rest before continuing on.

Arriving in West Africa makes one feel as though he has been living all his life in a black-and-white movie and has suddenly been thrust into a Technicolor world. The colors everywhere seem more vivid than they do at home. And people dress more colorfully, too.

With that introduction, let me show you a few of the sights I saw during both my stays.

More Photos From the Abissa

The Abissa, an 11-day celebration that includes singing, dancing, the honoring of chiefs, and an appearance by the King and the Queen Mother, offers an incredible opportunity to take lots of great photos. Here are the first few in the series I took in Oct-Nov 2008.

Portrait at the Abissa

Here's one of the portraits I took in 2008 at the Abissa celebration in Grand Bassam.

Interestingly enough, genetic analysis has revealed that at least 30 percent of our present-day African-American population is descended from people in this area, people from the N'Zima tribe. Duting the slave trade, slaves from this area were valued more highly than others. They were thought to be more beautiful, more handsome, and stronger. They were given the nickname "Apollo slaves."

Getting to Cote d'Ivoire from the United States

Twice I have traveled to Abdijan, Cote d'Ivoire, from the United States. Each time I went by a different route. I thought for those of you contemplating going to this part of West Africa, my experiences might help you decide which airline to take.

On my first trip, I went via Emirates Airlines. Since I am in Northern California, I first had to fly to JFK in New York, then board the Emirates Airlines flight. This flight took me across Africa (and across the Sahara) to Dubai, were I had about 8 hours layover. Emirates included a free night on a nearby hotel, so I got at least five hours sleep before boarding my next Emirates flight. To reach West Africa (first a brief stop at Accra, Ghana, and then a one hour flight on the same plane from Ghana to Cote d'Ivoire), we onhce again had to cross the Sahara. Let me tell you, the Sahara is immense. Simply overflying it in either direction took a huge amount of time. The Emirates trip took forever. I think I was traveling close to two days. not something you want to do if you can avoid it.

Fortunately for us folks on the West Coast, Emirates has since started flight from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Ghana. If my sense of geography is not totally confused, this would involve only one overflight of the Sahara, and would also avoid the flights between San Francisco and New York. I haven't flown by this route yet -- perhaps I will try it the next time I go to Cote d'Ivoire.

Let me just say that Emirates is a superb airline. The service is wonderful and the food is considerably better than the food served on most of its competitors.

The next year (2008) I went to Cote d'Ivoire by a different route. Again I went to JFK, but this time I boarded an Air France flight to Paris. I had several hours at the airport in Paris, then I boarded the flight to Abidjan. Again, excellent service and excellent food.

So your choice must be based on convenience and whether or not you perhaps wish to spend a few days in Dubai or Paris. I plan to spend a little while in one or another the next time I journey to Cote d'Ivoire.

Photos of Chiefs # 1

Portraits of the Chiefs # 2

Here are some portraits of chiefs that I took in 2008 when they were assembled at a function honoring them at the Abissa celebrations. My favorite ones are those that look straight into the eyes of the individual. Each one of these faces communicates something, and most of them differ in what they are communicating. Several of the 35 or so people there were women. I know just about nothing about the anthropology of Cote d'Ivoire and whether or not women are sometimes chiefs. But the culture is a matriarchal one -- inheritance goes through the mother, not the father -- so it seems at least possible that these women are indeed chiefs. If I discover otherwise, I will correct this narration.

Africa's Poor

In Cote d'Ivoire as in many other African countries you cannot help but notice that millions of people live in poverty. If you have struck up a friendship with any of these impoverished people, ma single questions nags at the back of your mind: how can these people be lifted out of their situation into something economically better

Between Abidjan and Grand Bassam lies a stretch of highway that passes through an area I was told is inhabited by Nigerians. The poverty there is dreadful. Huge piles of trash that make a few spots look like an American dump, thousands of rudimentary shelters, and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. I mention the sight not to judge anyone, but to note that the sights in this stretch of road absolutely force anyone but the most jaded to reflect on poverty and the difficulties of lifting anyone out of it.

This is a problem I have been wrestling with for moire than a year.

Obama's Election in Ivory Coast, West Africa

Were the people of Ivory Coast delighted by Obama's win ? You bet they were. When CNN announced that he had won, the hotel ballroom where the Obama Election Night watch was being held erupted in shouts of joy and happiness. The next day, a stranger came up to me in the streets of Abidjan, reached out, shook my hand, and said, "Thank you Thank you ! Thank you ! "

I'm Back from my 2008 Trip to Cote d'Ivoire

Hello, Folks,

I'm back from my 2008 trip to Cote d'Ivoire. Took the last few days in October and close to 3 weeks in November. As I mentioned in my blog describing my goals for the trip, I did indeed take about 4,000 photos, so I may well have a good enough selection for a photo book. I am still transmitting hundreds to an organization I took many of them for, but I will get back to posting many of them regularly here, too.

