by phil | Jun 12, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire
Previously: In 2010, I left hobart street in Washington DC for Accra, Ghana. I arrived one day before the Black Stars were to face off with Uruguay in the quarter finals of the World Cup. You can read about that here. Four years later, I am in Abidjan, and I’m...
by phil | Jun 5, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire, Mali
I thought these photos could use a home on the internet, so here they are. Pretty typical scene at Djigui Koro, one of the best bars in Bamako. Somebody buys a case of beer and everyone digs in. This is a very efficient way to order. Bintou on the banks of the Niger...
by phil | Apr 19, 2014 | Cote D'Ivoire
Despite living in a restaurant, I do try to eat out every now and again. And sometimes eating out means going to the garbadrome. Garba is the all purpose, fill-you-up, working class meal of Abidjan. The standard portion costs 50-60 cents and consists of attieke...
by phil | Dec 18, 2013 | Biz, Cote D'Ivoire, Stories
Here are a few observations and lessons learned from nearly two months of running a full service restaurant in Abidjan. Running a restaurant is a great way to meet people. Among our regulars, we have the captain of ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’Ivoire’s most...
by phil | Nov 6, 2013 | Biz, Cote D'Ivoire
Around the end of each month, you start to see a few more armored trucks than usual rolling around Abidjan. They are filled with cash and on their way to supply banks and ATMs with the monthly salaries of workers who find themselves in the formal economy. Some people...
by phil | Oct 3, 2013 | Cote D'Ivoire, Stories
If you want to tropicalize yourself (you should do this at some point in your life), Abidjan in August might not be the place to do so. The rainy season lingers, the sky is gray, and cold showers – normally a relief – leave you breathless. As a pale...
