Oh, the returns. The smells, the vibes, the familiarity.
E-visa took a couple of minutes, a photo and fingerprints were taken, then I had to queue up for the very passport control, another several minutes, yellow fever vaccination checked (I got myself re-vaccinated this year, my previous vaccination expired 2021 and even though all the doctors back at home insisted it’s now OK until end of life, they wouldn’t rewrite the validity of it, so I vaccinated again, 3rd time strong.)
The covid vaccine check was just a glance at it and noone bothered me with the DDVA. There were however semi-isolated booths where I saw people taking rapid covid tests. No idea who was selected for it.
An hour or so later, the baggage was nowhere to be found. Yeah European airlines AD2022. There is a certain irony in it, the flight to Brussels got heavily delayed because of cargo loading. But the staff already knew my bag was supposed to arrive the next day on the same flight so at least I was lucky.
It took another while for me to change money and try out the atms. Société Générale wanted to charge me almost 4k for withdrawal of 70k, Ecobank withdrawal was free. ATMs and money changing bureaus are next to each other now and I say change your money now coz in town I couldn’t find any money changer except the street men (though I didn’t look hard). Being at the topic of ATM: standard chartered in the Plateau also wanted to charge me,l for withdrawal, NSIA Bank was free.
Jacques, a friend from former work adviced me to use MTN or Orange SIM card. I picked MTN, not very cheap, 2k for SIM card and 10k for 15GB of data. 3 days on I can tell MTN is quite erratic, even in Abidjan. Who knows what’s with Orange now. It’s a bit more expensive with Orange. Moov, the 3rd network, which I used to use in the past, has the cheapest bundles.
The women at SIM card booth told me to Marcory – where I picked my hotel – taxi should cost 3k. There is a taxi line at the airport and the asking price is 5k, the driver went down to 4k but I wasn’t having it. I went to where the taxis drop the passengers and asked a taxi there. 3k it is and I’m in the taxi when a soldier whistles at us and chaos ensures. I get out of the taxi and the taxi driver is full of the trouble, gets pulled over, then asks me to enter the taxi then I have to get out again coz the soldier is still having some issues, verbal argument is in full speed between the two. Turns out taxis can drop the passengers but they cannot pick anyone up.
Since I went to the airport the next day, already prepared, here is a Abidjan airport taxi-money saving lifehack: walk out of the airport just like the cars go. There is a pavement, people are walking out too and soon enough you will be able to pick up a taxi, one of the ones leaving the airport empty.
Myself, I waited a bit and my next attempt at dodging the official taxi fare went smoothly, I walked to the taxi and while walking asked for Marcory/3k and immediately entered the taxi. We went on.
I stayed in the same hotel, Hotel du 3eme Pont, as I did 3 years ago. It’s on Google Maps and you can book it online, but you will save a bit if you book it directly with the owner, Mme Victoire, WhatsApp +33 6 52 53 98 27, she also does respond to a chat on Google Maps. It’s 15k this way. The hotel developed a bit since 2019, has now a restaurant (I didn’t try it), WiFi (quite fast but weak signal in the rooms) and a proper street sign. Boulevard du Cameroun is now a one way street so coming from the airport you either have to make your way somehow there or get out at the pont (bridge, flyover) and walk the next 100m yourself.
The rooms are basic and clean. I mean: cold water only, no toilet seat and my bathroom sink was leaking. But I had ac, which I barely used anyway since it wasn’t that hot thanks to the omnipresent clouds.
I went out to look for the Guinness. It was a little drizzling so the streets were quite empty. Some joints I knew around are no longer there, pity (ils sont cassés in word of a manager of a nearby bar). Opposite there was a bar that looked a bit kitsch to me, all those colourful disco lights inside. But in fact its manager was the friendliest person and I spent there every evening since. 1k for a small Guinness is not bad.
For the drinkers: across the street closer to the hotel there is also a buvette with the same price for the small Guinness but it was always quite busy when I walked by in the evening. And across the street from the buvette there is a open air maquis with the poisson braisée, and also poulet braisée, but I didn’t eat there this time coz the fish is carp only and that’s a carp imported from China (!) and I try not to eat any chicken.
So yeah, all was good and peaceful, Guinness was hitting my head, the bar manager shared his goat suya with me, I mean, I missed this.
Here it’s me in the IJGB bliss.
