Update from Burkina Faso

After posting my last blog about Ghana I have been rather busy. Sitting on crocodiles and visiting yet another slave camp in Paga on the Ghana-Burkina Faso border and also traditional villages with interesting carved houses. After leaving Ghana I made a simple border crossing into quiet peaceful Burkina Faso, country 119. With help I travelled some 20 km to the small uninteresting town of Po. Two kind people actually gave me a free motorbike ride from the border to the town. I stayed at the Hotel Tiandora Esprerance. I was most likely overcharged for the room and a bottle of water. One guy spoke reasonable English and offered to take me by motorbike to the small famous picturesque village of Tiebele some 32 km distance. I was also heavily overcharged for this, having to pay for the bike, petrol, his time and allegedly to take photos at the village in people’s houses. I found out later this was not correct and he took advantage. However the guy was friendly and I had an interesting experience. Tiebele is an extremely old traditional village of southern Burkina Faso, but unlike most other villages in Burkina that have houses made of basic mud brick and no decoration, Tiebele is different and unique. I was able to feel the various shapes and patterns moulded into the outside of the adobe houses and the different textures of paint. Their houses are in many shapes and styles, but mainly they have a tiny semi-circular doors for entry and one has to crawl inside before climbing over a brick step before being able to stay. Inside are simple rooms …

[Unfortunately Tony’s message got truncated at this point. We will try to add the rest later…]