Cote D'Ivoire First Impressions - 2009

Like New York, Abidjan is a city whose shape dictated by water, in its case a vast lagoon that connects to the Gulf of Guinee. Perhaps not by coincidence it is a densly populated vertical city. The brisk, purposeful pace of pedestrians, the honking horns of the bright red cabs and the crowded street markets also felt familiar. Its irregular boundaries make for interesting, ever-changing views. Coming in from the airport, crossing the bridge over the lagoon, one catches first sight of its impressive skyline. At night the skyline is awash in neon light. Commuters fill ferries which run from 5 am till 10 at night. Taxis and minivans are easily available anywhere in the city. Roland Philippe Kingba, journalist guide, is responsible for introducing us to many of the images and stories below.

View of the central city from a Plateau apartment . The soccer stadium, in orange, can be seen in the background

Despite a U.S. State Department warning to U.S. citizens to excercise extreme caution while traveling in Cote d’Ivoire. I never obseved or felt any signs of trouble during my 10-day stay in Abidjan, nor on a trip to San Pedro, except by coincidence at the US Embassy where we got into a scrape for taking a photograph from the window of our vehicle. My Ivorian driver seemed to enjoy the irony of the situation.

Street corner in Plateau

Street in central Abidjan

Koné Adama and his crew aboard his boat "Paix et Joie" on the lagoon between runs. Koné has capitained his ferry since 1997. They work from 5am until 8pm serving 600 commuters a day.

Commuters boarding the ferry

Fisherman going out from the dock of Yopougon

Fish butcher on the dock at Yopougon and fishing boats in a wide view

Women smoking crevettes near where the fisherman unload their catch in Yopougon

Adjame, a neighborhood in Abidjan where vendors were steaming manioc

Rooftops and the mosque in Adjame

I was hosted by Martine Manga, a Cameroonian in the UN Peacekeeping mission based in abidjan the folowing photo journal was taken during my time in the city and on a weekend trip to San Pedro with Catherine Ntsama Essomba. The road to San pedro, eased out of the Abidjan suburbs, medium rise apt buildings drab but formed an interesing skyline fromed by low clouds and busy street stalls. Gradually giving way to more open spaces. Modest individual homes and radside industrial business repair shops and furniture workshops, markets and petrol stations. vegetation now crowds the road and the local bus operators grdually disappear.

Roadside Villages dot the map every few miles, and in between bicylclists and women balancing firewood or bowls of produce - cassava, etc walk nonchalantly close to traffic. The direction they walk are a sign of which direction the nearest village is as they carry produce to sell and items back from the market. The driver is keeping up a flow of ivorian and congolese music pumping from his CD player and sitting next to him I load the CDs as he drives getting a look at who he selects, Soum Bill, Retro Zouglou, Kofi Olimide, and Alpha Blondy are some of the artists that sound good as we pass through the landscape.

The road can be smooth for quite a stretch and then rough for a good way. The poor condition could be a result of the frequent rains and the huge logging and industrial transport trucks. Both Abidjan and San pedro are major ports.

A boy hawking Obama posters on the outskirts of San Pedro in Western Cote D'Ivoire

The first large scale agricultural project , palm oil trees line both sides of the road for several kilometers, and after abreak repeat for several more. we are know about an hour out of the city and the road, potholes in the two lane pavement become a serious development for the driver who is now is deccellerating to weave through a rough patch and accelerating back to speed only to repeat the process again.

The washers of Banko in Abidjan go house to house in the morning gathering laundry bringing it to the river where it is washed, dried and returned that evening.

Washers drying laundry by the side of the road and where a pipeline to carry gas to Boake is being built

There seem to be small farms all along the path where ever there are cottages near. The homes are generrally mud bricks with pressed Tin roofs. There are other buildings with palm roofs that have the same look, simple square and generally one room affairs from the looks of them all arranged as part of the same compound. The houses in the larger villages are also closely packed rather than sprawling. There is alot to notice on the drive which we make non stop in a little more than 6 hours, leaving at a little after 8am.

Here we have three stages of making the Ivorian staple Attieké, made of cassava that is first cut into pieces, the grated, and sifted and cooked over a wooden fire, then bagged for sale

The landscape changes as we are about 4 hours in, perhaps 100 km form the coast it lokks to my eyes aa if a fire had passed through, low scrubby growth and tall mature trees naked - barkless and bleached it became clearer as we moved along that all trees that were ripe for lumber had been cut and local people all seemed to be making charcoal, judging by the bags stacked at roadside. The eery landscape continued the rest of the way to San Pedro, more or less and there just before entering town we passed a huge lumber operation. On its outskirts between the road and where the workers were ktting lumber were woman making charcoal, smoking wood under large piles of earth. White smoke hung in the air over these large mounds.

Children offering fresh fruit and escargot for sale to a passing bus.

Beach at the Bereby. On one side is a bay, at the other side is an open ocean. The resort is known as La Baie des Sirenes in Grand Bereby and is reopening in June after being closed for 4 years because of the civil war.