Turkey Day in the Sindou Peaks

A Belated Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all revelled in turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries and other Thanksgiving delicacies and gave appropriate thanks for all of life's gifts and abundances (especially mashed potatoes).

I headed down to the southwest of Burkina Faso - practically a different country being greener and topographically more diverse than other regions (it's a big deal to see a hill in Burkina). After a 14 hour bus ride from Fada, I arrived in Banfora, a city in the very sw corner of BF popular with tourists for its waterfalls and proximity to the Sindou peaks, where I spent the night before heading to the peaks with a big group of volunteers. Some of the SW volunteers had organized an excellent TDay dinner complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, salad and even stuffing, courtesy of a care package. After traversing a bumpy and slightly perilous 67km route (which took about two hours), we disembarked and trekked up to a plateau amidst the peaks where we made camp (set our stuff down) before heading off to climb around the peaks and check out the amazing vistas of the surrounding bush afforded from such heights. We were sooned joined by another group of volunteers and commenced to make merry, give thanks in turn, and enjoy our excellent meal to the percussive stylings of a balafon group (W. African xylophone) under a nearly full moon. We were joined by lots of locals from the nearby village of Sindou who literally danced circles around us. Personally, I exercised muscles that have been long out of use and felt it keenly for the next few days. All in all, it was a unique and enjoyable Thanksgiving celebration in the company of good friends.

After our adventures in Sindou, I stuck around Banfora for a few days with my good friend and travel buddy, Beth. We recovered from the two hours of sleep we'd gotten in the peaks, then explored Banfora a bit before heading 15k outside the city to check out the falls the evening before our departure. We got a ride with a Burkinabé friend who works for Celtel, a cellular service provider, in his spiffy red and yellow Celtel pickup. We had originally planned to bike but were still sore after all that dancing on Thanksgiving so we opted for the vehicular mode of transport. Banfora falls are not particularly grand relative to other more noteworthy falls (Niagara, Victoria and the like) but were a site for sore eyes habituated to the flat savannah of the east.

A few pictures of the peaks, falls and our Thanksgiving fête...

Welcome to the Sindou Peaks!

Peak-turesque

(I am so my father's daughter)

Trekking.

Hiking up to the plateau.

View from the plateau.

Beth and I.

Checking out the views.

View toward the north.

Heather, at an excellent vantage point.

View of the bush beyond the peaks.

A peak and nearly full moon.

Post-meal repose.

Balafons.

(Yes, they're ALL smoking...gives new meaning to multi-tasking.)

Banfora Falls.

Rapidly moving water = really exciting.

View from the top of the falls.

Me, contemplating profound existential things next to the falls.