Photos of Chiefs # 1

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.

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.

Workers at the Cathedral