Trip Report: Burkina Faso
Visited in November 2024
Oh boy, where do I start…
Burkina Faso was a trip where many things went wrong. It basically started before the trip. The trip was supposed to take me to the three Sahel countries of Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali for a week. The main part of the trip was supposed to take place in Burkina Faso.
We were a group of three people planning a four-day tour in Burkina Faso. The complications started with the e-visa which you can get for ~$170. I got mine in 24 hours. But for the other two of our group, both with American passports, it took forever. One got the e-visa after two weeks. The other person was still waiting a month later…
We had organized a tour guide in Burkina and when I told him that still not all of us got the visa, he said he knew someone who works for immigration and this person could help with our problem. It turned out that his contact could actually help. However, he would charge $40 to get the e-visa approved. Our guide called this fee “beer money”.
We didn’t really have a choice. Or rather, the alternative would have been to start a new e-visa application and hope that it would be approved this time. But the $40 was the lesser of two evils. Anyway, with this demand for “beer money” Burkina Faso became the first country for me where the corruption started before I even set foot in the country.
Ultimately, the “beer money” was an investment for nothing, as the person in our group canceled the trip due to a family emergency. And then came the Niger incident that messed up my entire trip. If you haven’t read this article yet, I would suggest you do so now before you read any further. Otherwise you won’t understand everything I write below.
The Niger incident presented me with the following problem. Since I was not going to Niger anymore, I had to fly from Casablanca in Morocco directly to Burkina Faso instead of Niger. However, there were only two flights in the next four days. With the first flight, I would arrive in Burkina Faso two days earlier than planned. With the second flight, the arrival in Burkina would have been a day later than planned.
I preferred the first option. However, my visa was only valid from the day I was supposed to arrive. My guide, Blaise, told me that he had spoken to the immigration office and they assured that it wouldn’t be a problem if I arrived with a visa that was not valid yet. But I replied that no airline in the world would let me fly without a valid visa.
That left me with the second option and I landed in Burkina Faso a day later than planned. Unfortunately, this meant that I did not have enough time for my original itinerary to the southwest of Burkina Faso. I only had two and a half days left, and the fact that I would miss Bobo Dioulasso was almost the most annoying part of the situation.
The second person in our group was still going to Niger despite the warnings. But everything went well and therefore she arrived in Burkina Faso a day before I did and could still visit Burkina’s southwest. Ultimately, a tour in a group of three to Burkina Faso’s southwest became a solo tour to the capital city Ouagadougou and its surroundings.
First stop: Ouagadougou
My Royal Air Maroc flight landed in Ouagadougou at 1 am. Ouagadougou… maybe the funniest name of all capital cities in the world. It’s a city that is home to 3.4 million people, about a sixth of the country’s population. Fortunately, the airport is only a 10-minute taxi ride from the city center. The Lwili Hotel, where I booked my first two nights, arranged for someone to pick me up at the airport and drive me to the hotel for €7.
The Lwili Hotel turned out to be a shithole. I got a dark and tiny room in which most things were broken. That’s why I can’t believe that all the tour companies in Burkina Faso recommend this hotel and why it has a 8.7 rating on booking.com. I have two better recommendations later in this article.
Burkina Faso is a country that can be called dangerous. Most governments advise against travel to Burkina, citing the high risk of kidnapping and terrorism. A big part of the country is a no-go area. The last places that are considered reasonably safe for tourists are the capital Ouagadougou, the border area with Ghana (Tiébélé), and the southwest around Bobo Dioulasso.
These places are relatively safe, but not 100%. A few years ago, there was an attack on a luxury hotel in the capital in which extremists stormed the hotel with guns and killed 30 people. There have also been stories of kidnapped foreigners from time to time. Burkina Faso is therefore not for the faint-hearted.
But I have to say that Burkina Faso didn’t worry me that much. At least less than Mali, for example. For my remaining 2.5 days, I decided to spend a day in Ouagadougou, make a day trip to Tiébélé, and use the last half day before departure to visit Bazoulé and the crocodiles that live there.
