The Ivory Coast

Our trip starts in Abidjan this evening. As some group members will be arriving on different flights, we will have our introduction briefing tomorrow morning, however our Explore Leader will be around this evening to recommend somewhere to eat dinner locally.

This morning we will have our group briefing before heading out on a city tour of Abidjan. We start by taking a ferry across the lagoon; popular with the locals, the journey will give us our first taste of the people of the Ivory Coast. We will see colourfully clad women in traditional dress and businessmen in dapper suits on their daily commute to different parts of the city. We will take in views of the city's skyscrapers and the modernity of Abidjan, ever growing and always buzzing with life. After disembarking we'll visit the lively market of Treichville, this is one of the main markets in the city where locals come to barter, hawk and catch up on local gossip. Our next stop is the peaceful neighbourhood of Cocody, a residential area which houses the Prime Minister's office and many old French colonial buildings. For lunch today we will have a local speciality called attieké, a kind of cassava couscous that is generally accompanied by grilled meat or meat with sauces and greens. We stop off at the National Museum before visting the Youpugon neighbourhood, famous locally for the birth of Coupé-Décalé, which is the Ivory Coast's contribution to global music.

Leaving Abidjan behind we head out into the country. We drive to Bouaké which is partially on a major road punctuated by small villages and settlements and populated by the Baulé people. The Baulé are known for the fine production of handicrafts and cloths. After spending the day meeting local villagers and learning about their customs and beliefs we continue on to Bouake, the Ivory Coast's second largest city.

This morning we have a long drive of around six hours, heading north along bumpy roads as we make our way to Korhogo, the main city of the north. Along the way our Explore Leader will provide local information and make stops at any particular points of interest. After arriving in Korhogo we will spend the afternoon visiting villages of the Senoufo, local people who are renowned for their art and sculpture work. The villages have sacred houses decorated with bas-reliefs and large clay granaries that we can explore. We will be some of the first westerners to visit these villages so can expect a warm but sometimes wary welcome, as they are just not used to foreign visitors. However hospitality is an integral part of their culture and they are proud to share their stories and show off their artistic skills. We will spend two nights here.

We will spend the whole day exploring more Senoufo villages, learning more about their art culture and rituals. The Senoufo have a complex and secretive initiation ritual called Poro, which involves their young men spending time in a sacred forest. This secret sect of the Senoufo has allowed their culture to flourish, even in times of war and persecution. After the young men have spent time in the forest they emerge as men and have to perform traditional mask ceremonies, known locally as the panther dance. We plan to see a panther dance this afternoon in one of the villages, however this cannot be guaranteed as these rituals are connected with the spirit world and the local shamans might decide that the signs are not perfect for a ceremony.

This morning we will take a walk to a sacred shrine just outside of Korhogo. The walk will be around two hours in total, and apart from the humidity should be relatively easy. For those not wanting to participate, it is possible to wander around Korhogo or just relax in the hotel. We will then board our bus and drive to Boundiali, a small town two hours away. After lunch we will meet the Fulani people, a pastoral nomadic society who are easily recognised by their conical straw hats. When we visit their villages we will mainly meet women and children as the men are out with their cattle. The ladies here are very welcoming and colourful in their dress. We will spend part of the afternoon in their houses, learning about their life and seeing their family heirlooms. Later this afternoon we attend the dance of the virgin girls. This is called Ngoro and performed by the Senufo and part of the Poro Initiation. The young initiates spend months together in secluded sacred groves where they learn the social and religious secrets that turn a man into a genuine Senoufo. After seven years there is a big celebration for those who have undergone all stages of initiation, in particular the dance of the virgin girls is performed at the end of the first stage of initiation.

From Boundiali we drive for around four hours to the small town of Odienne, in the north-west of the country. This region is populated by the Malinké people, descendants of the former empire of Mali and in this community there are the Dozo, a hunter-gatherer sect who are feared and respected for their courage on the battlefield. We will spend the afternoon with the Dozo, as they take us on a walk through the bush and teach us about plants and their importance for medicine in local culture. After our walk we will witness a fire ceremony, which will involve hunters dancing to the beat of the drum, known locally as the tam-tam, as certain warriors show their immunity to fire and pain.

Today is a long drive of around seven hours to the town of Man, our home for two nights. On the drive we will travel through the lands of the Yacouba people, often known as the Dan. The area is fertile with green rolling hills and we will visit villages built on the slopes, characterised by big round mud huts with thatched roofs. During our trip here we will witness a mask dance. In these villages the mask dancers are called from the forest by the beat of the tam-tam. As they approach, the whole village starts to sing traditional songs. The dancers enter the circle on long stilts and spend the next few minutes entertaining us with incredible acrobatics, all the time spinning to the sound of the tam-tam. Each mask has its own dance and song, steeped in local culture and this promises to be a highlight of the trip.

This morning we take a drive to Danane to find some of the famous liana bridges that are found in the forest that stretch from the Ivory Coast to Liberia. The bridges, like many things in the country are shrouded in mystery and secrecy, as they are built by young men who are being initiated in the ways of the forest, similar to Poro. The initiates create these river spanning bridges in one night and we may be able to cross one, providing the spirits are happy! This afternoon we will meet the Guéré people and hope to see one of their ceremonies. They believe that their god communicates to them through only a couple of humans - the masquerades; we will watch the dance where the masquerades interact with their god.

We leave Man and make our way to Yamoussoukro, the capital city and one of the most surreal urban areas in Africa. The first post-independence President of the Ivory Coast was Houphouët-Boigny and he was from Yamoussoukro. His dream was to create a city that could rival the best in Europe and as we arrive in the city after our five hour drive, we see the remnants of his vision. Our first stop will be the Basilica of the Virgin of Peace, an exact replica of St Peter's in Rome. It is really hard to believe that you are in West Africa as we walk around this mind boggling building; the basilica has 7000 seats and space for over 11,000 standing worshippers, though it only attracts a few hundred on most Sundays. We will see the other excesses of the former President, including huge government offices, 14 storey hotels and an artificial lake with crocodiles. Though this is an unmissable stop of any trip to the Ivory Coast, it is hard not to feel utter sadness at the incalculable waste of money, given the country's current level of poverty.

Our drive today takes us to the south of the country and back to the Atlantic Ocean, as we make our way to Grand Lahou, a small fishing village and our base for the next two nights. The Ivory Coast once built its economy on the exportation of cocoa and we will stop at a plantation en route, to learn about the cultivation of the crop and its importance today. Depending on the driving times today, we hope to stop at a local 'maquis', an open air restaurant which serves Ivorian stew, consisting of chunks of meat or fish served in an aubergine, peanut or okra sauce.

Today we explore Assagny National Park. Starting with a trip on a local pirogue (long wooden canoe) through the forest. We then continue on foot and take a three hour guided walk through the dense forest which makes up the park. Assagny contains a small population of forest elephants and a large range of birds. Our guide will help us to spot these however they are very shy animals and not always easy to see. This afternoon we will spend time relaxing on a beautiful sandy beach. This evening will be our last dinner together which will hopefully involve some fish, freshly caught by a local fisherman.

This morning is at leisure before we head back on the road to Abidjan where the trip ends at approximately 4pm.