Welcome back dear reader. If this is your first time here, welcome! I have been using this space to blog about my most recent trip to Africa. Blog, may not quite be the correct term as I’ve been told these posts are double/triple the length of a traditional blog. 🤷🏾 But, this is my page, my thoughts and if it’s too long to be considered a blog well, call it a LAB (Long Ass Blog) instead.
If you are enjoying the read, please…read on. There is SO much more to share…I’m trying to give you a comprehensive recap, not just a pic and a post on IG and FB. Based on MY experience, encapsulating it in a short post would be disrespectful to my vision. That said, we continue on…
Day 3 was a FMF type of day. To start, we were scheduled to head downtown for a museum visit, enjoy a 5 star lunch, chill and head to another local restaurant for dinner. Check, Check and check. It was going to be a scorcher +90 degrees and sunny so, sunscreen, sunglasses and a sunny disposition was definitely going to be needed. Too much Heat tends to make me irritable.
The day started a little shaky… due to the heavy rains, the water pump at our AirBNB malfunctioned. Luckily, Kisha called the owner, who had a crew out to fix the issue before most of us rose for breakfast. Speaking of which, my breakfast consisted of fresh fruit, coco tea 😋, French bread and some eggs and potatoes.
Back to the water issue… the shower was fine but, the hot water was not. Luckily, I’m no stranger to cold showers and after some positive self hype talk, I jumped in and took the fastest shower you can imagine. They SAY cold showers are good for you. Guess I’m gonna die early cuz…yea, nah. My idea of a good time does not included jumping into a cold pool over and over again. You may like that but, yea…not me. At 10:30am it was already hot and muggy in the bathroom but, the bedroom, where I had to get dressed? Let’s just say my wife likes the bedroom to be cold enough that the ice won’t melt. ice won’t melt. So, cold shower, hot bathroom, freezing bedroom. You can imagine how quickly I was dressed and ready to go.
Showered, dressed and lathered down with Bug Lotion/Spray, the Mrs. and I headed out to to begin the day. I say headed out as if we jumped in the car and drove ourselves. No. As part of the America Contingent, Guy was kind enough to arrange transportation (i.e. a driver) for our (all +40 of us) entire time in Abidjan. I can’t say enough how much I appreciate everything he and Kisha did to make this trip one for the books. The driver was a master stroke of forethought.
Why am I so appreciative? How many of you have been to Jamaica? Thailand? New York? Traffic rules are there, lightly enforced…and everyone, including the Mom Mom and Pop Pop, drive like they were in the Crazy Taxi / Demolition Derby videogame. Don’t know what I mean?
And while those places I’ve mentioned have some seemingly reckless drivers, nothing prepared me for Abidjan…Senegal was even worse! As a matter of fact, the tissue box you’ll see in some of my car pics, I’m SURE are for passenger tears 😭. LOL. Mind you, this is coming from someone who nearly ALWAYS drives fast and furious. Point is, having a driver that can DRIVE WELL under pressure is an under appreciated aspect of our experience in Africa. Before leaving Abidjan, we made sure each driver received a well deserved tip. #Salute
Tears Box in the dash…LOL
Stunt driving aside, Our 1st stop of the day was The Musee Des Civilisations de Cote d Ivoire – Abidjan.
As we would later find out, the museum was actually CLOSED. However, after a brief conversation with our driver, the man who would become our tour guide let us know that they would make an exception for us. A curated tour for just the Mrs and I in an EMPTY museum. How dope was that?! And you don’t believe in a higher power? I do. 100%
The museum was small but filled with various artifacts, each with their own unique story and history. I won’t go into detail about the history of any, this LAB is long enough as it is. But, I will say that we learned much more than we knew coming through those front doors.
What I WILL say, and what has been a consistent theme for me while in Africa, is just how much the colonizers stole from our people and claimed the theft of property, culture, wealth, knowledge and history as their own. The advent of items such as ladders, the cultivation of the land, customs and practices…the countless stories of whitewashing. We focus on slavery but, they stole so much more than people. Sadly, it continues on even now…
https://mashable.com/article/tik-tok-black-history-viral-trends-kahlil-greene
…and yet, we Rise! ✊🏾🖤💯🎯
Ok, Let’s switch up to another topic that is near and dear to my heart…FOOD! After thanking and tipping our guide and the museum staff, our driver (who waited outside the entire time mind you) took us to preview another (potential) location that the group would be visiting in a couple days. Sakaan Resturaunt.
If any of you have been to the, now closed “Upstairs” that used to be on the corner of Broad and Locust, the atmosphere was not unlike that. The deco was more “natural” for a lack of better terms but, make no mistake, this was a classy, upscale eatery. Our initial waiter didn’t speak English so through pointing/pantomiming at the menu and using Google translate, we were able to order our drinks. Eventually, they sent over an English speaking waiter who, as we would find out, has dreams of moving to New York. He was SUPER friendly and even taught us (Translate taught Tawanna) a few words in French!
I took pics of what we ordered but I don’t remember what it was exactly. What I DO know is, the food was AMAZINGLY tasty and deceptively filling. If you have a change to visit Abidjan, you don’t want to miss a meal here. Drinks/Service/Food all top notch. #FMFApproved
I’ll get to the two motorbike accidents (!) we witnessed, the beauty of the city/countryside and our dinner and evening shenanigans in the next post. All this writing is making me hungry…jusqu’à la prochaine fois… (Until next time…) ✌🏾
Raomel's Observations - Rabservations 