Odienne - Stilt dancers in Londana - Man

Our first stop today is for Mathias to buy some snacks, and David to get some Coke to go with our Duty Free rum. I stay in the car, and enjoy watching one of the local buses being loaded up with piece after piece of luggage and goods going up on the roof.

Just as you think they can’t fit any more on there, another couple of wheelbarrows arrive.

For the first hour out of Odienne, we drive along on a smooth surface (during which time we see two wrecks on the side of the road) before turning off on a dirt road. Apparently this track has been improved since Mathias was here last, cutting the journey time by 30 minutes.

Londana Village

The village is inhabited by people from the Yacouba tribe, who are slightly different from the Yacouba that live elsewhere, in that they have apparently been forcefully converted to Islam by people from the nearby Touba town.

Although the presence of pigs roaming through the village, suggests that they don’t all follow the Muslim faith.

Upon our arrival, we are greeted by the ubiquitous strolling musicians, and introduced to the village elders.

Tyres from bicycles, trucks, or cars are very popular toys thoughout Africa

Cassava drying on the roof of a house. It will be pound to a powder, then boiled in water to create a porridge-like dish known as kabato, which can be eaten hot or cold with a peanut sauce.

Solar powered torch charging in the bright African sun

Women and men live in separate huts. The woman will make her own mud and straw hut and share her home with her own children

The wife's hut

Inside there are two beds – the smaller one (that she is sitting on with Victor, her husband) is for her, the larger one on the opposite side of the room is for the children.

Above her bed is a shelf where she stores rice and sorghum. It is accessed by a ‘ladder’ (a vertical post with ‘steps’ cut into it).

Mathias demonstrates the ladder

Sorghum is the staple food here, which is turned into a soup.

The husband’s hut is bigger and more substantially built than the wife’s, and features two rooms. The wife will leave her hut and go to the husband's hut for any intimate relations. Victor has three wives and eleven children.

Victor's hut

Londana Village has only recently had electricity installed in the village, and today they are celebrating this huge event with a series of dances for us. But first, they must prepare the ‘dance-floor’.

The 'dance floor'

Dry sand and fast moving feet create an awful lot of dust flying in the air, so the locals come along with buckets of water to try and dampen it down to stop the dust.

With the strong African sun beating down on the ground, it doesn’t take long for it to dry out, so it’s a never ending job.

The band starts to gather, with complex drums (trying to find out the names of the various West African drums has been a nightmare!), and some back-up singers. The ladies wear white for purity, and indigo for self respect.

• Disclaimer. I have tried to put the correct name to the correct dance, as per the notes I made at the time / in the car afterwards. No guarantees are given that they are all correct, as there is next-to-no information online to check these against.

Guehenon Dance

The first dancers who appear are young shirt-less men performing impressive acrobatics.

Soon the very agreeable petrichor (the earthy aroma after rain – or in this case water from a bucket) is replaced by the smell of testosterone and body odour.

Their skill, flexibility and agility is pretty amazing, however.

Next a young man arrives, dressed in a multicoloured string skirt, yellow socks with bells around his ankles, arm bands made of rattan, his face and upper torse painted with white marks, and carrying an animal-tail ‘fly-swat’ in each hand.

After showing the obligatory respect to the village elders, he comes right over to where I am sitting and gives me a ‘private dance’.

Greeting the village elders

It actually feels quite intimidating, with his unwavering stare and unchanged facial expression.

The Audience

It seems like most of people in the village have turned out to watch the performance (or take part). Photographing the spectators is almost as interesting as seeing the dancers.

Are these ladies watching or gossiping?

You might as well be comfortable while you watch

The village elders are given proper chairs to sit on

Some of the young children are great little movers, completely absorbed by the music.

It’s not really surprising, as the music is in their blood having ‘danced’ on their mothers’ backs’ since they were born.

A few ladies join in the dance known as lingue, which is a tribute to old women in the village. Some of them carry collection ‘tins’ for donations.

Greeting the elders asking for donations

Any container will do for collecting money

The young lads don't look like they are about to part with any money

This girl also comes right up to me as she dances.

More musicians and dancers arrive.