Blaise picked me up from my hotel late in the morning. I found Blaise’s contact on the internet and after writing to four guides in Burkina Faso about a possible tour, I chose him. Marlon, who many travelers use in Burkina, was also on the short list. The reason I decided against him in the end was that a) he wasn’t in Burkina in November and would have just provided me with a driver and b) he wanted a 50% deposit.
Ouagadougou turned out to be a typical West African capital. A big one, mind you. Getting from one place to another sometimes took a while. Apart from that, the city is characterized by dusty streets, underwhelming architecture and a lot of traffic. Interestingly, there are traffic lights in Ouagadougou, which is not the case in every West African capital.
One thing you have to be careful with is taking pictures. Recently, the police arrested a vlogger for shooting a video in the city. We sometimes encountered police officers and Blaise always asked if it was okay to take photos, which the police initially denied. After a few discussions, it was okay.
Ouagadougou has almost no sights. Actually, there are two, two that you see in almost every West African capital: a cathedral (in other cities it is sometimes a large mosque) and a monument to heroes.
The Monument of National Heroes is located just outside the city center. When we got there and were about to enter, I saw a printed paper at the entrance. It said in French: Foreigners are not allowed to enter the monument. Blaise asked the two soldiers in front if we could go in anyway. After checking our passports, they said it was okay, but that we should donate something when we came back. That meant we could go up the stairs and enjoy the view at the top.
When we came down, I gave the equivalent of about $2 in CFA, Burkina’s currency. The soldier was more than happy. He was obviously expecting much less. Someone then replied to my Instagram story that the soldiers had beaten up their driver in front of them a few weeks earlier when he asked them for permission to enter the monument. So I guess we were lucky.
Basically, though, I have to say that I found the people of Burkina Faso to be very friendly to me as a foreigner. The anti-Western sentiment does not seem to have affected large parts of the population. That’s why I didn’t feel unsafe in Ouagadougou.
By the way, we had lunch at the Princess Yenenga restaurant. The prices were on a European level and the food was okay. However, the rooms in the hotel that belongs to it are worth mentioning. Even though this hotel costs twice as much as the Lwili, it looked very well kept and safe. I would definitely recommend this hotel over the Lwili.
We ended the afternoon at the Espace de la Femme with a few beers and countless mosquito bites. The place seemed to be a popular meeting place for the locals. I didn’t see any foreigners. Blaise downed three large beers and said his driving skills would improve.
What can I say about Ouagadougou? It’s certainly not the most interesting city, but it’s fine for a day. The city also has some very good restaurants: I went to the Royal Garden Indian restaurant twice, and the brick oven pizza at Le Verdoyant was world class. Did I ever feel unsafe? No, not at all. At night, I followed the golden rule in Africa of not walking alone at night, but otherwise Ouagadougou is no less dangerous than other African capitals.
Day-trip to Tiébélé
The next day, we drove three and a half hours from Ouagadougou to Tiébélé in the south. Tiébélé is a small village in southern Burkina Faso. It is famous for its traditional architecture, especially the decorated houses of the royal court. These earthen structures, decorated with intricate geometric patterns and symbolic signs, reflect the cultural heritage and artistry of the Kassena people.
To be honest, Tiébélé never really appealed to me, but now with two and a half days in Ouagadougou, the alternative would have been to simply spend my second day in the capital as well. So I accepted the long drive south. At least I got to see a bit of Burkina Faso’s nature.
On the way, we occasionally passed police checkpoints where our passports were checked. In one case, the policeman said that Blaise should bring him “a gift” on his return. Blaise replied that he would bring dog meat, because that’s what people eat in Tiébélé.
We arrived in Tiébélé around noon, where we met the local prince and had lunch with him. We had spaghetti bolognese with beef. At least that’s what Blaise told me. It turned out that the people there really do eat dog meat. Blaise even had some packed and brought it to the policeman on the way back (who thankfully declined).
