Ouahigouya

Understand

Ouahigouya was founded in 1757 and is the capital of Yatenga region. As the center of Mossi culture, Mooré is the common language.

The town is dry and dusty, and there is a large barrage on the north side of town.

Do

Ciné Palace – movies shown daily with prices at 100, 150 and 250 CFA depending on your seat. Futbol Stadium – located near the post office and is the site for the occasional match among local squads. Hotel de L’Amitie pool – 1500 CFA to swim for the day but 1000 CFA for Peace Corps volunteers with ID.

Drink

There are many bars along the main route and throughout town serving standard fare (sobbra, flag, castel, Guinness, etc.) A few notables:

Hawaii Café – according to its menu, it offers a few specialty coffee drinks as well as oatmeal. There are also a couple grilled meat vendors right nearby. Auberge – frequented by many wealthy-looking businessmen; offers some tasty but not cheap plates of grilled mouton and poulet. “Military Bar” – closest bar to the Peace Corps house; generally not busy but it is apparently affiliated with the military and some female volunteers have had less than pleasant experiences there. Bar Restaurant Dancing de L’Amitié – next door to the hotel restaurant; seems like a good place to cut loose on a Saturday night.

Go next

To get to Mopti, in Mali, you'll need to get the daily minibus to Koro, which leaves at 06:30 (2500 CFA). However, connections at Koro are unreliable and you might not arrive in Mopti till 6pm or later. Be prepared for a dusty journey, and if you can, get your Mali visa before travelling — the Malian officials on the border are likely to try to extract a bribe from you otherwise.

Tours of Dogon country – It is possible to find guides and organize a trip to Dogon country in Mali from Ouahigouya. However, it seems that the guides in Mali are more familiar with the area and better equipped than the guides that can be found in Ouahigouya, so it is probably better to use one of the Peace Corps-friendly guides based in Koro.