This string instrument is called a kora (I think. There are so many slightly different versions, all belonging to the ‘kora family’, plus they are known by different names in the different tribes, of course). It is played with the strings facing the body.

Again it becomes personal and in your face.

Some of the village elders, dressed in their finery, show off their dance moves.

It’s time to dampen down the dust again before the next stage of the performance.

More water is being brought out

The echassié is the main part of this performance, and something totally different to anything we’ve seen before: stilt dancing.

After greeting the elders as is customary, he sets off on a frenzied whirl around the open space, accompanied by four helpers, always ready to catch him when he falls.

The helpers keep a close eye on his movements

The sacred mask of Gblin (‘mask’ refers to the whole outfit, including the stilts) has supernatural powers that enables him to communicate with the spirits, as well as a more physical power that gives him the agility and balance needed to perform these acrobatic moves.

As if walking on tall stilts isn’t difficult enough, the dancer performs beautiful pirouettes and impossible high jumps.

Not being able to see through the wooden mask, he is guided by the four young men, and he keeps dancing until gravity wins and he topples into their waiting arms.

Before leaving, he comes right up to me to pay his respect to the ‘honoured guests’. With his great height and dark mask offering no eye contact, he cuts quite an intimidating character.

He even hands me his fly-swat

Next in the proceedings is the Genona mask, a ‘normal height’ dancer in a similar outfit to the stilt man (minus the long legs). I have no idea if it would be the same dancer inside the mask, as no-one (including their friends and family) must know the identity of the dancers.

The dancer is being led around the arena by a helper – again he cannot see through the wooden mask.

His movements are quite sedate and somewhat flat after the excitement of the stilt dancer.

The last act sees the village elders taking to the dance floor again, and by this time most of the village have joined in in one way or another.

It's all too much for one young man

The Sacred Monkey Forest of Gbepleu

Gbepleu was the name of the founder of a village in this spot. However, Gbepleu was not satisfied with just a small settlement – he wanted a big town. Consulting the spirit in his quest, he was told to sacrifice his only daughter, Manlo, who was buried alive in this place. Gbepleu got his big town (nearby Man, with a population of 150,000), and ever since then, the area has been home to the sacred Mona Monkeys.

The monkeys move freely in a protected natural space of about one hectare, and locals (and tourists like us) come here to feed them.

Mathias feeding the monkeys

"Thank you, sir!"

"How come the other guy got bananas and all I got was a bread roll?"

The Grand Market of Man

The approach road to our hotel cuts through the centre of the the town’s biggest market, making it a great chance for me to practice some drive-by-shooting (for those who are unfamiliar with my style of photography, by this I mean taking photos from a moving car).

The road that leads to our hotel

Hotel des Cascades

The modern hotel is perched on a hill overlooking the town.

There is a nice swimming pool, complete with water!

These are presumably the 'cascades' that the hotel are named after

Mathias manages to negotiate a deal for us to have a nice suite near the restaurant and reception for the three nights we are staying here.

Lunch

There is a more extensive menu here than the last place we stayed.

I order a croque monsieur

While David opts for the croque madame. I am not sure how impressed a chef in France would be with these versions of their staple dishes

We have a free afternoon today, so retire to the cool air conditioned room to chill. Later Mathias comes to discuss with us the programme for tomorrow. He explains that it is a long drive to the village where the dances are taking place, but he could try and get them to come closer to us. “I’d much rather go to their village” I tell him, which catches him by surprise. “Really?” he quips, “That solves our problem” Mathias replies with obvious relief showing in his face. He explains that transporting 20 performers with their outfits and musical instruments would be both troublesome and expensive.

Dinner

For once I order a beer to go with dinner (I usually stick to water), and soon regret it when it arrives completely flat and tasting awful. They immediately bring me another as soon as I mention it to them. The manager here, and at least one of the waitresses, speaks good English.

Flat beer

David's seems OK

Supreme de Poulet - really tender and lean chicken breast with a tasty, creamy mushroom sauce

We return to our room – sorry, suite – to indulge ourselves in a cup of cappuccino (we brought along some sachets).

Thank you to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this incredible adventure to Ivory Coast.