January 26 & 27 2008

Nazinga wildlife safari!

Saturday January 26, we had reserved a 4 x 4 jeep for the weekend and it arrived at our place at 8 am.  Another volunteer based in Houde, Sara, had stayed here overnight so she could join our group.  This time, Rémi was also coming with us so he could see some real wild elephants!  This will be different from Nepal where we got on them for the safari, but this time we will watch them roam around freely in their natural habitat!  Off we went to go pick up Jean-François, a nice young man also volunteer based in Dedougou, a small town deep in Burkina.  He was staying over at Antoine and his girlfriend Natasha soon arrived to complete our group.  We were ready to hit the road now for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure!

The paved road leading to Pô took about 2 hours and 30 minutes.  We crossed this dynamic small town with its market spread out along the road.  Then at the end of town, we turned right on a dirt road and rode on for another hour on pretty bumpy terrain.  Rémi was lying down on the ground of the 4 x 4 when suddenly, he started to vomit!  We had to stop and take our bottle of water to clean to carpet and our little guy, and soon after we arrived at the camp site at noon.  The place is set up by a large pond where elephants come to drink and bathe. As soon as we arrived, we saw dozens of them in the water or on the edge playing amongst themselves.  So we quickly went to the observation area build by the water where we could watch this amazing spectacle of nature. 

Then we went for a bite to eat at the nearby restaurant, also set up with a unique view of the pond and the elephants.  At one point, we were surprised to see 3 of them get out of the water right by us just a few feet away!  So of course I went out with Rémi and Jean-François to get a good look at them and to take photos, but some folks were quick to warn us to be careful and keep our distances.  These beasts are quite impressive and can charge on people if they feel threatened.  But so far there has never been such an incident at Nazinga tho this reserve is relatively new (about 5 years old).  We sure don’t want to become the first tourists trampled to death by elephants!

We took a little nap in the afternoon to rest a bit and then at 4 pm, we were ready for our first jeep outing into the “wild reserve”!  The animals had left the pond, so we drove into the park to find them. We were lucky to soon spot a few after just a short while and we got real close to one right by the road.  But the driver was worried that it would charge us, so we did not « hang around » for long.  We then saw many antelopes and wild boars and we proceeded to explore the land.  What surprised me the most was the sad and sparse state of nature in the reserve. There were not many large trees but rather bushes here and there.  And like the whole country, it was very, very dry and it will be so for another 5 months!  How can nature survive in such an arid climate?  We rode on the roof of the jeep with Rémi and the gang, cameras ready to shoot at each of these memorable moments and finally made it back at the camp site before dusk.  We had dinner at the restaurant with nicely spiced grilled garlic chicken (tasty but little meat), and then followed by an early bedtime. 

The next day, up at the crack of dawn at 6 am, coffee and then at 7 am, off we went again for our second outing into the reserve.  Still perched high on the roof of the jeep despite the morning chill, we saw many elephants, antelopes and again wild boars.  Once, an elephant came towards us and Sara got a bit scared.  As this precious moment was unfolding, of course the batteries in my camera died and I was desperately going through all the rechargeable ones and the expensive new Energizers to get my camera going again.  In vain.  I was so upset to have come this close and missed this photo opp.  Then again, I had to admit that the moment was incredible and worth it…  But hey, thanks, Murphy’s Law for being there!  

Departure from Nazinga at 10 am to first get to Pô and then we continued on to reach the small village of Tiebele.  Lunch at a roadside shack of a restaurant with none other then rice with sauce and hamster-size chicken.  Tiebele is apparently a small « kingdom » for locals who say they are not at their 13th king, and a « court prince » in jeans and a tank top came to greet us and offer his services as tour guide.  He showed us around “the kingdom”, houses here and there made of clay and covered with carved and painted symbols.  He explained the meaning of each one of them to us and then we even entered a house.  The locals say that bats are welcomed inside as they keep the bad spirits away and eat the mosquitoes!  You just have to lower your head and be careful of your hair.  But yeah, they don’t have much hair to worry about, unlike us!  Then we visited the small tourist market with masks and trinkets for sale but we were incredibly harassed by the vendors. Finally we took the road back to Ouaga and got in at around 5:30 pm, tired but happy.  Nazinga has been a lovely visit, not too far from the capital, and with enough wildlife to make it all worth the while…