After the lunch, the prince showed us around the royal palace, where the famous painted houses were. Unfortunately, the people just started repainting the houses. The paint had faded on about 80% of the houses.
We then walked around the royal palace for an hour where the prince explained the paintings on the houses. We also got to see the inside of one house. The air was pretty thin in there and I wondered how people could sleep here. We were accompanied by several children who were happy to see me as a foreign visitor. Some very young ones, however, had never seen a non-black person before and were afraid of me.
Blaise wanted to visit a gold mine with me, but since it was already 2 p.m., I decided to drive back to Ouagadougou so that we could be back in the capital before sunset. All in all, it had been a very long day and I had spent at least seven hours in the car.
Was the trip to Tiébélé worth it? To be honest, I don’t think so. Although Tiébélé will soon be a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I found the drive there and back too long just for a few painted houses. But what would have been my alternative? A second day in Ouagadougou? I don’t think that would have been a better choice.
In the meantime, I had a new hotel in Ouagadougou. Since I had originally planned to spend the first few nights in the southwest of Burkina Faso, I had only booked one hotel for my last night in the country. The Villa Yiri Suma. Same price as the Lwili, but definitely the better hotel. The location was also great, just a few minutes walk from the Indian Royal Palace and the Faso Café, which serves the best coffee in Ouagadougou.
Petting crocodiles
On my last day, I had another half day before I had to get back to the airport. Blaise picked me up at 8 a.m. and we drove to Bazoulé, about an hour from Ouagadougou. There is a lake where crocodiles seem to coexist peacefully with humans – I wanted to see this bizarre place.
When we arrived at the lake, there were already a few crocodiles on the shore. The local guides had brought some live chickens to feed to the crocodiles. They were quite relaxed as they walked back and forth between the crocodiles and none of the animals attacked the people.
Of course the people there forced me to take pictures next to or behind the crocodiles. Some daredevils even sit or lay on top of the animals. I didn’t want to give myself that thrill, but I did take one or two pictures with the crocodiles.
Why don’t these crocodiles attack people? The crocodiles are considered sacred due to cultural beliefs and traditional practices. The villagers regard these crocodiles as protectors and ancestors, offering them food and performing rituals to honor them, fostering a relationship of mutual respect and non-aggression. Apparently, even the local children bathe in the same lake as the crocodiles.
This activity takes about 30 minutes. Maybe even less. Many people visit this place on their way to Bobo Dioulasso or back, as Bazoulé is on the way. Is this place a must? I don’t think so. But there are probably not many places in the world where you can watch crocodiles so close (supposedly without danger). That’s why I found it an exciting place.
Final verdict on Burkina Faso
Later, my time in Burkina Faso was over and I flew on to Mali. My two and a half days were alright, but as you know, I could not do what I wanted to do, which is a pity. I didn’t find Ouagadougou and Tiébélé the most interesting places, but I still got some exciting impressions.
Still, it leaves a bittersweet taste. The trip to Bobo Dioulasso would probably have been more interesting than Ouagadougou and Tébélé, but at least I have a reason to come back sometime. If you’re considering a trip to Burkina Faso, I’d definitely recommend the southwest with Bobo, Sindou Peaks and the other places that you can visit in this area.
With all these places that are still accessible to tourists, Burkina Faso is certainly one of the most interesting countries in West Africa – admittedly, this is not particularly difficult. But if you spend three to four days in the southwest of the country and then visit the places I saw, you can spend almost a week in Burkina without getting bored.
Finally, I should say that I never felt unsafe in Burkina Faso. Burkina is probably the safest of the AES countries at the moment (Niger and Mali are the other two), although you still have to be careful. But if you want a guide who is well-connected in Burkina, please contact Blaise (Whatsapp: +226 60 19 06 01). Blaise speaks fluent English and will make sure that you visit his country in a safe way.
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Interesting article, but where is the Niger incident? The link just shows the image of Niger flag.
Sorry, you’ll find the correct link now.