With extra time and running ahead of schedule after an hour in Yamoussoukro, Dayo and I agreed for a 4 hour onward driver and detour to visit Grand-Bassam: a UNESCO World Heritage site and town in southeastern part of the Ivory Coast, about an hour’s drive east of Abidjan.
We reached here by 4pm, parking at the Musee National Du Costume.
Grand-Bassam was briefly the French colonial capital of Côte d’Ivoire in the 19th century.
It remains to be a tourist attraction for its colonial architecture and town-planning, especially the juxtaposition of the colonial town with a traditional Nzema village.
More strikingly, this is where you can get some of the best local art in the country.
Dayo then took us to the first Catholic church in Grand Bassam. From the looks of this town, it seems to remain as the the only one as well.
Around 5pm we then stopped for a local Ivoirian dinner at Le Stop.
And then after dinner, we picked up a few souvenirs at an impressive crafts hall . . .
. . . and drove on 40 minutes for our nights flight out back home.
While Gina and Jillian would return home via Paris, I’d head back via Istanbul. It was at this point on the drive Jillian cemented her impulsive streak and changed her flight to join me in Istanbul from Paris, before returning home.
- At time of posting in Grand Bassam, it was 27 °C - Humidity: 89% | Wind Speed: 2km/hr | Cloud Cover: clear
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