The Ivory Coast

I am writing to you from the city of Abidjan which is the capital of the Ivory Coast now officially spelled Cote D'Ivoire. This is without a doubt the nation I wanted to avoid like the plague as it was considered the most dangerous nation in Africa along with Somalia up till 6 months ago.



So why on earth am I here you ask? I met an American in Kumasi who said he was going across the border into Cote D'Ivoire since it was safe now and very stable. I checked it out for myself and sure enough it was removed from the UK travel ban list. Strangely enough Americans don't need visas to enter Cote D'Ivoire until February 15 so I got waved across the border while others had problems.

I first headed to the Beach town of Grand Bassam which was 90 miles from the border and had to endure 9 military checkpoints though suprisingly enough not one asked me for a bribe.

The Ivory Coast is/was the gem of Africa. After independence their president poured money into education and agriculture as well as infrastructure. As soon as you cross the border from Ghana you notice an immediate difference in almost everything. First thing you notice is the excellent roads that still exist in the country followed by a 1st world agriculture and farming system. You see farm after farm as well as freshly plowed fields and nice healthy cows grazing on them (a rare sight in Ghana). The pineapples and bananas are twice the size of Ghana's and taste fantastic. The meat, fish, and food culture in Cote D'Ivoire is night and day when compared with Ghana where people eat for subsistence and not pleasure. Everywhere serves excellent French bread and croissants

By far the best African dish I've eaten is the Ivorian Kedjenou which is a lemon based sauce with tomato and pepper made with chicken, beef, or fish served over an excellent local specialty called Attieke which is grated Cassava and tastes like Cous Cous only better.The people here are extremely friendly despite not speaking much English.

Yesterday I arrived here in the capital to more or less see if the capital can live up to the hype and it definately has. The city is beautiful and is littered with modern skyscrapers. I had no idea that Sub-Saharan Africa had such a city outside of maybe CapeTown. My hotel is right on the lagoon with an amazing view.

Aside from the Armored Personal carriers tha you see here and there the city seems extremely stable and normal the outskirts of the city are slummy but that is normal in any big city