Abidjan

After a bad night during which I was feeling too hot, then too cold, then too hot again, I finally get up at 06:45. As we checked in to the hotel last night, we were asked what time we would like breakfast this morning, as well as being requested to choose what to eat. The choices were omelette, fried or scrambled egg, all with or without sausage. As soon as we enter the restaurant today, the food is brought out.

Fried eggs and sausage, fresh bread and hibiscus juice - the egg has obviously been pre-cooked and is somewhat rubbery, and the sausages are more like Frankfurters

The restaurant is in a sunken courtyard surrounded by the rooms, accessed via open-sided walkways.

Our room, number 12B

The sunken courtyard

The bar

Having arrived after dark last night, this is the first time we’ve seen the hotel in the daylight.

We have a free morning today, which we use to sort our stuff out ready for the 16 day trip around the Ivory Coast, finding the things from the depth of the suitcase that we would like to keep accessible in the car during the day, for instance. We also relax for a while, trying to get used to the 37 °C heat!

Mathias suggested last night that he would take us to a popular restaurant this lunchtime rather than for us to eat in the hotel, and we gratefully took him up on the offer.

Aziti Palmeraie

A sprawling place on two levels, with various types of seating inside and out, this 'famous' restaurant is popular with tourists, ex-pats, and local alike.

The restaurant overlooks the lagoon, giving it a gentle cooling breeze.

David’s first African beer on this trip.

I try the local speciality: agouti bush meat served with attieke (a popular couscous-like dish made from cassava).

The meat is of varying tenderness, and tastes a little like pork.

David has grilled tilapia with rice.

Apart from having to pick out the bones, the fish is delicious, he tells me.

Forum Market

The biggest and busiest market in Abidjan sells anything and everything. The traffic is horrendous outside, and parking almost impossible. Solo eventually spots someone leaving a space and pulls in.

The market is spread over several blocks, on three floors as here

Powdered bleach sold in bags - cheaper than bottles from the supermarkets

Fancy handbags

Lots of elegant shoes

Cheap gold jewellery

More traditional jewellery

Children's clothes in large bags, ready to be sorted

Jeans

I am really impressed with the kindness shown by the market traders and customers in making allowances for my mobility issues. Almost all of them will move out of the way as I approach, and also encourage others to do so.

Food stuff

Plantains and yams

The market is not only held inside the large halls, but also spreads onto the pavement outside, where things are not as orderly as they are inside.

Many of the market traders are migrants from Mali; they work hard, and make good money doing jobs Ivorians don’t want to do, become rich and buy property. Malians see Ivory Coast as their “Europe”, a utopian land of opportunity.

Goods are carried on heads or pushed in wheelbarrows.

Cardboard taken away for recycling in one of the popular three-wheeled bikes

Selling water in small plastic bags

I am loving the brightly coloured outfits.

The latest fashion in coiffeur is long hair extensions in bright colours.

Bad Knee

As my regular readers will know, I have a painful knee, which I hurt further this morning getting up from the toilet, so when we return to the hotel, I ask the bar for a bag of ice to put on it. Unfortunately the only effect it has is to wet the floor and my trousers – I guess I should have checked the bag for holes.

Thank goodness it's a tiled floor

Dinner

As soon as we arrived back at the hotel earlier, we were asked to order dinner for a certain time. There is a proper dining room up a steep flight of stairs, but thankfully the hotel has so few people staying that dinner is taken in the same place as we had breakfast this morning, in the sunken courtyard.

David enjoys another Beaufort, while I order a cocktail

The very impressive cocktail - it is very refreshing, with a minty / fruity flavour

David's sautéed rabbit

I am not feeling very hungry, so just order a cheese and ham sandwich. The fries are amazing, amongst the very best I've ever had!

And so our first full day here in Ivory Coast has come to an end. Thank you to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this adventure for us.