Marko

Car for sale in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

After a perfect tour, visiting 5 countries over 5000 kilometers, it is time to pass our vehicle on to the next person. As we bought it straight off the boat arriving from Belgium, did a complete overhaul of all important…

MarkoSeptember 20, 2015 English, Français, Ivory Coast, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Return to the Netherlands

Sad but true, the trip is over ….. — advertisement — Apartment for rent in Amstelveen

MarkoAugust 28, 2015November 3, 2017 English No Comments

Basilique de Notre Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro

The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The basilica was constructed between 1985 and 1989 at a cost of US$300 million.…

MarkoAugust 24, 2015 English, Ivory Coast 2 Comments

Abidjan reggae nights rock

We had another night filled with reggae, including a visit to Parker Place and some good friends and family visiting us there, after a good dinner. Thanks to Ismael for making his way all the way from Yopougon just to…

MarkoAugust 23, 2015August 23, 2015 English, Ivory Coast 1 Comment

Abidjan Abidjan Abidjan

MarkoAugust 21, 2015 English, Français, Ivory Coast No Comments

Meetup with Kajeem Filsdejah at Alpha Blondy FM

For me it was nice to meet you, Kajeem, for Céline, it was good to see you again. We got a good look at the recently opened Alpha Blondy FM Studio, we bought Alpha’s latest CD and talked some with…

MarkoAugust 21, 2015 English, Ivory Coast No Comments

Marcory and Koumassi Abidjan

Yesterday, after lunch in Marcory, we picked up the car that was being repaired due to parking damage on the market in Bouaké before, and headed for Koumassi. The lunch we had was a Senegalese dish in the place below.

MarkoAugust 21, 2015August 21, 2015 English, Ivory Coast No Comments

Voodoo revisited – sacred fish ponds of Dafra

In the south west of Burkina Faso, just over a week ago, we went on a voodoo trip again. A sacred fish pond where the locals will sacrifice any animal for their rites (no more humans these days). Most noticeable…

MarkoAugust 20, 2015 Burkina Faso, English No Comments

Koro Burkina Faso

While visiting Bobo Dialouso we made a trip to the surrounding areas. The village of Koro was a special trip as the village can not be reached by car or other means of transport. Our guide and the local lady…

MarkoAugust 20, 2015 Burkina Faso, English No Comments

Terrestrial wildlife watching in Sarakawa

Yes, again already almost two weeks ago but therefore no less interesting. In the north of Togo is a wildlife reserve called “Sarakawa” which is owned and maintained by Faure Gnassingbé, the president. No life threatening wild beasts but nonetheless…

MarkoAugust 20, 2015 English, Togo No Comments

Treichville Abidjan Ivory Coast

Treichville in Abidjan is one of the liveliest quartiers in Abidjan. It is not recommended (click: LINK) for people that do not originate from the region (meaning: tourists) to visit here, but not as bad as Abobo or Yopougon where…

MarkoAugust 20, 2015August 20, 2015 English, Ivory Coast 1 Comment

Family goodbye Bouake Ivory Coast

The day of departure from the hotel “Mon Afrique” in Bouaké. Ya and Sidibe came to say goodbye, we will miss them!

MarkoAugust 19, 2015 English, Ivory Coast No Comments

Village tour around Kara II – Togo

Another series of photos from another one of the villages up north in Togo. Yes, this was two weeks ago, internet access has not been great everywhere in west Africa. These kinds of villages are called “Tamberma compounds”.

MarkoAugust 19, 2015August 20, 2015 English, Togo No Comments

Village tour around Kara I – Togo

Just a long series of photographs from one of our previous visits to a small Togo village up north in the Kara region. Click for the larger version of each of the 51 photos.

MarkoAugust 19, 2015 English, Togo No Comments

Abidjan Hotel Experience

Whilst images like the one on the left here may easily attract new customers, it would be better if hotels would just publish some honest images of their offer. We were advised a nice apartment, air conditioned and proper, not…

MarkoAugust 18, 2015 English, Ivory Coast No Comments

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Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996 but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John Atta MILLS won the 2008 presidential election and took over as head of state, but he died in July 2012 and was constitutionally succeeded by his vice president John Dramani MAHAMA, who subsequently won the December 2012 presidential election.

Source: CIA world fact book.

Close ties to France following independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment all made Cote d'Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup - the first ever in Cote d'Ivoire's history - overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002 that developed into a rebellion and then a civil war. The war ended in 2003 with a cease-fire that left the country divided with the rebels holding the north, the government the south, and peacekeeping forces a buffer zone between the two. In March 2007, President GBAGBO and former New Forces rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed an agreement in which SORO joined GBAGBO's government as prime minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the buffer zone, integrating rebel forces into the national armed forces, and holding elections. Difficulties in preparing electoral registers delayed balloting until 2010. In November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election over GBAGBO, but GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in a five-month stand-off. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by armed OUATTARA supporters with the help of UN and French forces. Several thousand UN peacekeepers and several hundred French troops remain in Cote d'Ivoire to support the transition process. OUATTARA is focused on rebuilding the country's economy and infrastructure while rebuilding the security forces. GBAGBO is in The Hague awaiting trial for crimes against humanity.

Source: CIA world fact book.

French Togoland became Togo in 1960. Gen. Gnassingbe EYADEMA, installed as military ruler in 1967, ruled Togo with a heavy hand for almost four decades. Despite the facade of multi-party elections instituted in the early 1990s, the government was largely dominated by President EYADEMA, whose Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party has been in power almost continually since 1967 and its successor, the Union for the Republic, maintains a majority of seats in today's legislature. Upon EYADEMA's death in February 2005, the military installed the president's son, Faure GNASSINGBE, and then engineered his formal election two months later. Democratic gains since then allowed Togo to hold its first relatively free and fair legislative elections in October 2007. After years of political unrest and condemnation from international organizations for human rights abuses, Togo is finally being re-welcomed into the international community.

Source: CIA world fact book.

Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a West African kingdom that rose to prominence in about 1600 and over the next two and a half centuries became a regional power, largely based on its slave trade. Coastal areas of Dahomey began to be controlled by the French in the second half of the 19th century; the entire kingdom was conquered by 1894. French Dahomey achieved independence in 1960; it changed its name to the Republic of Benin in 1975. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged. KEREKOU stepped down at the end of his second term in 2006 and was succeeded by Thomas YAYI Boni, a political outsider and independent. YAYI, who won a second five-year term in March 2011, has attempted to stem corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.

Source: CIA world fact book.

The Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup that ushered in a period of democratic rule. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first two democratic presidential elections in 1992 and 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, he stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou Toumani TOURE, who was elected to a second term in a 2007 election that was widely judged to be free and fair. Malian returnees from Libya in 2011 exacerbated tensions in northern Mali, and Tuareg ethnic militias rebelled in January 2012. Low- and mid-level soldiers, frustrated with the poor handling of the rebellion, overthrew TOURE on 22 March. Intensive mediation efforts led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) returned power to a civilian administration in April with the appointment of Interim President Dioncounda TRAORE. The post-coup chaos led to rebels expelling the Malian military from the three northern regions of the country and allowed Islamic militants to set up strongholds. Hundreds of thousands of northern Malians fled the violence to southern Mali and neighboring countries, exacerbating regional food shortages in host communities. An international military intervention to retake the three northern regions began in January 2013 and within a month most of the north had been retaken. In a democratic presidential election conducted in July and August of 2013, Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA was elected president.

Source: CIA world fact book.