Ivory Coast

 
A quick trip through a country with one of the largest churches in the world
With the border being closed between Guinea and Ivory Coast, we were not able to enter on that side, so we had to go back up through Guinea to Mali and enter Ivory Coast from that border.

 
I was impressed with this country as this was the first country we had been too that actually started to have a lot of churches. The people were very friendly everywhere and their local dress mirrored that of the neighboring countries of Mali and Guinea.

 
The highlight of this fast jaunt through this country was of course the Basilica Notre Dame de la Paix which the president built in the 80’s to pay tribute to Catholicism. At the behest of Pope John Paul, he did not make it as high as St. Peters in Vatican but with the addition of the Gold Cross on the top, making it one of the tallest churches in the world.

 
The president moved the capital from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro as this is the area he was from. The roads here are the best we have seen forever as this capital (without any embassies are all are located in Abidjan) has a six lane highway that pretty much leads to nowhere……..as we drove down this road, we knew we were getting closer and closer to Ghana which would end the first part of our trip……