The missing bag derailed my plans a little bit, for the silliest of reasons. Since I had to confirm the land borders were really closed and if they are, I had to get authorisation de sortie from Ministère de l’intérieur, i couldn’t really go there in shorts. I now have experience. It’s not only being denied to enter clubs in Lagos on occasion of me being inappropriately clothed (shorts) but also Gabon Embassy in Yaoundé where the gateman wouldn’t let me in (shorts) and also Kaleef’s snort when he saw me coming back from Ghana Embassy in Berlin (did you go dressed like this?). Kaleef is Nigerian, they know.
So I can’t go to the Ministère the next day so I planned to go mask window shopping to the marché artisanal and then to see Jacques, a friend from former work.
Yes I do have serious or less serious mask buying plans. Abidjan always had something nice in its market, even though I never bought here anything. Also, i only realised not long ago that in West Africa this is the place to go for wood carvings. I mean: Dan, Baoulé, Sénoufo, they all here! Also, a few weeks ago I broke down and bought a Dan mask in Hannover, Germany. It was a sign!!!
So next day – first things first – coffee. And a pleasant surprise, the same Madame who was serving coffee almost next door from the hotel is still there, accompanied by possibly her daughter. The coffee – strong robusta – is still 100fcfa. I mean, the bliss continues. Of course I had more than 2 espress.
Then I picked up a sandwich from the nearby stall: half a baguette with omelette, fried onions with a meat sauce, fresh onion salad, 250fcfa. And I walked to the marché artisanal.
On my way I checked another café that I knew, a more of a food and drink enterprise, with proper chairs etc. where café was already 500fcfa but the coffee already felt diluted and weak despite being made in a proper grand coffee machine. I also stopped in a local supermarket to buy a toothpaste but they wouldn’t have a change. Then I remembered this country has no change. Oh man.
On the way to the marché I went to a big shopping centre, which has a supermarket. There, to enter, you have to wear a mask, and this being a real civil place, the customer service handed out one to me. The supermarket I needed for the toothpaste but I also stopped at a piment counter. Apart from masks I will also carry loads of piment. Why am I even going to Ghana?
Marché artisanal didn’t disappoint. I found 4 shops where I could easily pick masks. They all claim they do the shipping, and one of them even mentioned obtaining a letter from the museum. I didn’t even ask for the prices coz I know how this ends. I didn’t try to take photos but then someone actually offered I made some. Eish this things are beautiful and I will leave this country overloaded.
The biggest surprise was a shop with Yoruba clay figurines. These things are stunning to my eyes. And pity I don’t know where to get them in Nigeria. Although I stopped visiting the art markets in Lagos long ago. There the trader from Senegal, was so friendly, that he told ne the prices. Two heads of king & queen, 80k, the yellowish figurine even he said it’s expensive: 200k asking price. I will come back though not for the figurine, though i wish.
Here some pics of what I liked:
On my way back to the hotel I stopped at a coffee shop in the fancy shopping centre. 2500 for double espresso, yeah no more. Street robusta is the way.
I had lunch in a Togolese restaurant next to the yesternight’s bar. Rice with tomato sauce and sauce des feuilles, tasty and bien pimenté, 2900fcfa. I also stopped at the buvette for a small Guinness, 1k like the bar across.
Jacques is a friend from former work, Ericsson. His side hustle is Centre Ivorien de Robotique. It’s located quite far North from Marcory where I stayed, 16kms or so. But using Uber to get the idea of the price I should pay, I quickly managed 4k for a ride, that also included bridge toll to Cocody of 500fcfa (about which I had no idea). Abidjan has two more taxi apps: Heetch and Yango but looks like the latter isn’t available for the Polish Google Play Store clients. Heetch has slightly lower prices than Uber, though coming back the Heetch driver that Jacques ordered for me didn’t want to include the bridge toll in the ride price.
His school of robotics is quite small and Jacques is constantly busy hustling even though he keeps his work at Ericsson. He’d like me to get involved with his business, he is thinking of training for Huawei who is aggressively expanding its business around. Yet apparently at the moment Huawei doesn’t need trainers and as for investment in Jacques’s ideas? Well, I’m not saying no but also I burned myself before so I hope I’m more cautious now.
Since we couldn’t get the Heetch taxi Jacques negotiated a fare for me. We even contemplated me hiding just like I do in Accra when Kenneth is getting me a good fare but Abidjan isn’t Accra and for 3.5k incl. the bridge toll I got back.
Then on to the airport for the bag. Collected and in shape. I called before. Taxi was 3k either way to/from Marcory.
