Ouagadougou

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BASICS

Cultural atmosphere and local geography:

Dominant Mossi culture, but many other ethnicities are also here (Samo, Gourounsi, Lobi, etc)

Languages spoken: French, Moore, some Jula (derivative of Bambara)

How to get there and away:

• Ghana- STC (50 64 44 42/ 50 62 25 88)
• Benin- STMB (50 31 44 72 or 50 31 13 63), SOTRAO
• Togo- no big buses know of- only bush taxis
• Niger- SOTRAO
• Mali-STMB, SOGEBAF, TCV (50 39 88 77)
• Cote d'Ivoire-
• Airport phone number (arrival/departure info)

Places to stay:

Please note: only Peace Corps Burkina volunteers are allowed to sleep at the transit house, but other volunteers/visitors are welcome to hang out during the day.

Nicer, with pools:
• Hotel Splendid, Kwame N Krumah
• Silmande, Zone du Bois, near the barrage
• Hotel Palm Beach (50 31 09 91)
• Hotel Ricardo, (50 31 17 17) near the barrage
• Hotel Independence, downtown, surrounded by art/artifact vendors, also offers haircuts, pedicures, massages (50 30 60 60)

Cheaper (5.000-15.000/night):
• Pavillon Vert, quartier Dapoya, next to Point Afrique office
• Hotel Zamdogo, Zogona, near Peace Corps hostel (50 30 10 69)
• 'The Mission', FEME near the Meat Palace on the Route de Fada
• Hotel Continental across from CineBurkina (50 30 43 60)
• SIL near Gare de l'Est on the Route de Fada, no drinking or smoking allowed in compound (50 36 48 51)

Post Office:

Grande Post downtown (M-F 8am-12pm, 3pm-5pm; Sat 8-12- for mailing letters only) other post offices seem to follow the Monday-Friday schedules, but possibly closed on Saturdays. (If you don't have a box, there is a man that packages things up to be shipped for 500-1000 CFA. Coming in the entrance, ask at the desk on the right.) There are also post offices in Dassasgho at the corner of Charles de Gaulle and the Circulaire, and on Charles de Gaulle near the intersection with Babanguida, just down from Surface Alimentation.

Internet:

Dependable connections next to the grand post (across the street from the Verdoyant) and diagonal from Café Zaka (next to the fish market). Hole in the wall places everywhere, just ask. 500-1000 CFA/hr.

SHOPPING

Marché:

La Grande Marche to reopen sometime after burning down in 2003. Go to Marina Market (50 31 09 65) or Scimas downtown, near the grande mosque (same street, maybe three blocks apart) for all cheese, meat, ice cream, other needs (closed from 12 to 3). Bookstores: DIACFA- kind of behind SCIMAS, across from the Grande Marche PAGES - downtown, somewhat near the grand poste

Boutiques:

Everywhere. Will almost always have spaghetti, tomato paste, peanuts, cigarettes, Nescafe, matches, kerosene, candles, candy, bars of soap and laundry detergent, envelopes and paper, etc.

Tailor:

• Dune, a block up from ISO on lefty side of street, turn up dirt road, great Mauritanian tissue vendors next door;
• Anna's Fashion near Paradisio and Petrofa station
• Issaka (76 67 69 79) and Victor (70 25 18 57) make house calls

Film developing: have had the best luck at ADC near Marina Market. Lotte Photo across from Scimas takes a bit longer, but also does a good enough job.

FOOD

Restaurants:

Most larger buvettes have eats in the afternoons and evenings, but here are a few notables from the recommendations and favorites of Bobo Stage Goers:

• African- Café Zaka (somewhat expensive*, downtown near Scimas supermarket, live music and cool craft shop inside)
• Indian- La Mayer (somewhat expensive, near the Grand Cathedral) 50 30 70 87
• Italian
  • Verdoyant (somewhat expensive, near the Grand Poste, delivers50 31 54 07)
  • Les Pilliers (somewhat expensive, Zone du Bois) 50 36 19 52
  • La Paillote (somewhat expensive, great pizza, delivers 50 31 87 34)
  • The Belvedere (somewhat expensive, near the US embassy) 50 33 64 21
• Middle Eastern
  • Gondwana (somewhat expensive, Zone du Bois, great atmosphere)
  • Sindibal's (cheaper, downtown, delivers50 30 58 74)
  • Chez Simone (cheaper, Kwame N Krumah, near Jimmy's 50 33 21 46)
  • Baratapas (cheaper, fun, homemade rum, near STMB gare)
• Chinese
  • Restaurant du Chine (somewhat expensive, downtown)
  • L'Orient- (Zone du Bois, on Babanguida towards the Route de Fada 50 36 15 01)
• American
  • Hamburger House (cheaper, delivers 50 34 54 41)
  • ISO (cheaper, delivers 50 36 21 67)
  • Showbiz (across the street from Hotel Splendid- great milkshakes)
  • American Rec Center at the US embassy
• Vietnamese
  • le Jardin Bambous, (Route de Fada towards Zone du Bois, 50 31 35 14)
  • Kim Son (?) expensive, near the airport
• French
  • Coq Bleu (expensive, Kwame N Krumah 50 30 01 93)
  • Vert Galant (expensive, downtown)
  • l'Eau Vive (expensive, run by Catholic nuns)

*somewhat expensive = 2500+ for most plates

Street food and snacks:

all usually ~ 100 CFA per plate on the street, depending on quantity or if there is meat: Rice and Beans (Benga), Rice and Sauce (Riz Sauce), To and sauce, Atteike, Spaghetti, Rice and tomato sauce (Riz Gras), Snacks- Peanuts and dates everywhere, semi-easy to find dried mangoes.

RECREATION

Bars:

There are many. Here are the favorites from the Bobo Stagieres (these are all bars you can dance in):

• Music Hall (reasonable prices, often has a European crowd, somewhat near the grand post, towards the zone du bois)
• New Jack's (more expensive, great mirrors, across from Hotel Splendid)
• Cactus Bar (expensive, pool tables, Eurpoean crowd, across from Hotel Splendid)
• Le Prive (more expensive, downtown, nice atmosphere)
• The Sahel (often has live music, great atmosphere, cheaper)
• Bar DeNiro (more expensive, pool tables)
• L'Axe (Peace Corps favorite on the Route de Fada, local crowd, cheaper)
• Le Citadel (cheaper, local crowd)
• The New Acropoli, Zogona (just off the Circulaire near the Total Station, cheaper, local crowd)
• Paladium (cheaper, downtown, local crowd)
• Gazoum (local crowd, racy, always a big crowd, Babanguida)

Recreational activities:

• "Le Foret" in Zone du Bois has some trails for walking, running. Also has a small zoo inside (100-200 CFA for entrance)
• Cineburkina (50 32 03 28) and Cine Riale are more comfortable/safer movie theaters
• Café Zaka has live bands every night
• The Moro Naba ceremony is every Friday morning at 7:15am, 15 min ceremony symbolizing a Mossi preparation for battle, but being persuaded to keep peace)
• French Cultural Centre, Maison de Peuple for concerts, theater- on same road as the grande poste
• SIAO-artisan's village open every day (small scale festival- local arts and crafts with less hassle than on the street)

Tourism:

• FESPACO (PanAfrican film festival) falls every two years in February and is a world-renowned film festival.
• SIAO is an artisans festival (arts and crafts) also falls every two years in October/November.
• La Musee Nationale to open sometime in the future.