OUAGADOUGOU

20/21 February 2011

Falling gracefully (not) in OUAGADOUGOU (wag-a-do-goo)

Cool african name and I soon become very acquainted with this town. After busing up from Gaoua with the fabulous STC, get a room for a couple of nights as they are booked up for FESPACO – Burkina’s International Film Festival. Gotta love my timing! So I head out with a taxi to find another place to move to, and in the front yard of one place I inadvertently step oh so awkwardly (as only I can) into a hole – who put that hole there? I had my walking boots on, but I distinctly heard a crack as I watched my ankle bend as I have never seen it bend before (who taught it yoga?). Blokes are apologetic and we all survey the hole and observe its danger! I limp back to the taxi, find another place that is also full but will let me pitch my tent during Fespaco and I am oh so pleased. Back to the Pavillion Verde, to unpack for the couple of nights, take off my boots and watch my ankle then foot gradually puff up and turn a beautiful shade of black over the next 8 hours! I bandage tightly and elevate it overnight and begin to ponder what next. I obviously can’t camp with this injury, and I’d like to get it xrayed in case there’s any small breaks. But I cannot even hobble now, so utilise the wifi from my room to email Travelsure, my insurance company. And email them again, and again over 15 hours without a response. Hmmm I then try skypeing Terry, who calls Sydney with me on the computer and they open a case. 2 hours later the hostel manager appears – come to the phone. It’s Sydney who want my hotel to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital – the manager doesn’t want to because “it’s not for white people”. This bird in Sydney has absolutely NO IDEA, and I suggest to her that I need a private clinic. Who will translate for me in the hospital? – oh, she hopes one of the doctors might speak a little english! She’s seems a little surprised by the fact that the medical system here is different to Oz. Who is this person I’m talking to? The hostel manager here rings a clinic he knows, a doctor comes several hours later and immediately takes me with him in his air-conditioned car, to his air-conditioned clinic where we ascertain that xrays will be taken after 4pm today and till than I will stay @ his air-conditioned clinic and rest. Now we are talking CARE! Have I mentioned the heat factor here – around 38 degrees – HOT weather. I’m served lunch with a fresh carrot salad that I can’t resist! I felt the tray to be ‘sun hot’ meaning it had been sitting for a while but I figured it had to be ok? WRONG – within 2 hours I was sick, just to go along with my throbbing bruised ankle. By 6pm that night I was xrayed and assured that nothing was broken and I was relieved as the insurance company was threatening to transport out of Burkina and home in case of a break. The good Doctor Kofi organised another hotel room for me as I couldn’t stay where I was and couldn’t go out looking for another room. By 9pm I was ensonced in 2 star comfort of the Koulouba Hotel for the next week at least. Although my room was on the 2^nd floor, I wasn’t going anywhere for a few days and later the stairs proved to be good gentle exercise to regain some flexibility in my ankle when the swelling had subsided. I had a phone, tv (only french) fridge, air con, fan, mossie net and a window that opens with flyscreen. Spotless loo and shower a few hobbles away from the BEST mattress I have slept on since leaving Oz last year. AND the room gets made up each day. LUXURY I slept and slept for the next 2 days. A few communication problems followed with Covermore – and in the end I got Terry to ring Sydney AGAIN, for them to ring me back at their expense and I got to talk to Blair the only person @ Covermore with any brains, commonsense and knowledge, I’m sure! Thank you dear Blair.

FACT: FESPACO = Festival Panafrican du Cinéma et de la Télévison de Ouagadougou