Everyday Live In Africa: Republic of Mali & the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
This past winter I received hundreds of photos and detailed emails from Bob White (no relation) as he and his wife Anne explored remote villages in Africa for three months. The emails were fascinating as Bob shared with family and friends the trials and tribulations of travelling the back roads to get to “off the beaten path” places where they observe and capture the everyday life of Africans.
When they got back I asked if they would be interested in sharing some of their photos and experiences with Everyday Tourist blog readers as I know many of us have never been to Africa and if we have it probably wasn’t to the villages that they travelled to.
I am pleased they have agreed to share their experiences and insights with the Everyday Tourist community.
Travels with Anne & Bob
The border between Guinea and the Ivory Coast was closed during the Ebola crisis in 2014 and remained closed when we made our trip in 2016. We were forced to make a large detour into Mali before we could enter Guinea and continue our planned trip.
We stayed in the Ivory Coast resort town of Grand Bassam, where only a few months earlier three armed gunmen linked to al-Qaeda killed 19 tourists on the beach of this quiet town. We were more troubled and afraid of spending two days in this resort than our having to make a large diversion into Mali.
Fortunately, we had no problems during our time in the two countries, either from terrorists or Ebola. We were welcomed and treated with friendship as was the norm during all our travels in West Africa.
Bob White
We hiked through the hills above the town of Siby, Mali to the Kamarjan Arch, a natural formation in the red sandstone cliffs. The arch and caves in the surrounding area have been used for animist and fetish religious rites for centuries.
Women carrying their babies in slings on their backs is traditional throughout much of Africa. Women commonly clean, cook, shop and work at jobs while carrying their babies. The photo was taken in a roadside market south of Bamako, Mali.
We took an early morning walk in the blocks around our hotel in the small city of Sikasso, Mali. A woman was doing a bustling business cooking up a sweet dough mix in a dimpled pan over a wood fire, a steady stream of locals bought the treats as quickly as she could cook them. We purchased a few and found they had a texture similar to a cake-style doughnut, and that they were delicious!
Our Lady of Peace Basilica, Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire
This huge church was built during the presidency of Felix Houphouët-Boigny, the first president of the Ivory Coast after independence from France in 1960. It can seat over 18,000 people, but normally draws only a couple of hundred for religious services in this mainly Muslim country. Houphouët-Boigny hoped that the basilica would become a pilgrimage site for African Catholics.
Anne Tapler White
Afternoon in the Mosque, Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire
We entered the Mosque which was quite large and spacious, cool and airy in the afternoon heat. The two girls were in a very intense conversion and did not notice my presence. What lead me to take the photo was how small they looked in such a large building.
Leading the Blind, Bouake, Cote d’Ivoire
We were sitting having tea along the main street of the town. The young girl was so attentive to the older woman, carefully guiding her along. What touched me was the young helping the old
Quarry Workers, near Korhogo, Cote d’Ivoire
We saw this work carried out both in quarries and along the roadside. It is a monumental task, breaking large boulders into gravel-sized rocks using only hand tools. The job takes many hours in the extreme heat, often entire families, including children, can be seen hammering at the rocks.
Sacred Boulder, near Korhogo, Cote d’Ivoire
A short walk in sweltering heat and sun took us to this fetish site. Despite being mainly Muslim, many people rely on their animist traditions to get answers to personal problems. Fetish priests conduct rituals and animal sacrifices of chickens, sheep, and goats at this large boulder. A patch of chicken feathers stuck to the rock with blood is clearly visible. Shortly before we arrived, the lamb had been sacrificed to divine the solution to a problem. The lamb was carved into pieces for cooking and eating by the family that night.
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