Having visitid the official capital of Ivory Coast myself for quite some times, I can honestly state that this is the most bizarre city i erer visited! The former president mr. Felix Houphoignet-Boigny dicided that him beeing the president, his village beeing the centre of the country, this was to be the new capital. So he put it on the map, and how...... He realised tarmac roads, 8 lanes wide, streetlights, traffic lights (the only ones you see out of Abidjan)a very prestigious hotel, several gourvernement services, a palace, a mosk and a really big camp for his elite forces the republican garde. Ohhhhh and I also almost forgot, he build a catholic church. You could actually say cathedral, a huge cathedral to be honest. It sits in the middle of the savanna yust half a mile out of town, you can't oversee it, it's a precise copy of the Saint Peter cathedral only slightly larger. It's appearance is stunning, it's interior overwhelming, 16 sixty foot high stained glass windows, each portraying a different biblical story. Individually air-conditioned chairs, 6000 of them. And then you leave the grounds, and walk in to mentally handicapped adults, sleeping nude up the tarmac, the only thing they, the "fools" own is their dirty dreadlocks, this also is Yamoussoukro! Another strange thing is the wide 8 lane tarmac roads, they have no means since the only road in and out of Yamoussoukro are both single lane tarmac roads in a terrible state,and since Abidjan, the lively harbour city, lies 300 km away and the further you drive in to the interior, the quieter it becomes. Yamou has plenty decent hotels, a lagoon full of lotusflowers, hotles in all sizes and qualities, from Hotel "President" (what else...)beeing 5*+, to hotels shell, next to the Shell station whit in it's garden several animals from tame mongooses, geese for the kitchen, aswell as two lions,some chimpansees and other pets. A real african hotel Is "le Bonheur 2", run by a French lady, the hotel has 2*,it has a nice garden, small swimmingpool and serves the best pizza in Ivory Coast.
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I grew up in Yamoussoukro, and I can't believe there are other people on Ciao that have been there! It brings back a lot of memories reading about the Bonheure 2, spent most saturdays there at the pool. Pete
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May 5th, 2003
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