Early days in Ouaga

We have been busy since arriving on Thursday afternoon, getting acquainted with the city, our house and some of the embassy staff.

First impressions, we arrived to find that the airport is undergoing renovations, i.e. its currently a building site..but as only 35 of us exited the plane at Ouaga, it wasn't really too much of a hassle making our way through customs and health checks, though as usual we were baffled by the unindicated seemingly fast track lane next to us.

Margot from the embassy was there to welcome us, along with a driver to take our luggage in a separate car (64kg each plus hand luggage and 2 cat cages is a LOT of luggage). We went straight to our new house to deposit the cats - and let them use the loo (they had been without facilities for 10+ hours). The house has been recently painted, but still seemed a bit smelly and grotty...but the smell was due to the recent insecticide spraying..but compared to Kigali the finish of the house is certainly more "african" - though we do have a dutch kitchen - I am full of plans of how to make this into our home.

We checked into a suite in fancy-ish hotel the Alazai aka the Independence, and later walked to a busy pizza joint a block or so away where we possibly ate 15 years ago. The two hour time difference, and a bad nights sleep in an Etap hotel with the cats on the bed meant we went to bed early and slept like logs.

Friday morning we went to the embassy to meet and greet, and then on to the house again. Habibou our new housekeeper was worried about the cats who were making a lot of noise, and had come to find us at the embassy. She seems nice enough, and can understand our poor french with lack of vocabulary, so fingers crossed.

Lon trying out his new chair for size at the embassy.

After embassy hours, we were able to loan a car, and went exploring. Ouaga is not a big city, but because its flat, and has no skyscrapers, orienting ourselves has been difficult. There are lots of motorbikes and bikes, which means that the traffic is a bit more hectic than Kigali was, but its not too overwhelming, and I'm sure that Lon and I will be haring round in no time..since the car is already here !! we just need to go through the customs procedures.

street life


a monumental roundabout in Ouaga 2000 - a chi-chi area on the other side of the city




Marina supermarket - busy supermarket with imported (french) and local stuff i.e. food, some clothes, household items etc etc I imagine I will be there regularly (if I ever find my way round the city)

today we took a dip in our pool - its deeper than I thought (I am at the point it gets too deep for me to stand) and is REFRESHING...I anticipate moving in permanently). Its rainy season at the moment, so its a bit cooler than usual (under 30) and a lot more humid. Lon and I are losing a lot of fluid "glowing" and have come a long way from our ingrained dislike of airco already - airco is my friend.

Tonight has seen us being chased from the terrace where we were eating our dinner by rain. We had been enjoying the distant lightning for some time, but then the wind started to swirl clouds of dust at us, and the lights began to flicker, and everyone head towards the very small covered area of the restaurant, so we finished the by now somewhat gritty remains of our meal to head back to the hotel in gusty rain.

We are hoping on Monday or Tuesday to check out of the hotel to go camping in our house - the embassy has a set of furniture to lend out when people arrive which is currently in use but dribs and drabs are available - most importantly 2 beds, and Margot who is going on leave had loaned us lots of useful things - we have also been OK'd to buy some extra items to add to the set like a fridge, iron and board - since its cheaper than 3 or 4 nights in a hotel. Our own container should be arriving on the boat in a couple of days, but will still need to be driven overland to Burkina and then go through customs, so we are looking at 2-3 weeks before we can get our hands on it.

All in all feeling positive but sweaty...