Then I decided to look for a restaurant. From Google Maps there are not many around in Marcory and I didn’t want to use taxi. I walked to a maquis marked down the boulevard du Cameroun but when I reached there, the place seems no longer to exist or….? Since I’ve been banned from reviewing places on Google Maps I can’t make any adjustments so I’ll leave you dear reader to find the non-existent maquis out yourself.
I skipped a Lebanese meat-only chicken kind of place. Since my visit to Peru I avoid chicken. The boat from Ecuadorian border to Iquitos showed me.
I walked to Chez Arthur, the restaurant not far from non-existent maquis. It was a full blown restaurant, no outdoor seating, but proper seating inside, a waiter, and very empty. I ordered a kedjenu with snails and a Beaufort since they didn’t have any Guinness. I asked for the kedjenou to be bien pimenté. And I got what I asked. It was! Hot enough to make my tongue burn and not hot enough to drill through my intestines. What I especially enjoyed is when I asked for piment on side the waiter told me I don’t need it since it’s already bien pimenté like I asked. The level of confidence was spot on. And it was just perfect. It wasn’t cheap though, 7000cfa with attiéké and atttiéké was not enough for the amount of the sauce.
Next day was le ministère in the morning. iOverlander only mentions I need a permission to leave Ivory Coast via a land border but otherwise I couldn’t find anymore details. More: the Senegalese trader at the marché artisanal told me the borders are open. Anyway, 2k later on a taxi, it drops me near where Google Maps says the ministry is. It’s not correct, what’s there is a police prefecture but the friendly policemen outside call a taxi for me, explain where it has to drop me and with 1k far off we go.
The ministry is right behind the cathedral coming from the South. It features friendly guards who know what you’re coming for (authorisation de la sortie), friendly policemen/clerks inside who explain to me that I have to write a request letter to the ministry to be allowed exit (yes, Ivory Coast keeps the borders closed). The same friendly policemen/clerks give me an example to use for a template when I ask for one citing my poor French. The same friendly people tell me the authorisation is free of charge.
This being the most rational of the continents, there is a internet/printing shop across the street at yet another ministry, where yes, they even have a template for what I was asking to print. So we edit it: I’m not coming back by land so don’t put the return date, I’m using public transport not a car (policemen/clerks didn’t even blink when I said I’m using public transport so I assume I’m good), I don’t want to say I really cross on 2nd September as I don’t really know the date (the policemen/clerks say I should submit the request 3 days before the exit) so I insist we use the phrase a partir de which in my opinion means from when it comes to date. There is a bit of confusion in the printing shop about it, they say I can only cross on 2nd September, not later but the policemen/clerks confirm I can cross really a partir de.
It all took me maybe 30 minutes and back in the ministry, the friendly people give me a stamp and say that’s it. With my request in hand je suis bien authorisé.
I take a walk back to centre of Plateau. Try to get coffee at Abidjan Café but it’s closed or closed down. Use NSIA ATM, can’t find any bureau de change, the librairie de Francehas no postcards anymore, it’s 2k back to Marcory on a taxi after all that.
Then I walk down the road to rond-point Koumassi, to find a minibus to Bassam. It’s there, 1k, and after some waiting time we go.
In Bassam there is street robusta, as potent as ever, I walk to the Quartier de France. It’s a bit more dilapidated than 3 years ago, some businesses are closed or closed down, the ship with wooden carvings is no longer there (shame). At the end of the road there is now an industrial enterprise digging stones or whatever so I have to go through residential shacks and charcoal mounds to get to the beach. The beach here is very utilitarian and you can see that clearly, a lot of human dung lies around, I didn’t feel too comfortable to walk barefoot in water. Shame.
But then the beach becomes clean and there are some people taking a dip near the shore and this is the hotel area, some businesses closed. A couple of men greeted me. From what I understood, Abdul Karim and his friend were normally working as tour guides all the way into Ghana but with the drying up of tourists due to life they now clean the beach. Then another man, Angel, back in the streets of Bassam, asks me if I want to be guided around. It’s already late so I say no. Then another man approaches me about the same. First time here for me.
The minibus to Abidjan is 500 and quickly fills up.
Dinner is roasted fish but since I refuse the carp, I take something else, longer and thinner, for 2500fcfa, on the way from rond point to the hotel, on the street. It was good but I felt the fish till the morning. Guinness is in the bar across from the hotel.
Since – aside from mask & piment shopping – there is not much for me to do, the next day I go away, to Sassandra on the West coast. Bradt recommends it, though I must say Bradt for Ivory Coast isn’t too useful. If you can read French, Petit Fume is a bit more practical.
L
Coming back to Maman 