Set out from any point. They are all alike. They all lead to a point of departure. - Antonio Porchia

22 November 2019, Yamoussoukro to Bouafle, 63.3km
Motel Nazie 11,000XOF (R275)

Highlight of the day: Lotuses blooming tall and proud in the lake. The lotus is by far my favourite flower. In the background, the outrageous Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
Built by Houphouet-Boigny in the late 1980s, the basilica was styled after St Peter’s in the Vatican and cost something between $175 and $400 million. H-B insists he built the basilica on his own land at his own expense, which begs the question how he amassed his fortune which amounted at his death to multi-billions. Guinness lists the basilica as the largest church in the world. Apparently it boasts 7,000 square metres of stained glass windows, including a scene with H-B kneeling beside Jesus on a blue ass. A white elephant if ever I saw one, with less than 20% of Ivoirians being Catholic and only a few hundred people attending Sunday Mass in a church designed to accommodate many thousands. There is something obscene about such a display of pointless wealth in a poor country. H-B gifted the basilica to the pope, who consecrated it in 1990 despite the controversy surrounding it. The pope insisted a hospital be built beside the basilica; this was completed only in 2014.
Our 50-odd km ride to Bouafle, was made longer by around 30km of roadworks. These were manageable, but not pleasant. Quite often we cycled rough dirt, breathing in plumes of dust raised by passing vehicles. One town, in particular, suffered terribly from the dust, most of the roadside vendor stalls being so inundated they had been abandoned. I can’t understand why, as the upgrades are anyway taking place in segments, the sections through towns and villages are not completed first.
Tonight we walked 500 metres to Restaurant Les Jumelles, advertised on Google Maps. The restaurant was a large room and garden setting on the premises of and behind a private home. Aside from the signboard proclaiming it so, nothing indicated the property housed a restaurant. The complex was enclosed by a wall with glass shards embedded on the top. Once, through the gate, we walked a cement passage between the wall and house, to find an undercover, but open-sided living space where the family cooked and watched TV. We asked there if we were in the right place and were directed to the left and around the corner where a couple of guests sat in a shaded garden, mainly dirt and trees, drinking beer. Here we were served icy drinks and two meals, both with a pre-cooked rice base: catfish for Charl, chicken for me. The soup / sauce in which the meals came, was hot and spicy and good. Hot enough to make the sweat pop and our noses run!

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