I left Cotonou, Benin to return to Accra, Ghana. The flight took me through C’ôte d’Ivoire. I had an 8 hour layover, I was not going to squander that time at the airport. I had read that technically it is possible in 8 hours to visit something of Abidjan, but the traffic could be unpredictably slow, so I decided to visit Grand-Bassam, which is nearer to the airport and much much smaller.
To leave the airport I needed a visa. I had applied for a visa online ahead of time. At the airport I went to a small room where they processed my visa before going through immigration. The process took about an hour. There is no luggage storage at the airport, so I took my backpack with me and caught a taxi to Grand-Bassam.
The good things about going to Grand-Bassam are that it is not too far from the airport, it is beautiful, it is fairly small, and good for exploring in a short time. The downside is that I do feel like missed out seeing the bustle of the capital.
I went to the centre of what is a narrow peninsula, in front of a museum. I planned to visit the museum but it was closed. There was, however, a dance performance happening. I crowded in with the other people and watched the drummers and scene after scene of dancers, including one which involved what looked like a large pillow that danced around until it was finally tamed. It was a nice, unexpected bonus.
Basically, I spent the rest of my layover walking and taking in the beautiful, sometimes abandoned buildings, surrounded by vines and flowers.
I stopped by some art studios and looked at the sea, but finally I was tired of walking with my backpack so I settled into a beach-side restaurant where I had lunch and a cigar before heading back to the airport.
The layover didn’t leave me feeling like I have seen much of Côte d’Ivoire, so I will have to return, but Grand-Bassam was a wonderful place to spend a layover.
From Grand-Bassam I returned to Accra, Ghana where I spent one final, mellow night and day before flying home.