IVORY COAST TRAVEL REPORT

  

Flight of the Brussels Ailines Company from Linate to Abidjan (Ivory Coast), with a stopover in Brussels and a technical stop in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). (multi-route ticket price including taxes from Linate to Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and from Freetown (Sierra Leone): Euro 640.24).

 

In the Ivory Coast there is a 1 hour time zone, compared to Italy, 2 hours when daylight saving time is in force in Italy

 

Entry visa: necessary, to be requested at the diplomatic / consular offices of the Ivory Coast in Italy or abroad. It is possible to apply for an entry visa online and collect it upon arrival at Abidjan airport. For the procedures relating to registration and payment, consult the website: www.snedai.com, where it is necessary to enter the travel data, upload the passport scan, the return flight booking and the hotel reservation (it is online booking through classic sites such as booking.com is sufficient, even for the first night only). Then you have to proceed with the payment of Euro 73.00, by credit card. In this way, after about 2 or 3 days, the E-VISA is received, to be printed and presented at Abidjan Airport, where after having fingerprinted and photographed, the actual visa is obtained on the Passport.

 

Then at another desk, you get the entry stamp in your passport.

 

In the Ivory Coast many people speak French but very few speak English.

 

Religions: Muslim (35-40%), Christian (30%), the rest animists.

 

In the Ivory Coast the police are generally kind to foreigners and do not bother foreigners with requests for money.

 

From Abidjan International Airport (Ivory Coast), located about 15 km south of Plateau, the center of the country's economic capital, to reach it you need to take a taxi at a price of 5,000 CFA. The journey lasts a short half hour.

 

For the Hotel I had booked through Booking at the Hotel Residence Vera, located in the Marcory district, 4 km south of Pletau, at the price of 18,000 CFA, but when I arrived, it was closed and I had to stay overnight at the nearby Hotel Hamanieh , at the price of 25,000 CFA, for a double with air conditioning and wifi not working.

 

From the Marcory district, to reach Assinie, I went on foot to the main street of Marcory at 500 meters. from my Hotel, where minibuses from Gare du Bassam pass.

 

From there I did not find direct minibuses to Assinie, but it is necessary to change at Grand Bassam.

 

The minibus journey to the Grand Bassam gare de routiere, located on Place de la Paix 2km north of the beach, costs CFA 500. Duration of the trip: about 1 hour.

 

From the gare de routiere in Grand Bassam, I took a minibus to Aboisso and got off at Samo. Cost of the ride: 500 CFA. Duration of the trip: about 1 hour.

 

From the main street of Samo, I walked for 500 meters. about on the road to Assinie, thus reaching the gare de routiere of Samo, from where, when full, collective taxis leave for Assinie Mafia. Cost of the ride: 1,400 CFA. Duration of the trip: about 1 hour.

 

The minibus at my request left me at the dock of the Assinie Mafia motor boats. The cost of the same to cross the Assinie Canal costs 2,500 CFA, for the round trip. The journey takes 10 minutes.

 

This leads to the white Copacabana beach. Free admission.

 

Back, with a direct minibus from Assinie at a cost of 1,500 CFA, to the gare de routiere of Grand Bassam, located in Place de la Paix 2 km north of the beach, I took a collective taxi to the Beach for the price of 200 CFA ( is the cost of each ride in the city).

 

The entrance fee to Grand Bassam beach is 500 CFA.

 

Grand Bassam, appears safe and can be easily explored on foot.

 

Back in the Marcory district of Abidjan and specifically at the Grand Bassam routiere race, I took a private taxi to Le Plateau, at a price of 1,000 CFA.

 

Le Plateau, on Sunday appears deserted but safe as there are security guards on every corner.

 

From Le Plateau, I took a private taxi to Cathedrale St Paul, for the price of 1,000 CFA.

 

Admission to Cathedrale St Paul is free.

 

The nearby Musee des Civilitasions, within walking distance, is closed on Sunday.

 

From the Musee des Civilitasions, I took a private taxi to Hotel Ivoire, located in Cocody (the most exclusive neighborhood in Abidjan), for the price of 1,000 CFA.

 

From the Hotel Ivoire, I took a private taxi to Galerie Fakhoury (closed on Sunday), located in Cocody (the most exclusive neighborhood in Abidjan), for the price of 1,000 CFA.

