Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Another new country for us so we took an Oceania excursion to Grand Bassam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as to museums and markets. There were only two excursions to choose from so ours had SIX buses and the other excursion had six as well and each was a full day with lunch. What we didn’t expect was that all six buses would travel as a convoy with three motorcycle police officers as escorts and that the convoy would be tailed by an ambulance!?! It was quite the sight!

Grand Bassam was the first capital of Côte d’Ivoire. It was the country’s most important port, and economic and judicial centre when the country was a French colony. Most of the colonial buildings were constructed between 1893, when the city became the capital, and 1900.

It took about 90 minutes to get there even though it was only about 60 kilometres away. The drive there gave us a chance to get an idea of how people here live. It was clear that the majority have a hard life.

Once we reached Grand Bassam, we drove around the town and saw some of the buildings that have been restored as well as others that have been abandoned and are suffering the wear of time. (It’s unlikely the country has the resources to restore them.) We then visited a museum and a beach resort, for lunch, returning to Abidjan to see another museum, a church and a craft market.Read more