The drive to Banfora was pretty uneventful and we passed through some of the greenest country we have seen since leaving Ghana. There were acres and acres of mango trees and in every shady spot beside the road were women with piles of mangoes for sale. They grade them into sizes and colours and all sit waiting for someone to stop and buy.
Closer to Bnafora and on the flats were acres and acres of sugar cane plantations. Some were being watered by huge irrigators. We saw a couple of steaming chimneys from the sugar mills in the distance as well.
We leapt off the bus before it reached the town centre as we had spotted a sign for a hotel that had been recommended. It was a wonderful place with small round brick thatched rooms. We had mosquito nets, a fan and an ensuite. The paint colours and tiling in the ensuite looked like they could have decorated an European bathroom, they were so modern.
There was a large open sided thatched eating area outside where we could get a free Wifi connection so were able to catch up on emails and the blog.
It was a short walk to the town centre and there was not much to see. We wanted to visit a club and listen to music but couldn't find any taxis that could get us there and back so had to abandon that idea.
These lizards are every where doing press ups.There were not many people in the hotel altrhough it was Easter holidays. We briefly chatted to a couple of Canadian women who were with Oxfam in Ouagadougou and one was in a small village near Bobo working with women growing hibiscus flowers. The flowers are called bissap and are dried and used to make a refreshing drink.
An American professor and her son and partner were also in the hotel one night. They were relaxing after a stressful time in Ouaga. They were tired of the gunshots and the curfew and needed a break. The professor's family were originally slaves from Burkina Faso and she taught American literature at a university in Bamako and wouldn't return to the US until July.
The hotel owned a restaurant in the town and in the evenings when we ordered our dinner it was picked up from the restaurant and delivered by bike to us. There was a kitchen but we only got breakfast served from there.
It was a shame we couldn't explore the outskirts like the Canadian girls who had a vehicle but we felt relaxed and ready to head for Mali.
