Crossing from Mali to Burkina

Day: 32
Location: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Weather: clear and scorching hot
Kilometers: 300
Hours: 4
Health: dicey, but no red flags
Accomodation: Hotel Yennenga
Price, room: 7.7K CFA
Price, petrol: 604 CFA / lt
Price, water: 500 CFA
Shower: yes
Morale: 6
Total spend: 113K CFA
Song of the day: "Making a Killing", Phantom Planet

AW: We wrapped up our hiking the next morning by 10:30 AM, after climbing a steep ravine (aka Faille) from the sandy plain back up to the plateau. We took our last photos and had another megadose of Miaggi for lunch before Modibo arrived with the truck, and then drove us to Burkina through the sand.

Border guards and police in Burkina are renowned for being the least corrupt and most efficient in the region, although the cause is unclear. We found this to be true, although we still managed to bribe the border guard. The visas were fine, although he complained because the were no clean pages in my passport given the hash other west African officials made of what should have been sufficient. He agreed to put the visa in the back cover, where not even the Czechs had the audacity to go. 10K CFA each visa.

The problem was that the truck didn't have the CDAO or carnet de passage, so we could sell the car in Burkina without paying taxes, and worse if we got in an accident the Malian insurance would be useless. Oh well, we gave him 2K CFA and told him we would take care of it in Ouaga. In fact, the price would be 27K CFA to do it in Ouaga given that it is only done by the month. Our expected value of bribes being well below that, we decided to let it slide.

It is hard to pull out meaningful differences between Mali and Burkina at this point, beyond the obvious police point. The roads are immaculate in a hub and spoke arrangement from Ouaga, and there are tolls from 400 to 600 CFA depending on where you are going. I don't think we have seen a single bridge in Burkina as the fashion is to simply concrete a concave patch with the full expectation that the river would flow right over the road during the hivernage, and cars would drive right through the river.

Ouaga has changed drastically since the guides were printed. It seems healthy, but an inordinate number of highly recommended spots appear to have closed within the last year. Nevertheless we had the best lasagne in Africa for dinner, and then crashed while Modibo battled mosquitos in the car all night and failed to catch a wink.

GB: Modibo is increasingly becoming a homie on this trip. As we met him in Dourou with the car we set off on a 30 minute drive in pure sand all the time. Modibo would keep yanking the wheel left and right, downshift like a racecar driver from time to time. Swerves at high speeds also proved necessary in order to avoid various elements of the local landscape: trees, rocks, cows, etc. All that time Modibo looked like he was driving the kids home from soccer practice on a calm Sunday. Except for the ample swerve movements of course... While quite the calm dude in general, we are increasingly gratified with comments on driving, the cost of stuff, or general reflections on how to lead your life in Africa, all punctuated by either a "Est-ce que tu vois?" (do you see?) or by a long and satisfied "voilaaaa" when we rephrase something he just explained.

After about an hour, we got to the Burkina border, and proceeded with the Burkinabe formalities. What about the Malian ones? Well, to the best of our knowledge, there weren't any. Given Adam's passport space issues though, we can't say we missed them. So we got to the border post of Burkina Faso. There we ask for the visa prices, and the first surprise comes: it's cheaper than the guidebook indicated. Fine, but no more surprises, then.

Unfortunately there was one more: we did not have the CDAO certificate of insurance. I begin to have a deja vu moment with what happened in Gambia, when I got swindled out of 11K. This time I get a 2K and a 5K, each in a different pocket. I walk in expecting to have to discuss price. Instead we are given 2 options: the "certificate unavailable" receipt for 25K or the "failure to present the certificate" receipt for 12.5K (not quite sure why anyone would go for option 2). We then have to suggest (yes, we were not offered the usual "arrangement") that maybe there is an alternative. The guy grows uncomfortable. I start sweating bullets. For sure this country is not corrupt and I'm going to be jailed on the spot. Then he says "I don't know, I guess you need to see what you want to do." Massive relief on my side, he's asking for a price. I thank him for the advice and shake his hand with a 2K CFA bill in it, under the amused eye of Modibo, and off we go.

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