Abidjan Things to Do

Because I had to wait till the Musée National, where you can find wonderful art objects as statues, masks, pottery, bronze and ivory was closed during the lunch break, I visited in the meantime on my way to the museum this modern cathedral with its futurist shape. It was the St Pauls Cathedral.

When I had a closer look at the white building, I saw it was a minstery. I was very surprised, when I red the sign to see that this building was of the '' Minestère of la promotion de la femme", ministery of the promotion of the women.

I was especially curious about what the task of this ministery would be ...

Between the modern skyscrapers in the citycentre of Abidjan, you can also see buildings of another size and form.

These white buildings with two storeys looked more like the buildings, I was used to see in the West-African towns.

After travelling in the rural northern areas of Cote d' Ivoire and in the brousse, where the local people use mainly natural materials and colours, there couldn't be a bigger contrast with the architecture and use of materials in the citycentre of Abidjan.

At Le Plateau in the citycentre of Abidjan you see many modern buildings with the use of a lot of glass...

Abidjan is a city of contrasts, hte city has two faces. At one hand there are the living districts, where the ordinary people live, like in Treichville. These areas have low and traditional buildings .

And at the other hand you have Le Plateau. At Le plateau you can find skyscrapers and other high and modern buildings. Here are the ministeries and offices.

You will find in Adjame, in the north of Abidjan, hundreds of professional laundry cleaners. They all have their customers from which they collect clothes early morning and using rocks and tyres, they wash them in the little river near the Banco forest.

By day, the Plateau is undisputedly a wonderful place to take a leisurely stroll, visiting the many shops, relaxing in one of the quaint parks, or at a sidewalk café watching the world go by. At sundown, the offices empty out and all too soon the Plateau is still. By night, the focus of the activity shifts to Treichville, where you will find lively discos and nightclubs, and the highly popular local ‘maquis’ restaurants offering cheap eats that encompass everything from Lebanese specialties to authentic West African dishes.
Must See

The National Cathedral
One of the most magnificent examples of modern architecture. The cathedral is situated near the administrative area of Plateau, overlooking the Ebrie Lagoon.

Cocody Market
This is Abidjan’s foremost craft market with a wide variety of souvenir ideas to choose from.

The City of Grand Bassam
The former Côte d'Ivoire capital on the Atlantic with French colonial architecture. Here you will find an artists' centre selling masks.

The Fanico Washers
At the Parc de Banco you can see the famed fanicos or washermen at work. They wash thousands of clothes in the river then place them over the surrounding flat areas to dry. Their washboards are tyres containing large boulders against which they bash the clothes.

Visit Treichville. It is a large, dense and poor residential area that is much more 'African' than Le Plateau. Not nearly as dangerous as some of the other suburbs, so visiting it during the day is fine, especially if you stay close to the ferry terminal and along the main roads. There are some small shops and stalls near the ferry terminal for some shopping, and it doesn't take too much walking to be surrounded by old dirty apartment buildings and brightly clothed women with their infant wrapped around their backs while carrying a tub full of water on top of their heads. Avoid wandering around at night.