Too Much Rain

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One day a few other volunteers and I decided to take a quick trip to the north of Burkina Faso to see the Sahel, the dry, sandy region that’s not quite the Sahara. We had hoped to visit Oursi, a village about 40 km from the last major city in the north, Gorom-Gorom. Our travel guide described white sand dunes, ancient ruins, and camel treks. We figured we’d head up for a day or two and come right back.

From Ouaga, we took a five-hour bus ride to Dori, a northern town that marks the official start of the Sahel. On the way the bus crossed two “inverted bridges” - narrow cement platforms designed to let excess rainwater flow over them, not under them. The road/bridge is submerged under several inches to several feet of murky brown water and often is not even visible. The passing vehicle then has to be able to handle the depth of this water and the driver has to be good enough to keep the vehicle on the narrow, invisible platform.

Since the water was not too deep, there were no major problems getting to Dori. From there we needed transport to Gorom-Gorom, only another 45 km north on a dirt road.

No more buses or vans were going to Gorom that day, so we looked around for other transportation. Dori was apparently accustomed to tourists, since a few local faux-type tour guides were eager to rent us a 4x4 and a driver at a steep price. They told us that it had rained the day before and that public transportation would not be going to Gorom because there was too much water in the road. Knowing tour guides such as these often invent such stories to get your business, we took their warning with a grain of salt.

Seeking a cheaper, more PCV way to travel, we sat on the side of the road for hours before flagging down a cargo truck headed to Gorom. The driver allowed us to climb on top of the shipment of rice sacks for a cheap ride to Gorom. Riding on top of trucks is typical for West African transport; we joined a dozen or so other passengers.

So we enjoyed a lovely tour of the Sahel from high up in an open-air coach. The land was flat and sandy with sparse trees and bushes. This time of year it is covered with a thick coating of bright green grass. Pools of rainwater made it almost marshy. We could see rainstorms in the distance but were fortunate enough not to get wet. Though this area does not get much rain compared to other regions, in its flat sandiness there doesn’t seem to be anywhere for the water to go. It pools up everywhere - often in the road.

For this reason we had to cross several more inverted bridges. The huge camion rode high and had little trouble crossing the water. One of the bridges was half-collapsed but the truck, to our astonishment, passed with one wheel on the cement and one on the dirt next to it.

After about three hours we came to the last river crossing, 12 km from our destination. Half a dozen other camions were stopped and lots of people were out looking at the water. It was about 100 m across, deep with a fast current. A truck was stranded in the middle of the crossing, half submerged. It had deviated from the cement platform and become stuck with one side on the road, one off. We would not be crossing the river.

Our truck parked about a kilometer from the water in the tiny semblance of a village in the middle of nowhere. We were told, “Maybe tomorrow the water will go down and we will be able to cross. But if it rains upstream tonight, the water will go up and we won’t be able to get to Gorom or back to Dori, since the water we crossed on the way up will become too deep.”

Some local men offered to help us walk across. They said that the water was neck-deep on them and that they’d carry the shorter people on their backs (for a price). However, we figured that even if we accomplished this without being washed away to our deaths, we could easily be stranded in Gorom for a week or so without transport back. So we decided to return to Dori, but there would be no transportation that night.

As night fell, we left the riverbank and walked back to the tiny village. We were famished and had been looking forward to a big meal “when we get to Gorom.” But all we found to eat in the village were some little packaged biscuits sold in a tiny mud-brick boutique. The villagers lent us some rice sacks so we didn’t have to sleep in the mud, and we spent the night on the side of the road in the bush with a few dozen other stranded travelers. Fortunately, it did not rain on us and the mosquitoes weren’t bad.

The next morning, the water level had not changed. We planned to start walking the 33 km back to Dori, but we were told that a huge camion on the other side of the water was going to cross and drive to Dori that morning. So we decided to stay and wait where there were other people and drinking water.

By midday, the truck had not come. We had been sitting in a patch of shade next to the boutique all morning, but as the sun rose overhead our shade disappeared. We dragged our rice sacks underneath the truck for shelter. More pleasant than you might think. I took a nice nap under the truck and when I woke up a smart village girl had cooked up a vat of rice and was selling platefuls to the hungry travelers. We bought a round of rice and sauce for some friends we’d made, who in turn treated us to a dessert of soured milk with millet paste. Also more pleasant than you might think. Not long after, an SUV full of French tourists came by and allowed us to buy a ride back to Dori on their luggage rack.

So with all the rain, our trip to Gorom-Gorom was a bust. Though a night on the side of the road is inconvenient, things have been far worse in other parts of the country. In Kadomba, 9 km from Satiri, flooding has knocked over dozens of homes and has displaced around 200 people. The road being constructed there, in its current state, is a raised dirt platform. This dirt wall seems to have blocked the rainwater from draining as it normally does, leading to the flooding. The people who have lost their homes are temporarily being housed in local schools. The local government has been working hard to secure food and clothing donations for them.

There is no end in sight to the flooding problem, as it continues to rain much more than normal. I know, I know…a month ago I was complaining about the lack of rain. But sometime between then and now it started raining every day, often all day. In fact the only reason I wrote this blog entry is because I was stranded in my house all day, waiting for transportation to Bobo. The cars would not leave while it was pouring, and the rain refused to let up until the evening.

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Comments

[Chris Cody]

Very cool
hello Rosemary! My name is chris cody and I have been checking out this blog of yours. I can't tell you how jealous I am. I have been studying west africa for a year now and I just get more and more interested. I found your blog while I was traveling in south america (and stuck in Peru because of striking transportation workers.) It just sounds awesome. I wish you the best of luck and hope to read more of your stories. CDC