In the meantime, happy holidays to those rare individuals who actually come to this blog and look at my pics. May 2009 be your grandest year yet !

Coming Up -- The Abissa

I am now not quite a month out from my departure this year for Ivory Coast. It promises to be an especially interesting and exciting one.

Like last year's trip, this one will be primarily photographic. I'm planning on taking 4,000 to 5,000 photos. My objectives will be threefold: 1) To get enough photos to finish a photo book on Ivory Coast and The Gambia; 2) To photograph the Ivory Coast Bodybuilding Championships for my friends; and 3) To photograph the last few days of the "Abissa."

The Abissa is a local holiday said to last approximately two weeks. As I understand it -- and I reserve the right to be wrong and to correct my mistakes as I learn of them -- the calendar of the N'Zima people, who occupy an area that is now comprised of Southern Cote d'Ivoire and part of Ghana, is 50 weeks long, The extra two weeks are given over to celebrations and occur at approximately the same time each year. My trip was scheduled and my air travel reserved for dates that bring me to Cote d'Ivoire for just the last few days of the celebration. Next year I should plan on coming earlier because I will miss the first week of the event.

While I am there at the end of the celebrations, there will be a reception for N'Zima businessmen on one day, another reception for N'Zima chiefs on another, a procession of 50+ bodybuilders dressed as traditional N'Zima warriors through the old French Capital of Grand Bassam, and a bodybuilding competition. There may be dancing and drumming and all kinds of other things packed into those last few days, too, but I don't yet know what the schedule is like.

Two especially interesting aspects of this celebration -- I am told, and haven't verified it from several sources -- that husbands and wives get rid of their pent-up aggressions against each other by cross-dressing and publicly making fun of each other; and the Abissa itself is said to represent the origins of Caribbean carnivales, the idea having been taken from this area by slaves who were shipped to the New World.

Granbd Bassam, where the celebrations take place, was for just a few years at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, the colonial capital of France in the area. This ended after about six years when an epidemic of yellow fever wiped out 3/4 of the people, both locals and French. The capital was quickly moved elsewhere, but many of the old French colonial-style buildings are said still to be there, some restored, many in disrepair and occupied by squatters.

I will try to get photos up in this blog soon after my return in mid-November.

Looking Forward to This October - November

I shall be returing to do photography in Cote d'Ivoire this October - November, and I am greatly looking foward to it. I shall be spending five days -- my first five -- at Grand Bassam, a beach area that used to be the French administrative capital of Cote d'Ivoire until early in the 20th Century yellow fever wiped out a large number of the French. The area has been nominated as a special World Heritage Site, and if the United Naions has not yet designated it as this, it may do so soon.

What is special about the timing of my visit is that I shall be able to photograph dancing and traditional ceremonies involved in the Abissa, which is a celebration lasting up to two weeks that is said to be the ancestor of all Caribbean carnivals, including the one at Rio. This should be a rare opportunity, and I should return with hundreds of photos -- no, thousands -- some of which, I hope, will be great ones.

Bread ! As photographed at Chez Paku

At Chez Patu (Ivoire Pastisserie Beaumais), I found in addition to lots of gooey pastries, a wonderful assortment of fresh bread. Here are a few photos of the breads they sell. Don't these bricohe make the perfect complete to a bowl of cafe au lait ?

Gasoline Prices in Cote d'Ivoire

I think it is worth sharing with you news I received about gasoline prices in Cote d'Ivoire. If we think we have it hard here in the United States, we should put ourselves in the shoes of the average worker (those lucky enough to have a job !) in Cote d'Ivoire. In the United States, if we earn $30,000 or $40,000 and have to pay $60 to fill our car's gas tank, we still have a lot of slack and wiggle room to absorb recent price increases. (Cut out the Starbuck's frappocinos each afternoon !)

For the average worker in Abidjan, the nation's largest city and main commercial center, the situation is very different. Until a few days ago, gasoline prices in Cote d'Ivoire had been frozen since 2005. A week or so ago, the government raised gas prices 29% and diesel prices 44%. This was because there is a limit to how much a relatively impoverished government can subsidize fuel costs. With the increase in gasoline and diesel prices, public transportation fares have had to be increased.

Now put yourself in the shoes of the worker who lives in a distant part of the city and who works at the port. He or she has to take a bus. Just to go to work and return home each day now costs about US $80/month. The worker probably earns between US $120 and US $200/month. Would you want pay twice as much for transportation as this leaves you for your family ?

We here in the United States are not the only people having to deal with the consequences of Bush's failed policies. His blunder in taking us to Iraq is hitting the poor of the world even harder than it hits us.

Gooey Cakes, Tarts and French Pastries

One of the great pleasures of visiting any foreign country is that of sampling the food. Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire), having been a French colony, still has a great deal of French influence about it. Never mind the fact that the one language that appears to unify everyone is French, there is also an educational system modeled on France's, too. I got the impression from speaking with friends that if you drop out of school before or during university, it becomes exceptionally difficult to get back into the system.

