Mom and Dad came to Burkina! And then proceeded to ask me lots and lots of questions about birds which isn't exactly my area of expertise other than to say, thats a pretty bird but I did learn a few things along the way. It was a whirlwind tour, heading to Djibo the day after they arrived. While I was trying to sleep, they kept asking questions which I either had to answer or translate. I guess its only fair because when I was little I asked more then a few questions myself.
I took them on a short walk of about 1.5-2hrs around Djibo the next morning to show them a mud stove, some plastic bag weaving and my association but when its 115-120 degrees, the heat makes it a pretty long walk. But importantly, they learned about fine local cusuine and that just about anything (peanut butter, yogurt, water, juice, etc) can all be served in plastic bags. They also got a great local experience of the power cutting out. Than they got to experience the true benefits of hot season without air conditioning. I just kept saying it would be back on (which happened) but I don't think they believed me. Leaving Djibo, we saw some camels which my mom wanted photos of. This involved me getting out of the car and jogging across short stretches of the desert chasing camels. Sadly since I had the camera, their aren't any photos of me running after camels but I did get the picture.
Then, our adventure took us south to Banfora to enjoy the lush and more touristy part of Burkina. First, the buses that head in this direction are really nice and air conditioned. Which actually isn't so nice for someone like me who has been living at temperatures above 90 degrees for the past few months. So needless to say, I spent five hours freezing and shivering because it was about 70 degrees. But in Banfora we got to see three of the main tourist attractions in Burkina of which the hippos were by far my favorite. We went out in a rikity wooden boat and observed hippos from a distance. They got a pretty good life if all they do is relax in water all day.
