Ouagadougou is a city of a million people - just under ten
per cent of Burkina Faso's population. The old Central Mosque
remains one of the tallest buildings, and its twin domes
are constantly circled by a cloud of swallows. The 12-floor
headquarters of the West African Central Bank is perhaps
the grandest of the town’s few modern high-rise buildings.
The city also has its churches and the 'Cathedrale de l’Immaculee
Conception', which overflows every Sunday morning during
its four services in French and in Mooré.
Most buying and selling takes place at the Central Market
- and at the stalls lining the main roads, where you can
buy almost anything from a toothpick to a fridge-freezer.
The best way to get around Ouagadougou is by mobylette
(moped). The mobylette is used by many people
to get around Burkina Faso’s cities and towns - they
are a great way to avoid rush hour traffic jams. Although
the main roads are finished in tarmac, the wind carries
dust from the dry plateau that surrounds the city so some
riders wear blue or white masks, or wrap a scarf around
their faces, to keep out the fine dust that hangs in the
air. Newer roads in the city include a bike and mobylette
lane.
Many of the mobylette riders are women. Some
are dressed for the office in suits or vivid local fabrics.
Others are traders, dashing through the traffic with bundles
of clothes, plastic kitchen goods, or huge basins of fruit
balanced on their heads. On the quieter, leafier streets
of the country’s second city, Bobo-Dioulasso, teenagers
can be seen making their way to school by mobylette, sometimes
two up, rucksacks on backs.
The countryside around the edges of the city is sprinkled
with Mossi homesteads - there are no sprawling shanty-towns
or slums, which are a feature of many cities in the world.