One of the delightful French influences isthat of French cuisine. At the Ivoire Patisserie Beaumais (Il Plateaux 22.41.30.55 or 22.41.88.40), a pleasant place to have an omelet and coffee for breakfast that was handy to the hotel where I was staying, there was also a wonderful selection of French pastries. The prices were certainly less than one would have paid in the United States -- perhaps half -- and the quality was excellent. Here are a few photos of the gooey goodies that I took during visits there.

Incidentally, the locals refer to this patisserie as "Chez Pako," so that may be what you'd want to ask for if you're trying to track it down.

More Cakes and Pastries

Here are just a few more of the gooey, delicious offerings you can find at Ivoire Patisserie Beaumais. You won't gain weight just by looking at photos !

Portraits

Here aree just a few of the portraits I took during both trips to Cote d'Ivoire. The last two are of Benjamin, one of the local bodybuilders. Along with Said, who won the Mr. Ivory Coast a few days after my arrival, Benjamin took great care of me.

(For that matter, the portrait of the fellow wearing all the gold at thew beginning of this blog is Benjamin, too.I wanted a photo that would reflect royalty and something very special, so we rented the gold -- yes, you can do that in Cote d'Ivoire - and spent a morning trying to get two or three really great photos. I think we succeeded, but you be the judge.)

Both Ben and Said were very solicitous of my welfare. Since Benjamin and Said are quite a bit larger than the average fellow in Cote d'Ivoire, when I walked along with them the crowds parted.

When traveling in a foreign (to me) culture, I have always made it a point to have a local guide who could keep me out of trouble. If you're ever to travel to Cote d'Ivoire, I strongly suggest that you get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with Benjamin or Said. They're honest, careful and trustworthy folks who can show you the sights and keep you away from problems.

Nice Long Telephone Chat with Benjamin

I had a nice long chat yesterday with Benjamin, whose photos you can find elsewhere in this blog, and briefly with his wife, too. It was 1 a.m. (a day later than here in California) Ivory Coast time, even though it was late afternoon or early evening here. Benjamin works for a taxi company as a driver. He commented to me that gasoline is becoming VERY expensive in Cote d'Ivoire. He did not give me details. However, I subscribe to a Google service that lists news items about Ivory Coast, and when I received my daily notice with the list of todays URLs I saw an item about how the cost of gasoline was just raised by the Government by 44%, effective yesterday.

Looking at this with a more global perspective, how are the world's poor going to be able to survive, much less prosper, when the price of oil keeps going up and up and up, and with it the price of food ?

I saw a while ago in the Google feed some news items about people rioting about the increase in the cost of rice. This was in many countries, not just Ivory Coast. Another Ivory Coast friend told me that many people there switch to other forms of starch, so it doesn't affect the people we know as much as it might. I recall that whenever we ate at a restaurant in Ivory Coast, the Ivoirians (is that the word ?) would always accompany their main dish with a HUGE serving of rice or cassava or some other local starch. Benjamin told me yesterday that the people we both know are not having problems getting enough to eat, and that their present situation is okay.

On the Beach in Cote d'Ivoire

We drove several hours from Abidjan to a coastal area that a while ago had been a thriving resort. Iwas told that before the start of the rebellion, frequent charters from Italy used to bring hundreds of tourists here. Now, of course, there are no tourists. One passes empty resort after empty resort. A few people come out from Abidjan to spend the weekends here, but certainly noit enough to sustain many of these accommodations.

How long it will take for the tourist business to regenerate is anybody's guess. In a recent phone conversation I asked a friend how the tourist business was shaping up and he replied,. "The last one departed this past November for California." He was referring to me.

The U.S. and British embassies still issue these dire warnings about how unstable the country is, and tell travelers not to visit Cote d'Ivoire unless it is absolutely necessary. In large measure, these embassies are responsible for the present hibernation of Cote d'Ivoire's tourist industry.

This is a shame. The country has warm friendly people, fascinating cultures, fine French food, and lots of things to see -- wildlife preserves, the largest Catholic cathedral in the world, a cocoa industry, a growing rubber industry. I'm on my way back this there this October.

The Largest Catholic Cathedral in the World

Early November, 2007

Would you believe that the largest catholic cathedral in the world is in Yamosoukro, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire ? It is bigger than St. Peters. I was told by a guide that it has been full only two times, once for the Basilique's consecration by the Pope and another time for the funeral of Cote d'Ivoire's first president, Houphouet Boigny.

All the photos here date from early November, 2007. I am not posting these accounts and photos each day as events actually happen. I am writing and posting almost a year later. The official Google dates of the blog poasts have been changed because that is the only way I have been able to order my posts in some kind of coherent narrative about what I found in this West African nation.