We passed a sign saying Welcome to Ouagadougou, but everything looked about the same. Then a few concrete shacks sprung up, then a few more. Then the bus pulled into a football sized dustbowl with about 20 other buses and trucks, and countless battered taxis. This was the Gare Rouliere, the main bus station. We got out of the bus, fetched the bags, and looked around. There was a grey sky above, dust underneath, and no sign of a city anywhere. I had already read that the station was 3km south of the city centre, but i thought there would have been a bit more evidence of a capital city, even so.
I negotiated a taxi to take the westerners to centre ville. as it turned out all our hotels were in a line en route. My share was about $2. The Hotel Les Palmiers turned out to be wonderful, and despite being mid range, turned out to be possibly the only aesthetic and tranquil spot in the city. There was a closed green garden, with grass, bougainvilleas, shady trees and a small pool. My room was clean, simple and cool. Every guest was western, and almost without exception french. There was a round of Bonjour Monsieur/Madame whenever people passed, with the exception of a German couple who just stared and ignored everyone. Not to be judgemental at all; the Germans are a wonderful people in general, and if you prefer sauerkraut to creme brulee, you would get on just fine. Just dont say good morning.
I wandered around Centre Ville for a bit and was a little surprised to find it almost deserted with everything shut. It was Sunday afternoon though. The impression of a dusty city under a dusty sky persisted. It is a very clean city though - no rubbish, graffiti or urban decay that way. Whereas Accra is an extended rubbish tip in every direction, Ouaga is relatively very neat and clean. Just dusty. You cant stop the Saharan sands from blowing in. Its also a very muslim city. There is one catholic cathedral, with a resident cardinal, just around from my hotel. Just 10% of the population are christian, mostly catholic. The other 90% are a debatable mix of Islamic and animist.
I had a bit of trouble with the map and somehow became disoriented. This should have been difficult, as the city is well laid out along Parisien lines. There are a few large central roundabouts (Places) with large avenues radiqting outwards, with names like Avenue d’Independence, Charles de Gaulle, Liberation etc. The streets between were mostly a rectangular grid, north south oriented. Very hard to get lost. But i didn’t just get lost, I got severely disoriented. For a moment I thought I may have been dehydrated? as it wasnt making sense, and I couldnt find my street again. I had the Lonely Planet guide and maps, and was doing all the right things. Eventually I tracked to the largest Place de Nations, a central point for the city, and found my way home, but again with difficulty. It turned out to be a 3 hour walk. I topped up with water, showered the dust off, and crashed early.
Tomorrow I would find out why.