Bobo-Diolasso (BF) : Mystery of the Mask Festival
N 11°10.153' W 004°18.705'
The name alone was reason enough to visit Bobo, but the former capital also lived up to its reputation of being a relaxed town. Being located south of the Sahel it is green the year round and we took full advantage of the tree-filled courtyard at Casa Africa. Apart from visiting the mosque and market, the thing to do in Bobo is to have a drink, a snack or savour the delicious yoghurt in one of the numerous restaurants and watch the world go by – slowly.
In April the annual Mask Festival to remember the passing away of an important village person is celebrated and after some persevering we found one such festival in a township at the edge of Bobo. When we arrived a crowd had already gathered, the elders had taken their seats and the drums were sounding. Waiting for an hour is nothing in Africa, while we did in the afternoon heat hundreds more arrived. Then came the dozen or so masks, men completely covered by bundles of grass, dancing energetically and performing acrobatic feats. They were accompanied by a mob of men all bearing large staves. There were a number of men wielding whips who seemed to have some controlling function under the loose command of the master of the ceremony (an albino) with his high-pitched hand-held drum. After the official close of the ceremony, a crowd gathered for the “after-party”. We were told to be cautious as when this ended the whipping and lashing out could get out of control. We didn’t linger...
Being so comfortable in Casa Africa we opted to visit the Hippo Lake near Banfora about 100 km SE as a day-trip. Already south of the Sahel the lush countryside was a treat and although we only saw the hippos’ ears as they kept themselves cool under water, the fine I got in Banfora for overseeing a stop sign caused excitement. The fine, although legitimate, was as usual more like a cunning trick to extort some CFAs from the unsuspecting than a real effort to safer driving.
The name alone was reason enough to visit Bobo, but the former capital also lived up to its reputation of being a relaxed town. Being located south of the Sahel it is green the year round and we took full advantage of the tree-filled courtyard at Casa Africa. Apart from visiting the mosque and market, the thing to do in Bobo is to have a drink, a snack or savour the delicious yoghurt in one of the numerous restaurants and watch the world go by – slowly.
In April the annual Mask Festival to remember the passing away of an important village person is celebrated and after some persevering we found one such festival in a township at the edge of Bobo. When we arrived a crowd had already gathered, the elders had taken their seats and the drums were sounding. Waiting for an hour is nothing in Africa, while we did in the afternoon heat hundreds more arrived. Then came the dozen or so masks, men completely covered by bundles of grass, dancing energetically and performing acrobatic feats. They were accompanied by a mob of men all bearing large staves. There were a number of men wielding whips who seemed to have some controlling function under the loose command of the master of the ceremony (an albino) with his high-pitched hand-held drum. After the official close of the ceremony, a crowd gathered for the “after-party”. We were told to be cautious as when this ended the whipping and lashing out could get out of control. We didn’t linger...
Being so comfortable in Casa Africa we opted to visit the Hippo Lake near Banfora about 100 km SE as a day-trip. Already south of the Sahel the lush countryside was a treat and although we only saw the hippos’ ears as they kept themselves cool under water, the fine I got in Banfora for overseeing a stop sign caused excitement. The fine, although legitimate, was as usual more like a cunning trick to extort some CFAs from the unsuspecting than a real effort to safer driving.
posted by Retobados at 12:54 PM
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