abengourou: a budget student's sweaty diary

i'm in abengourou, côte d'ivoire, and i'm already questioning my life choices. the journey here from bouaké was a 12-hour odyssey in a bush taxi that had more cracks than my phone screen. the driver kept saying 'on arrive bientôt' but he said that every two hours. the air conditioning was broken, which meant i baked under a relentless sun while sweating through my shirt. by the time we hit the outskirts, i was a walking puddle of regret. i'm now crashed in a guesthouse that costs 2500 cfa a night, the fan sounds like a dying lawnmower, and the mosquito net has a mystery hole. but i'm here, and i'm cheap, so i'll make do.

here's where i am:

just checked my weather app-31.47°c on the thermometer but the 'feels like' is a whopping 34.33°c. i stepped outside to test it and it's like the air is a thick soup you could spoon. humidity's 54%, so i'm basically marinating. the pressure sits at 1013 hpa, which means nothing to me except that my skin feels like it's about to melt. i walked to the market and within five minutes i was drenched, my glasses fogged up, and i could feel the sun singeing my hair. i just checked and it's blazing out there, hope you like that kind of thing. seriously, if you can't handle humidity that makes your phone sweat, maybe skip this place.

if you get bored, the ghanaian border is a short moto-taxi away-about an hour to kumasi, where the jollof rice wars get serious. or head west to yamoussoukro to visit the basilique notre-dame de la paix, a giant concrete church that's supposed to be impressive. i haven't gone, i'm too busy trying not to spend my last 500 cfa on water. but the point is, abengourou's a decent base for exploring the region, as long as you don't mind the roads that coulda been built by a blindfolded toddler.

food here is a game of 'what can i eat without getting the runs?' i've found a stall called 'ma ali's kitchen' where 200 cfa gets you a heap of attieke (cassava couscous) with a side of grilled fish. it's spicy, it's cheap, and so far my stomach hasn't revolted. i also discovered that the 'pain de singe' (monkey bread) from the bakery by the roundabout is actually just a sweet plantain loaf-still good. for reference, i read on TripAdvisor's Abengourou page that some travelers rave about 'restaurant le ndolé' but the prices they quote are double my daily budget. i guess if you're flush with euros, go nuts. i'll stick to the market.

i also scoped out a few cheap sleeps. i'm currently at 'chez marie's guesthouse' which i found through Hostelworld. it's basic but clean, and marie throws in a cold shower if you ask nicely. (the water's cold because there's no heater, but she pretends it's a luxury.) another tip: if you're really skint, try the 'auberge jeunesse' near the bus station-i heard it's 1500 cfa but the mats are harder than the floor. check the latest on the Ivorian Travelers Community forum for up-to-date reviews.

someone told me that the 'marabout' near the cathedral doesn't actually heal-just mixes herbs that taste like dirt and charges you 5000 cfa for a 'cleansing'. but if you slip him an extra 2000, he'll put a curse on whoever stole your girlfriend. i'm not that desperate, but i heard a story about a french guy who paid and then his rival got food poisoning. coincidence? maybe. also, the guy who runs the internet café downtown is known to 'accidentally' copy your files if you're using a usb. i keep my laptop locked in my bag.

today i wandered through the marché central. the chaos is real-goats tied to poles, women balancing baskets of plantains on their heads, and a guy selling 'authentic african masks' that are clearly from aliexpress. i bought a mango for 25 cfa and it was the sweetest thing i've ever tasted. the heat doesn't care about your hunger; it just makes you want to lie in any available shade. i found a spot under a baobab tree and watched the world go by. a kid offered to shine my sandals for 50 cfa; i said no thanks and he called me 'mbeng' (white person) and ran off laughing. such is life.

the cathedral here is a stark white edifice with a towering steeple, and from the right angle you can see the distant hills behind it. it's one of the few buildings that hasn't been overtaken by peeling paint. i snapped a quick pic that barely does it justice.

on my second day, i hired a moto to take me to a nearby village set in a green valley. the ride was terrifying-potholes the size of small cars, and the driver didn't believe in slowing down. but once we arrived, the view was worth it: lush trees, small farms, and a river that looked inviting until i remembered the tap water situation. still, i sat on a rock and ate my boiled egg sandwich, feeling like i'd earned it. the surround felt like another world compared to the town's bustle.

back in town, i climbed the small hill behind my guesthouse to catch the sunset. the whole of abengourou spread out below, a patchwork of tin roofs and dusty roads. the sky turned orange and purple, and for a moment the heat relented. i took a deep breath and felt-i don't know-connected, i guess. that's the kind of moment that makes you forget you're broke and sticky.

now i'm back in my room, the fan still rattling, and i'm trying to type this before my battery dies. i also found a decent spot for cheap eats through Yelp's cheap eats list for Abengourou. it's not perfect, but when you're on a student loan, you take what you can get. i've got to say: abengourou isn't for everyone. the heat is oppressive, the infrastructure is patchy, and you'll get scammed at least once. but if you can get past that, there's a raw hospitality that catches you off guard. like the lady who gave me an extra plantain because i looked famished, or the kids who waved at me every morning. those little things make the sweat worth it. anyway, i'm gonna try to sleep while the generator hums and the mosquitos plot my demise. if you ever come to abengourou, bring sunscreen, cash, and a sense of humor. and maybe a portable fan. seriously. peace.