"Burkina Faso -- The Charm is in its... " a Burkina Faso Travel Page by atufft

Meet my friend Mamoudou Cisse at Bobo Art (see contact). He is charming, always helpful, and as reasonably priced a guide you'll ever get. He will take you around Bobo-Dioulasso and to villages, such as Koro and Koumi using local transport or his motobike. An easy thing to do is to rent a motor bike near the Market, but he'll do that for you at no charge. His uncle's shop is excellent, but the market at Bobo is another great place to bargain for masks and art from the entire West African region. Bobo itself is safe and shaded by trees in its center. At night, clubs feature live traditional music. Take care of my best West African guide (and argueably best I've ever had) as you enjoy the area.

Mamoudou took me out to some villages off the beaten path. There, I pulled out the camera and entertained some families who had nothing else to do but talk to an American like me. I loved the simple charm of these people. Koro and Koumi are must see activities in Burkina Faso. A day of simply visiting among the families here will entertain European and American visitors forever, despite the fact that these families have neither television, telephone, nor any other kind of electronic gadgetry whatsoever. Further south, near the junction of Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Ivory Coast, is the Lobi country. The town center is Gaoua, and there's a good hotel in which to stay the night. A day or two visiting the Lobi people is quite interesting.

We took the local bus for an hour or so from Bobo to Banfora. Then, rented a couple motor scooters for the trip into the park. The paths are sandy and flat, and the ride past all the folks walking to market was fun. The lake there has Hippos, and unlike our previous attempts along the Volta River, we found it easy to find them. The boatman knows exactly where to find them. See the Banfora tip for more details.