Travelling from Yamousoukro to Abidjan

We are at Yamousoukro, the capital of the Ivory Coast.

Yamousoukro, as a city, does not offer much, but hosts the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, that, in the intentions of those who built it, wanted to be a copy of the Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome; let's say that the realization, however, is not really a masterpiece.

This morning we have breakfast at the hotel garden, we enjoy the view and also the company of some starlings that, as always, do not miss the opportunity to catch a few crumbs falling from the tables.

At 7.30am we leave, today we have to travel for 3 hours, but the road that connects Yamousoukro to Abidjanis in good condition and therefore we can proceed with a sustained speed.

We only make a short stop near a local market, that is located at the side of the road, obviously we do not miss the opportunity to take some pictures and to chat with people.

We arrive at Abidjan at 10.30am.

Here the humid climate of the coast makes itself felt, we had forgotten about the humidity that was there when we arrived 10 days ago, we got used to the dry heat of the North of the Ivory Coast; but for a day we can endure this humid heat and luckily we have a hotel with daily usage, so we can take a shower and change before leaving.

There is a lot of traffic, and, as in all African cities, it is chaotic and disorderly traffic; we would never be able to drive here.

We go to the Museum of Culture and Population of the Ivory Coast (Musée des Civilizations of Côte d'Ivoire), it is a small but very well-kept museum; inside are, subdivided by ethnic groups, masks, statues and objects, both for daily use and to perform rituals and ceremonies.

We took a museum guide, a young guy who spoke excellent English, also was very knowledgeable.

We asked him several questions about the exhibits and we told him that we met some of these populations, attending some dances; we recognize some masks and he seems very happy with our interest, we were very pleased to meet him and visit the museum with him.

Here at the museum it is possible to record the antiques bought here in the Ivory Coastand, by paying a small fee of 500 CFA, it is possible to receive a sheet to bring the oldest items out of the country; honestly we did not understand if it was really necessary or just a precaution but, given the ridiculous cost, we decided not to risk and pay.

When we leave the museum we get into the car and head towards Grand Bassam; even here there is a fair traffic, it seems a bit to be in Nairobi.

It takes us more than an hour to reach Grand Bassam, despite being only 40 km from Abidjan, even if, given the radical change of landscape, it seems to be much further away.