News from Burkina

I just wanted to send out a bit of an update on a couple recent events and some of our plans this coming week.

This week I had some bissap which is a local juice made from a hibiscus flower. It was made by the neighbour of one of our coworkers, but as they use local water it was recommended that we boil the juice before drinking it. (We use a filter at home for our drinking water, but boiling the water is also effective at killing any bacteria). Bissap tastes a bit like a berry juice, but is so different from Canadian juices that it’s hard to describe.

Starting last Friday the Tour du Faso has been traveling through various parts of Burkina. This is an international bike race that occurs every year for ten days at the end of October. This year it started on October 19 and will run until October 28. Each day the participants perform another stage of the course. Friday the race ran from Ouagadougou (the capital city) to Ouahigouya (the capital of the northern region of Burkina). Yako is probably the largest city between these two and the race passed through the main street (which is also one of the only paved streets in Yako). Saturday the race was again in Yako, but this time the bikers started in Yako and went the other direction- back to Ouaga and on to another town. This pattern continues as the tour goes to several other cities or towns in Burkina including Bobo-Dioulasso, Koudougou, and Banfora. Somewhere between 15 and 20 countries are participating in the race and there is currently a Burkinabé in the lead (yay Burkina!)

This Friday is the Muslim holiday of Tabaski so we have a long weekend. We are hoping to spend at least a couple of days in Ouagadougou to take advantage of one of the pools that can be found at some of the nicer hotels. This weekend (well technically starting this Saturday and going until next week Sunday) there is also an artisan festival in Ouaga with vendors from across the country (and I’m guessing some international vendors as well). This will be a pretty neat chance to get some carvings, masks, or paintings as souvenirs of Burkina.

Next week there is also a holiday: Toussaint (or All Saints Day) on November 1. While Tabaski is a Muslim holiday, Toussaint is a Christian holiday. Due to the mix of Islamism and Christianity in Burkina Faso, both Muslim and Christian holidays are recognized as civic holidays. This results in a fair number of holidays throughout the year- many of which occur on different dates each year (similar to Easter). As November 1 is a Thursday, we might be taking off work on Friday and using the extended weekend to visit Banfora. Banfora is in the south of the country where the climate is more temperate and the dry season is shorter. It has a number of unique natural formations as well as “Les Cascades”- an area with beautiful waterfalls.