We had a bush camp on the way to the border to Cote d'Ivoire and then one of the other side of the border 80km away from the capital city, Yamoussoukro. The country is very scenic with dense vegetation, awful roads and a lot more humidity than Mali.
Yamoussoukro is a bit of an odd capital as it is not the largest city in the country and there isn't much there.. We didn't stay in the city but we stopped on the way west to Abidjan to visit the cathedral. President Boigny who was the first president wanted the cathedral built in his home city and employed an Italian architect who based the cathedral's design on St Peter's in the Vatican City. The cathedral which is 158m tall took 3 years to build finishing in 1989. We got a tour around with a guide who was excellent. Inside was huge and can seat 7000 people and have another 11,000 standing. Outside you can fit 150,000 but I'm not sure they have ever had this many people there. The whole cathedral was pretty spectacular and it was definitely a highlight of the trip so far and again there were no tourists at all.
Heading to Abidjan from Yamoussoukro we ditched the pot holes for smooth, fast highway and also gave a lift to a French family after their car had broken down.
I will post photos of the cathedral at a later date as I cannot get them off my camera card.
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