Day 2 (June 16) - Ouaga to Bobo

We left for Bobo at 10AM. The van was packed (we fit in with the other vehicles on the road!). The roads were filled with donkey carts, motos, bicycles and overloaded vans and trucks. Whenever we stopped, we were mobbed by people (especially kids) looking to sell us stuff or get a handout. People here live their lives outside - not many "office jobs" here. Most raise crops to live and sell what they can to live. The average Burkinabe makes $80/month. We ate French bread (amazingly good and sold everywhere fresh) and ham and swiss sandwiches on the road. The van was really slow (and warm) because it was so weighed down. We arrived in Bobo-Dioulasso at 4PM. Bobo is the second largest city in Burkina (500,000). Still, most of the 14 million Burkinabe live in rural areas. We went to "the Rocks" with the Obergs, Hulls and Schaeffers for dinner. It was a beautiful setting. We fed huge catfish in the water and walked down to the rocks under a (currently) dry waterfall. We had a wonderful dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and got home late. We all got to bed early to be rested for our first trip "into the bush."

Typical scenes on a Burkina road.

Alexis and Natasha return from the first "bush" bathroom experience.

"The Rocks"