 

From Galerie Fakhoury, I took a private taxi to Hotel de la Gare, one of the cheapest in the city, located in Adjamè, the most dangerous district of Abidjan, at a price of 2,000 CFA.

 

The cost of a single room at the Hotel de la Gare is 7,000 CFA, with fan and 14,000 CFA, with air conditioning. WIFI, not working, breakfast not included.

 

Pay close attention to Adjamè, the most dangerous neighborhood in Abidjan. Do not go out on foot after sunset and also during the day pay close attention.

 

From my hotel, I walked about 200 meters. to reach the chaotic road where the buses of the various companies leave for the north and west of the Ivory Coast.

 

To find the one headed to the capital, a guy helped me to whom I had to give 1,000 CFA.

 

There are several companies that make numerous trips to Yamoussoukro every day. I took a bus of the company J.T.B., directed to Bouakè, which left me on the southern outskirts of the capital. Cost of the ride: 3,000 CFA. Duration of the trip: scarce 4 hours (it makes a lot of stops).

 

From there I took a shared taxi to Yamoussoukro's Basilique Notre Dame de la Paix, for the price of 500 CFA.

 

Yamoussoukro's Basilique Notre Dame de la Paix is ​​similar to the Vatican City's St. Peter's Basilica. The cost of admission is 2,000 CFA. Guides are available in English. It is not possible to take photos inside.

 

Yamoussoukro is the political capital of the Ivory Coast, although all government offices and embassies are in Abidjan. With its enormous semi-deserted avenues, apart from the aforementioned Basilica, it offers nothing interesting to see also because the Presidential Palace is closed to the public. However, in front of its walls there is a pond infested with crocodiles, which are fed every day around 5.00 pm by an expert, offering a noteworthy spectacle for visitors.

 

From there I took a shared taxi to Yamoussoukro's Gare Routiere, for the price of 200 CFA.

 

From the Gare Routiere in Yamoussoukro, located south of the City, I took a bus to Man, for the price of 6,000 CFA. Duration of the trip: scarce 8 hours (it makes a lot of stops). The first 3 hours I did sitting on the ground in the corridor because the bus was too full.

 

In Man the bus arrives right in the city center.

 

Man is a beautiful town in the middle of the hills.

 

In Man I thought of sleeping at the very central Hotel Leveneur, but I discovered that the same is no longer in business.

 

I then slept at the Amointrin Hotel, located in Rue du Lycee Professional, on the outskirts of Man. Room price: 15,000 CFA (I got a discount of 1,000 CFA). Hot water in buckets, available. Air conditioning. Working wifi.

 

To reach him by collective taxi, in the evening I paid 500 CFA.

 

The next morning I walked for 500 meters. About dirt road to reach the main paved road, where I took a collective taxi to the Cascades for 1,000 CFA.

The Falls of Man open at 9.00 in the morning, but if you show up earlier as I did, it is likely that a boy from the nearby Village will accompany you to see them for 500 CFA, passing the entrance gate on the left.

 

From the Falls, if you want to go back to the center of Man, you have to walk for over a kilometer, on a dirt road until you find the paved road where you can take one of the numerous collective taxis which, at a price of 500 CFA, take you to the city center.

 

Gare du Rutiere in Mn is located in the city center, on the main road opposite the petrol station.

 

From the gare de routiere of Man, a minibus leaves for Dananè when it is full (you can wait even more than 1 hour). Cost of the ride: 2,000 CFA. Duration of the trip: about 1 hour and a half. The same makes numerous stops.

 

The aforementioned minibus ends the race at the gare de routiere of Dananè, on the eastern outskirts of the city. From here, collective taxis to Kpantiaplay, on the border with Liberia, are rare. On the other hand, it is easy to find a Motorbike, at a price of 10,000 CFA. But by bargaining heavily I found one at 5,000 CFA.

 

The road between Dananè and Kpantiaplay, on the border with Liberia, is terrible. There are about 20 km of dirt road, sometimes sandy, with gigantic holes, which becomes impassable after the rains.

 

Quite easily I obtained the exit stamp from the Ivory Coast.

 

Then I walked for about 100 meters. scarce to reach Liberia.

 

My complete travel report with map, photographs and videos is available at this link:

https://vivendosalendo.blogspot.com/2019/04/viaggio-in-costa-davorio-abidjan.html

 

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