PETIT-BASSAM

A visit that could easily take you a good half-day. Start by visiting the livestock market in Port-Bouët, the largest in the Abidjan district, where you'll find sheep, goats and oxen led by Burkinabè herdsmen. It's an atypical sight, to say the least, to see all these cattle and ungulates grazing their hooves in the mire, while the threatening silhouette of the slaughterhouses, refurbished a few years ago, hints a little further ahead at the fatal fate that awaits them, much to the delight of local consumers, who are very fond of choucouya (mutton marinated and then fried in a brazier with a vegetable-based preparation spiced up with kankan - a mixture of onion, cola, chilli, pepper powder and Maggi cube). A little further on, we move on to the next stage: skinned carcasses hanging near the cooking grills, where the braisers dexterously prepare the much-appreciated dish. Past the egg and poultry vendors, continue on to Boulevard de l'Océan, towards Petit Bassam.
On the left, the first access to the beach, then a pretty facade covered in greenery catches the visitor's eye: the North-South University: washed gravel, pop-colored walls, a large garden overlooking the beach with its swimming pool and endless coconut palms silhouetted high in the sky... It's at weekends that the Abidjanese come to enjoy it. You can even buy your choukouya at the market and relax by the pool.
Continuing along Boulevard de l'Océan, you'll find a succession of small maquis moored to the sand of this beach cove stretching between the Vridi lighthouse and the eponymous canal... Each maquis has its own braiser and offers its own speciality: braised fish, kédjénou, chicken, rabbit, bush meat, and to order, salad, rice, alloco, attiéké, fried, stewed or boiled yam, meatballs, sauces, spaghetti... Here, too, the atmosphere easily lasts until midnight on weekends, with coupé-décalé blasting from the speakers! To access the beach, you can pay a small token fee to help maintain this beautiful coastline. Even so, there is still some unwanted litter! Watch out for strong currents. In the distance, you can watch the huge cargo ships leaving the Vridi canal, while closer to the coast, the pirogues of Ghanaian fishermen glide silently through the water. There's no doubt about it: Abidjan is sweet...