After a solid bowl of benga (beans and rice doused in oil) for breakfast, we headed out of Ouahigouya – the regional capital of the north – and were on our way to the village Koussouka. We were off to a slightly late start because of a 5 am rain, but since the ride was pretty short it wasn’t too big of a deal. And we were rewarded by a special care package treat when we arrived in the village of Nongfaire for an early lunch!
Alicia, our host, generously shared her precious Tagalong Girl Scout cookies with us – and we devoured them in minutes! (I won’t name names but I do believe the melted chocolate was licked off the packages…) By around noon we were off on our way to Koussouka, and for my first day on the tour, I have to say it was a pretty easy ride. The dirt road wasn’t too beat up and not too much of it was up hill.
Arriving in Koussouka, we were greeted by a warm welcome cold water sachets from all the many village officials. And for the rest of the night, we were pretty much treated as royalty. There was a “villa” in the village that was unoccupied, and the chief of the village arranged for us to stay there – which meant real beds for a few of us and a nice tiled patio for the rest of our bug huts! Jess, our host, made us an amazing feast filled with care package wonders (such as lasagna noodles, cornbread mix, and mac and cheese), and we spent the evening chatting with the village chief about village traditions, the bike tour, and more. It was an exhausting but fun day!
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