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Travel stories from Burkina Faso
The French-speaking west African land of Burkina Faso is one of the poorest and least-developed countries in the world. The population depends on agriculture, though periods of drought turn the country into a landscape of dry savannahs.
Yet Burkina Faso is still known for the “don’t-worry-be-happy” mentality of its people. With very limited resources, the Burkinabès have managed to establish a culturally-diverse country, where many different races live together in peace.
TravelWorks travel tip: Ouagadougou
My Trip
3 days in February 2008
Training trip
Eva Geis, Customer Service for Africa
My impression of Ouagadougou:
Before we incorporated volunteer work in Burkina Faso into our programme, I didn’t really know anything about this country. Most people here seemed to have the same problem as I did - even the taxi drivers! This is a shame; especially once you know how lovely it is in the "land of the honest people" – everyone should get to know this country!
Unfortunately, I could only stay for three days in Ouagadougou (pronounced as Waggadugu). During this time, it was the silence which fascinated me most. It is so quiet there. You can hardly believe that you are in a capital city which is, after all, larger than Amsterdam.
If you travel to Burkina Faso you have to get used to several things. For example; everything runs according to "African time", meaning that everything goes very slowly and unhurriedly. The people there are just so patient. They also have a siesta every day from 12:00 to 15:00. All of the shops are closed; you can’t get a taxi and a deathly hush descends on the town; everyone’s asleep! As soon as the clock strikes 15:00, however, the city comes back to life.
Not to be missed:
You have to visit the art market in Ouagadougou, which really impressed me with its bright colours.
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