Day 6 - Abidjan Visit Proper

Today we left Bassam early in order to get a full day in Abidjan. We were dropped off in the CBD at the french culture centre where we waited for Mr Ble and His friend to pick us up. First we visited the Cathedral which is a huge and architecturally beautiful building. Ithink it was built in the 1970s/80s and is a catholic cathedral (the main religion in Cote d'Ivoire is Catholicism). Next we drove past the national stadium where the tragedy happened last Sunday. Nineteen people were crushed to death and hundreds more hurt when spectators overcrowded the stadium. the problem lay in the fact that this was a big match and the tickets had been sold out for weeks, but many people still turned up at the ground trying to get in. Corrupt policemen accepted money from people who did not have tickets and allowed them in, hence the overcrowding. The tragedy has affected people in this country in a strong way and a week of mourning was announced on Monday.

Next we drove to Cocody, a wealthy district where many of the city's officials and politicians have their residences, although there are other less afluent areas within the district. We saw many gated homes and security guards!!! we then stopped off at the exclusive Abidjan Golf Hotel, a swanky establishment right on the lagoon. We managed to sneak in and walk around the grounds to see what it was like (see pictures). We then went to Mr Ble's house to meet his wife and the 2nd cutest child I have ever seen (second to my boy, little Micah) who coincidently is 1 days younger than my son and is born on my birthday!!! It was a really nice experience for me as I have been missing my son in a massive way and to be able to play with a little boy of the same age made it so much easier! We had an amazing lunch prepared by Mr Ble's wife, Esther. This consisted of Loco (fried bananas), lots of crushed chillies (yes for me!! no no no for Mrs Ward!), eggs, a beautiful dish with snails and crab......that's right snails (taste a bit like kidney), rice, tcheke (a type of couscous), fish soup, foutou (mashed manioc and banana), an amazing array of homemade juices (tamarind juice, ginger juice).........It was, to say the least, the most extensive and delicious meal I've had in ages!!!

We then drove back into Abidjan to catch a bus back to Bassam, we missed the bus by seconds so chased after it in the car, we eventually caught it and flagged it down and got on. Not the most comfortable ride ever, but I did manage to fall asleep so it can't have been that bad!

We got off a little before Bassam in order to buy our presents and souvenirs from the "Village Artisanal" we visited earlier in the week and I managed to get in some brilliant haggling, coming out with terms like "come on! that's too much, we're brothers from across continents. Would you charge your brother that much?" and "we're friends aren't we? So let's come up with an honest number here, otherwise we both end up with nothing...." BRILLIANT!! I love haggling, I wish we could do it in Tescos....."come on, surely you can do me a better price for that tin of beans....." One guy was so impressed with my skills that he gave us the stuff at an excellent price and added a present for each of us (a necklace for Mrs Ward, a small African mask for Me and a Keyring for Mr Bekoin).

Anyway, tomorrow we are visiting an African church for mass and then a local village, then packing and then off. I'll try to put our final photos on before we leave at 7pm.

See you all soon