Abidjan vibe

Someone asked me what I thought about Abidjan. Despite my many frustrations with the place, I can't deny that there is an incredible vibe here.  A sense of optimism, a feeling that the war is done for good, and that the best is yet to come. I saw this video and the joy, energy, and hope of the place really shines through.

Weekend getaways: Grand Bassam

I've got lots of great news: I figured out a way to get my pictures uploaded (despite having lost my cable) and it's Friday!!!  I can't wait for the weekend to be here! As promised, I am sharing last weekend's pictures when we went to Bassan and had an amazing time.

Grand Bassam, or Bassam as most people here seem to call it, is a beach town located about an hour outside of Abidjan.  Bassam has some lovely colonial architecture, which was built by the French who had made the city their first colonial capital.  
I rode out for the afternoon with a couple of friends and had a blast.

 Bassam is a popular weekend spot for many expats. 

 The food was really good!

Vendors flock to the areas popular with expats to peddle their goods.  A rope barrier is designed to keep them from crowding the people trying to enjoy the beach. 

The resort has a pool, which is really practical for people with children.  The waters can be choppy and dangerous, so many kids swam in the pool, instead of in the sea. 

Travel and Regional Integration

Before arriving in Abidjan, regional integration was a far off concept that I didn't know much about.  I'm not a econ or political science person. In fact, to me, it sounded like someone wanted to create an African EU.  Now that I am in Abidjan and would like to travel to explore the continent -- or even buy things in one country and move them to another -- I have come to understand why so many people are saying that regional integration is one of the things keeping Africa from achieving its full economic potential.
 
Case in point:
Travel in West Africa is fraught with difficulties at every turn.  Flights are a rip-off. Every country has a border and requires a visa. Routes and schedules are not well thought out.  I decided to get out of Ivory Coast for a little bit and started looking at flights with no particular destination in mind.
Immediately a couple issues sprang up:

•  Since I am not from a West African country, I need a visa to go to every country that borders Ivory Coast.  These visas cost quite a bit of money, and it may not be worth it, especially if you're just heading out for a long weekend.
• Flights are ridiculously expensive.  So much so, that I have friends who take the bus to Lomé and Accra on a regular basis. 
• Interior flights are expensive.  That means you are going to pay quite a bit of money to fly Air Ivoire to San Pedro, or Yamoussoukro 

In the end, I found a ticket to Paris from Abidjan for 411 dollars on air algérie.  That was 4 dollars cheaper than a flight to Accra on the same days.  Yes, you've read that right folks.  You can fly to Europe for less than what it would cost you to fly to a bordering country.  Of course I had friends begging me not to get on Air Algérie assuring me that to fly them would be to risk sudden death, but I believe that fortune favors the brave, and would not let that deter me!  I may or may not be flying them soon, but I've been told that it's no worse than flying the Libyan national carrier... 

Getting the best deal possible:
As I was looking for tickets, I noticed that there was a huge disparity in ticket pricing.  Because many people still go to travel agencies, there are some incredible deals to be had online -- provided you know where to look.  My top travel sites for flights out of Abidjan are:

• Kayak:  Decent fares, with one major caveat: Air France isn't advertising many of its flights in and out of Abidjan 
• Google flights:  Incredible way to know who flies where, when, and for approximately how much. I haven't bought from them, but it did help me figure out where to buy a ticket.
• Fareboom: Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's awful.  But this site is a gem with some incredible deals (remember that 411 dollar flight to Paris I mentioned? It came from there). You can also book stopovers longer than 24 hours, which Kayak hasn't figured out how to do in an affordable way. ( Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc, Nairobi with Kenya airways, etc)...
• The airlines themselves:  Brussels Air had cheaper fares on their site than on any of the other sites.  So it never hurts to double-check.

Your Weekly Question Roundup

Cost of furniture in Abidjan

If you're shipping from Europe/Can/USA, go to Ikea and buy everything in sight.  Chances are, you'll be able to use it in your new place, or sell it for a profit.  Everything is expensive, including tupperwares....   
If you are willing to buy local, you may end up with nice, relatively inexpensive furniture.  But you are going to have to go to a carpenter and have it made.  It'll be even cheaper if you supply the raw materials, since he won't be marking up the price of the wood.  I haven't had to buy furniture and don't think I will (my room mate's company has graciously agreed to furnish for us), but I will ask around...
Another good source is AfrikAnnonce and Internations.  Abidjan is a place where tons of people are constantly coming and going.  People leave and need to sell their stuff, often at firesale prices.  Get in while you can, and bid low -- you might just get lucky.

Security/moving around the country:

I find this to be really overblown.  Every major organization/ company has liability issues, so they would rather you stay out of harm's way.  That said, Ivory Coast is a safe country.  It may not be forever, but it is safe right now.  I have heard of the "coupeurs de route" but have yet to have met anyone who has been affected by it.  In my short time here, I have met a couple of young French engineers who work on the Liberian border, and they seem to be doing just fine.  I also met a young guy working for an animal feed company and he is all over the rural areas of Ivory Coast.  he sticks out like a sore thumb but seems to be having an incredible time.  I'll post about more weekend destinations in my upcoming travel post.

P.S.
Your questions are kind of what makes doing this worthwhile!  Don't hesitate to tell me what you'd like to see more of!   

Update!

I have been gone for a little bit – sorry!  Tons of things have been happening since I last posted.

Housing update

·      It looks like my friends and I found an apartment to live.  It’s on the side of town I want to be on and I feel it is the right fit for all of us.  It’s a brand new 3 bedroom, 3 bath with a huge balcony. The landlord was asking for 1.1 million francs per month, but we managed to get it down to 1 million. We are also negotiating how many months deposit and rent we are willing to pay upfront before moving in.  At this point, I am cautiously optimistic that everything will go well.  But I’d be lying if I said that the thought of parting with over 10 000 usd collectively wasn’t terrifying.  I will keep you abreast of developments as they occur.    

·      I visited a friend who lives in Cocody Danga, directly across from the Swiss embassy.  Her place is huge but a bit out of the way.  Its best feature was its pool.  I didn’t think I wanted a pool (it’s relatively cheap to head to a hotel and swim for the afternoon), but I realized how much I was missing out on by not having one.  It was amazing.  For those of you who are wondering whether it’s worth it, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that a pool with a shady patio area is incredible.  Equally underrated, is the ability to relax in an outdoor area, with a pool, without having to deal with the outside world.       

Cost of Living update

·      I got my first light bill and it was a whopping 159 000 francs.  This is for a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment.  The cleaning lady says that the bill is quite high, and she believes that the girls I am staying with have been doing too many loads of laundry.  Unclear whether that’s really what caused it, but it seems like a reasonable explanation to me.

·      I am still waiting for my contact to answer my cost of living questions.  I have also been reaching out to other people to try and get information about how much they spend here, etc.  I haven’t forgotten you guys, it’s just taking a bit longer than I though it would.

Miscellaneous

I have met lots of nice people here and am thrilled to have the opportunity to live and work here.  That said, I have come to realize that the move, and the pressures of starting a new life here with very little institutional, financial or social support have begun to grate on me.  There have been some truly kind people who have gone out of their way to help me, but by and large this is probably my hardest move (and I've moved around a bit).  I also find dealing with people here a bit tedious, and over the long term exhausting.  Hopefully, this little bout of the blues will pass as I continue to adjust to me new surroundings and keep meeting new people.  I'll keep you posted!