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Daily blog Sleep Eat Routes
He didn’t really like travel, of course. He liked the idea of travel, and the memory of travel, but not travel itself. - Julian Barnes

18 November 2019, Ellibou to N’Zianouan, 54.5km
L’Auberge de N’Zianouan 5,000XOF (R125)


Yesterday, after our bucket baths and a nap, the young man managing our hotel walked us perhaps a km to a restaurant for dinner. Ellibou felt different from any other town in which we have spent the night since leaving Cape Town on March 1. Not sure I can put my finger on the difference, but for the first time, really, I felt a little anxious about our safety - a feeling which proved entirely unfounded. (*Our anxiety was probably a product of a couple of things. It had been quite a long day and we were tired. We did not know whether we would find a bed at the intersection and as usual were reluctant to camp. When we inquired about a hotel and were told there was one, finding it was not that easy. It was unsignposted, and one of our more persistent “helpers” was drunk. We had to push the bikes between huts through mud and dirt. Just before getting to the hotel, a woman tried to persuade Charl to go elsewhere, saying that there was somewhere better to sleep, “for whites”, she said. That led to a brief about-turn before we were led back to the hotel. The room was a little depressing. The walk to the restaurant a little confusing…)
Ellibou nestles in the corner created by a clover-leaf intersection where the north/south A3 splits into the west/east B108. It is a poor town. The dirt roads that dissect it are extremely rough and unkempt. Homes and businesses are constructed sometimes of brick and mortar, sometimes of wood planks. They sit perched beside the roads near open drains and gerrymandered stairs. Homes are also placed in haphazard fashion where there are no roads, just footpaths leading higgledy-piggledy through them. People live their lives exposed to their neighbours.
It was almost dark when we reached the restaurant and our hostess there had not yet begun her dinner preparations. In most other African towns, we have often arrived at restaurants just in time to get the last of the pre-cooked meals; in Ellibou, they eat later. She had uncooked fish and chicken on a large platter beside a barbecue drum. When I pessimistically held my hand over the cold coals, she indicated they were getting ready-made hot coals, trying to tell me the wait would not be as long as I anticipated.
We chose our fish and explained that we wanted rice with it. She confirmed her prices and set to work. It was a longish wait, but interesting, and made pleasant by icy-cold beer and Orangina. When we asked for drinks, the woman tried to persuade a boy to accompany Charl down the alley to choose them. The boy indicated he spoke no English and refused. One has to slow down then and reduce the number of words you are using so the anxious listener can hear that your question is in fact a simple one well within his range. In the end, the boy took Charl to an unmarked room containing a chest fridge and there more than met our simple needs.
The electricity came and went, so on many occasions our hostess had to light her work with a rechargeable light and a torch held in her mouth. Moms and children mulled around; one woman slept on a mat in the alley, one took a nap on a wooden table near us; a boy sitting next door stroked a cat on his lap (it is unusual to see physical affection between humans and pets in Africa - I suspect being sentimental about a pet comes somewhere after feeding a family); across the road, another boy took his bucket bath on the roadside, unselfconscious about his nudity.
When our food eventually came, it was delicious. Freshly-cooked rice rather than the more usual pre-cooked and re-heated. And perfectly grilled whole fish in a spicy soup, the spices having been ground beside us, the fresh flavours obvious in the hot liquid.
The lights happened to be on when we began our walk back to the hotel, past the local disco and a couple of bars and street food vendors. We popped into a boutique to buy something to drink in the room, and were thrilled to find chocolate in their fridge. It was only down two alleys that we needed the torch-light from our cell phones. Here people sat outside where it was cool, or drew water from the communal well, greeting us as we passed.
We debated turning off the highway before Yamoussoukro, but in the end decided not to, the only real downside of riding it being few places to re-fuel with softdrinks. Perfect road condition, excellent grading, wide shoulder, predictable traffic flow … what’s not to like? We bought some drinks before leaving Ellibou, and shopped at the Station Petroci garage shop just south of N’Zianouan, not knowing that we would shortly be stopping for the night. Shopped for vanilla icecream wrapped in chocolate, unsalted cashews, and lots of Orangina in an aircon cooled, pleasant environment with friendly staff. Shortly after entering town, one of the few on the highway, we spotted an auberge and decided to call it quits. A long 100km ride will get us to Yamoussoukro tomorrow.
One of the women at the auberge has a small boy-child who took instant exception to me. She thought it amusing, but I was not willing to play the ogre to amuse her so spent some time telling him it was OK, and finally persuading him to come over and touch my hand, albeit briefly. Why would a mom want her child to fear someone, rather than taking the opportunity to encourage curiosity and tolerance? Just silly…
We ordered rice and chicken for dinner at the auberge on site restaurant and were thrilled to be served delicious short-grain rice, tender chicken, and a few tasty, if unknown, vegetables.

For today's route see below photos
For overview route, click on ROUTE tab above…


Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan - hot n sweaty
Ellibou to N'Zianouan - hot n sweaty
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
Ellibou to N'Zianouan
L'Auberge de N'Zianouan
L'Auberge de N'Zianouan
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