Arly - Day 261

Date: May 6th, 2010
Distance: None
Country: Burkina Faso

I was going to get up and leave today. I wasn't sure if I was going to try and head back to Pama, or possibly risk going through the bush to Benin. I didn't have much food, so that was my biggest concern. I didn't know if I could get anything on the Benin side. When I got up, the chef told me that there was a lady who sells food down on the other end of camp. There are a lot of herdsmen who pass through the area, so that is most of her clientèle. He also said I could rest here if I was tired. Frankly, that would be great. The four 100+ kilometer days had taken it out of me.

I found the lady selling food and had some riz graz. For the rest of the day I was pretty sedentary. I read some and tried to nap a bit (it was too hot). I watched the baboons roam around camp. Actually one of them stole my mangoes when I wasn't looking. There were also some warthogs that wandered through camp in the afternoon.

The guys also told me about a lake not far away with lots of hippos and elephants. It was late in the day, but I wanted to see that. I had also heard there was a bicycle safaris here. I tried to ask one of the guides there to take me. He needed to get approval from the chef first. That turned into a whole big hassle. It was too far away to walk or bike. So I would need to hire a moto. I would also need to pay for my guide to borrow a gun. Finally the cost for the guide was set at 4,000 CFA. That was for the whole day, but since most of the day was gone, it didn't really make sense. I was hoping for a simple ride or hike, but it didn't turn out that way. So I scrapped the idea.

I was invited to dine with the forestry agents later that evening though. That was really nice. It was just rice with a simple sauce. Plus fish. I have mentioned before that I don't like fish. It has bones and I worry about how fresh it is. They said I should try it. It wasn't bad actually. Tasted a lot like chicken. The head was the thing that got me. It had a hard shell like a crab. The rest of the fish was soft though. Still, I couldn't eat much of the head. I tried, but it was too strange.

-Dravis