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The Mysterious Ruins of Loropeni
The_Capricorn Says: When you are on the road between Gaoua to Banfora than you should pay a one hour stop at the ruins of Loropeni. The ruins can be dated back to the 11th century, the ruins belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009, it was for Burkina Faso the first listed site.On...
The Village of Obire and the Sanctuaire de Roi Gan
The_Capricorn Says: If you like to see and to hear something about the Gan kings, than you have to come to Obiré.27 rectangular sanctuaries, restored by 'white men' can be marveled and when you are lucky, his majesty King Gan the 29th will guide you through personally . We were not that lucky,...
The_Capricorn Says: On almost every market artisanal baskets are offered. How they are produced, you can see watch in Houli, close to Gaoua. Lobi women waiting for you the show you the technics and of course they like you to buy some as a souvenir directly from the origin.Perfect craftsmanship...
Where the ghosts are everywhere yet
The_Capricorn Says: If you are visiting Gaoua, than it is worth to do a half day trip to the close-by village of Kampti.And if you are not fearful, pay a visit to the famous diviner of Kampti. Around and inside his house you can see a lot of Fetish statures, they are still subject to practice...
The_Capricorn Says: While your stay in Gaoua, also a further well worth seeing is how and where the wooden Fetish figures are made. One of such places is Tambeli. There you can watch the carver at his work. Don't expect high valuable arts, but a solid craftsmanship.The carver is happy to sell...
Maison Soukala - The Lobi House
The_Capricorn Says: The Lobi houses or dwellings are marked as large rectangular or polygonal compounds. The mud-bricked outside walls are washed with mud with tiny windows and a small entrance. The interior consist of different rooms, like the kitchen, a storage room, a room for the fetish...
atufft Says: We managed to pay the guide some money and depart with another group who had invited us to join them for the ride back into town. Along the way, the driver took us to a small stream where a couple of Lobi women panned for gold. We were asked not to take photos of these women...
atufft Says: The European/American Aid agencies have done a wonderful job of reaching out and placing fresh water wells in many villages. These are hand operated, in this case with something resembling a bicycle, and produce healthy bacteria free water from the earth. As a consequence,...
A Lobi Household, Example 2, Part II
atufft Says: After browsing around the mud structures alone, a various family members showed various degrees of interest in my visit. They were not engaged in any particular activities except entertaining the children. The family consisted of an older mother with several daughters and...
A Lobi Household, Example 2, Part I
atufft Says: The Lobi homes were distributed throughout a small valley. On one corner of the valley was the village headman, or king, who lived a lifestyle much improved over those whom he ruled. Because there was another small group of tourists, we talked for only a moment to obtain...
A Lobi Household in the Country, Example 1
atufft Says: My pesty Lobi young man finally persuaded me to rent out a couple scooters. After some delay, we proceeded out of town and up into a hilly area, stopping at various villages. The villagers were considerate, considering the inept introductions made by our guide. At one point,...
More Gaoua Marketplace Produce
atufft Says: As said, there are a wide variety of interesting locally produced foods to observe being sold at the Gaoua marketplace, and the adventuresome will try eating some. Most living in this area should have plenty to eat as I didn't see any real shortage of food.
atufft Says: The Lobi are reclusive and communication difficult even for those that speak French. I tried to capture a few portrait photos of this proud people. Not all those attending the market are Lobi, however, we didn't visit long enough to distinguish between the many tribal groups...
Visit the Gaoua Marketplace, Part II
atufft Says: In addition to selling produce, condiments, and meats, the Gaoua open market also has a covered labyrinth of a wide variety of consumer goods, electronics, and clothing, much of which is cheap junk. The more interesting stuff sold are the native products sold by Lobi in the...
Visit the Gaoua Marketplace, Part I
atufft Says: The marketplace of Gaoua is in the center of town and can't be missed. We walked around people watching and examining the unusual array of produce and foodstuffs being sold. There are a wide variety of grains and nuts which are completely unfamiliar to those from Europe or...
Hotel Hala: with spacious porch and inner garden
sachara Says: Except some budget accomnmdations with a few rooms Gaoua has only one midrange hotel with 22 rooms. Hotel Hala is run by a Libanese family since 1981. The rooms are OK, maybe a little overpriced. At the front the hotel is a spacious parkingplace. The rooms are situated...
Hotel Hala: Lebanese Enclave in Lobi Country
atufft Says: Probably the only hotel worthy of a stay for many visitors to Gaoua will be Hotel Hala. Located on the road between the bus station and central market, Hotel Hala is somewhat isolated, but it is also complete in terms of service. The Lebanese and African style food is quite...
Helpfulness
On a street corner of the marketplace there is a decent watering hole where a sandwich can also be purchased. I had a beer and some food prior to going out into the countryside in search of Lobi Villages. There were a couple of 4x4 vehicles and bunch of scooters parked outside, and a bicycle with guinea fowl tied to the handlbars. Inside Gaoua's upper-class local folks talked on cells phones and drank Flag beers. Next door was an internet cafe of sorts with a radio station upstairs. I talked for a moment with the radio station owner about Gaoua. I found a young man playing a old arcade video game in the back of the bar. Anyway, I can't recall the food for being either good or bad, and certainly not exotic, but adequate enough to provide calories, and with it a decent beer buzz is possible.
Written Jul 18, 2007
Helpfulness
There are scooter sales in Gaoua, and scooters can be rented. There's a gas station where everyone lines up. Prepare to get the gas just after getting the scooter. The roads all around, even within most of Gaoua are complete unpaved, but the sandy trails are easy to drive over. You can share a scooter with the guide if you like (but see my warning/dangers tip).
Written Jul 22, 2007
Helpfulness
Finding a good guide isn't easy. Some are bossy, others relaxed; some explain little, others too much, and still others are socially smooth and others inept. Unfortunately, we found an inept Lobi guide in Gaoua. He was charming at first, speaking a little of French and English, showing how clever he was. But, we had just arrived in town and I told him that I would find my guide in town. The next morning, he walked with us to town, begging us to hire him. I was reluctant to do so, given his youth. I wasn't sure that he knew what to do, and besides, we had not yet surveyed the system. At the time of my visit, none of the guidebooks said much about Gaoua at all. After the market, we hired him to take a scooter ride into the countryside, but soon I found that he was drinking from a little bottle and driving recklessly with my wife on the back of his scooter. Later, he made jokes in the villages, making the villagers angry at him. He made our visits to the villages more difficult than if we had been alone, so we paid him what was agreed and bade goodbye. But, that wasn't enough, that night he came with some friends, insisting to the hotel keeper that we owed him more money. At first, we stood our ground and refused to even talk to the young man. Because he hung around so long though, we considered his demands--an additional $8-, a huge sum for him but a small sum for us to get rid of him. Don't hire the guy in these photos! Later, when I described our experience to our guide in Bobo Dioulasso, he immediately named him and labeled the fellow as troublesome.
Written Jul 22, 2007
Lobi Country Near Ghana-Ivory Coast Border
The division of the Lobi tribal families into the nations of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast is but one example of mistakes made by European imperial powers during the late 19th century, when...
Gaoua in southwestern Burkina Faso is a good base for exploring the Lobi country. To get the first introduction to Lobi culture and traditions you can visit the Musée de Poni in Gaoua. In front of the...
Build your own Gaoua page
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