Banfora and Takaladougou

Some photos of my time in Banfora and Amanda Cassady's site Takaladougou in the Cascade region of Burkina Faso.

Yes, you are not seeing things they do have McDonald(s) in Burkina Faso

McDonald's restaurant where you can actually purchase local art.

Adelaide pours out some Jus de Passion, it is sooo yummy and FROZEN. They hand make it every Wednesday from Passion fruit brought up from Cote d'Ivoire.

The outside of McDonald's in Banfora. Banfora is the tourist hub of Burkina Faso so it was easy to find non-African restaurants like McDonalds where you can get some hamburgers and fries and my favorite Egg sandwiches.

One afternoon I went out to Amanda's site and walked for about 5-6 km around en brousse in the hot afternoon sun. We are approaching a small river/swimming hole. Women come to the river to wash clothes and then set them out to dry in the hot sun on the rocks.

Women come to the water source to do their families' laundry and socialize.

Girls doing laundry for hours. My question is why are they not in school or study?

The boys only come over to see the white people. They can be found swimming in the water hole. These boys luckily have pants on most of the others do not.

A very nicely built compound of traditional mud houses that I pass by on my walk.

After our long walk we head out to the Peage (or toll booth) where women sit all day and rush to the bush taxis and buses that stop to pay the toll.

The scene of the women rushing to a bush taxi to sell things as it pauses befor paying the police to pass.

Here comes a bigger bus for the women. Imagine spending your entire day on the side of the road waiting. . . waiting. . . waiting. I only lasted an hour.

Even my friend Amanda gets in there and sells mangoes to the taxi drivers. She is so integrated!

Women stand and wait with their mangoes. Ohhh and they are all selling mangoes, no diversification. They all sell the same things.