Jeez, it feels like every other week I am reporting on some sort of trip. My first 6 months in Mauritania I barely left Nouakchott, but my second 6 months has been jam packed with travel, both domestic and abroad. Honestly, I have been loving it. I took this job for a lot of reasons, but travel opportunities are front and center into that reasoning. Being just shy of my one year swearing-in anniversary, I feel like I have definitely been scratching the travel itch hard.
This time, work took me to Abidjan, the commercial hub of Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). At the beginning of the year, Abidjan was chosen to host the Africa Bureau’s first and second tour officer workshop (FAST Workshop for short), and each mission in Africa selected 2 entry level officers to attend. Somehow, yours truly got his name pulled from the hat, and off I went to Abidjan.
Before I get into what I did there, I want to touch on how I got there. As the crow flies, Nouakchott to Abidjan is about 1200 miles or a 2 hour direct plane ride. Unfortunately, travel around Africa is never easy, and connections across the continent often require multiple legs, or more commonly, having to fly up to Europe and then back down to Africa. For example, if I decide I want to take a trip to South Africa or Tanzania for a fun safari, I will first need to fly to Paris and then back down to Africa, OR I can take a flight with 5 connections on the continent that will take 2-3 days. In the case of me going to Cote d’Ivoire, a country Mauritania shares a common border country with (Mali), it took flying from Nouakchott to Dakar, Dakar (Senegal) to Bamako (Mali), and finally Bamako to Abidjan. Completed in a nice and tidy 7 hours. Here is a map for reference:
Our chariot on this journey was the lovely Mauritanian Airlines, which somehow got us to and from our destination on time (but managed to misplace our bags on the way back). Considering nothing happens on time in Mauritania, I was impressed to see their airline keep things punctual.
Once on the ground we quickly made our way to our hotel, the lovely Movenpick, located in the heart of the Abidjan business district, Le Plateau. It’s always weird leaving Nouakchott and heading to other “developing countries” in the region, and ultimately seeing just how much more developed they are compared to Mauritania. The per capita incomes between Mauritania, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire are identical, yet Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire are light years ahead in terms of development both domestically and in terms of international investment. Seeing western chains like Aldo, Radisson, Marriot, KFC, and Burger King was sort of surprising. Abidjan also had a pretty immaculate paved road network that even put Dakar to shame. It definitely makes you realize how varied neighboring countries can be despite having similar per capita incomes.
The workshop itself was a great time. Although I was the only Medical Provider, I got to make several new friends, and caught up with a lot of folks from my April orientation class that found themselves posted in Africa. We also had several executive speakers fly in, and it was great to get entry level stories and words of wisdom from senior level officials. You realize quickly that even the most respected ambassadors and administrators started as junior officers, made mistakes, grew from them, and had solid careers.
The workshop ended with a cool tour of a local chocolate factory that also doubles as a rehabilitation center for young adults (Cote d’Ivoire is the largest cocoa producer in the world). During the tour we got to help them make some chocolate, plant cocoa trees, and got to sample the final product. I also didn’t fall in the chocolate river, so that was a win.
Ultimately, after the short trip I was glad to find myself back in Nouakchott. Abidjan did a great job of highlighting itself as a post and I will definitely give it strong consideration if I happen to find it on a future bid list. Until next time… -Nick
