Postcards from Côte d’Ivoire: Entry 6

Ou sont les pieds d’Alicia cette semaine?
(Where are Alicia’s feet this week?)

Monday, March 1st, 2021

Greetings from my desk in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (CI). Today I can say I have been in Abidjan for a month now, and I have another month left to enjoy this beautiful country. Today begins the month when I attempt to do some client work from Abidjan. Like all things we do at KC, we’re piloting something new first, to see if it’s realistic for me to work from here. So, for the next couple of weeks the experiment is running!

Alicia's muddy and swollen feet after a day exploring Ehotile National Park.  Pedicure is looking a little rough...

Yesterday Sekou and I had an incredible Sunday adventure at the Ehotile National Park near Assini, CI. We went on the tour for enjoyment, of course, but we were also scouting it as a possible addition to our next Travel with Purpose Tour of Cote d’Ivoire . We are definitely adding it as an optional side-trip for those travelers able to squat in a pirogue for 3+ hours with short hikes through HUMID and HOT forests to see amazing sites.

Ehotile National Park boundary

Ehotile Park was created in 1974 and is the site of a few archeological treasures, in addition to protecting six islands and over 700 hectares of mangrove forest and its resident wildlife scattered around the Aby Lagoon. Our guide - Mr. Yao Remi Konan - has a botany degree and was particularly interested in telling us about the medicinal properties of many of the plants. He showed us trees and shrubs that could cure everything from sinus problems to arthritis to libido issues.

Wild Pineapple (Anana)

Our guide also explained the history of the park, which goes back centuries to a time when the chief of the tribe that lived on the islands was constantly at war with the neighboring chief in Ghana who had more military sophistication and eventually captured the islands and its people and assimilated them into his tribe. Later, during the 17th century, King Louis the XIV of France used the islands as a French fort, and today the islands contain important archeological sites that are also protected by the rangers, including the cemetery of kings and French cannons from the 17th century fort.

In terms of the importance of the mangrove forest habitat, it is even more important today because of climate change. The mangrove trees, the only species in the world that can grow in salt or brackish water, create their own land mass by dropping down those amazing stilt-like roots that both stabilize the tree that is growing in water-logged soil, and scavenge gases emanating from the water to use as nutrients. They are also perfectly adapted to tidal environments because those same roots trap nutrients as the tidal current flows in and out of the lagoon. As we observed, they are also trapping a lot of plastic…

The mangrove islands provide a perfect protected habitat for minnows and other young aquatic creatures that grow up around the islands before they head out to sea. And because of the abundance of fish and frogs, the park is also a bird sanctuary, home to over 170 species of birds. 

17th century French cannon - one of two on the site. The other is now submerged in water year-round because of rising sea levels caused by climate change.

Today, the park is cared for by three park rangers who live nearby in a small fishing village. The rangers are seriously under-funded and undervalued, from my perspective, by the government. They struggle to receive their own paychecks, and to buy the supplies they need to monitor the park. They do have a fiberglass fishing boat with an outboard motor, but they do not receive money to purchase gas. The rangers are constantly battling the local villagers who see the park as their backyard pantry to harvest what they need to survive. One way the rangers pay for these essentials is to give guided tours like the one we took, which cost us about $30/person including the rental of pirogue and driver (plus a big tip). 

Tidal watering hole for birds and other wildlife on the main island.

The rangers are working to educate the locals about the importance of preserving the habitat, but it is a slow process. Fortunately, unlike other CI national parks like Comoe in the northern savannah, the villagers that live nearby here have plenty of other options for food and work. Fishing still happens around the islands - especially for shrimp that prefer the brackish waters of the lagoons. The fishermen must paddle out to the open ocean for the bigger fish, anyway. Harvesting sand (yep, I said sand) is also a money-maker for this village. Good sand is hard to find and in high demand for concrete construction. Unfortunately, harvesting sand is also eroding the very shoreline the mangroves are meant to protect from rising sea levels.

Sekou, Mr. Konan, and Alicia at the last island stop

Sekou and I believe ecotourism could help preserve the park. If villagers were able to sell goods and services to tourists who come to see the natural beauty, perhaps they would value preserving it more, in theory, anyway. As evidence of the work to be done, at the end of our tour our guide walked us back to our car, which was parked near the ranger station on the shores of the lagoon, but it was apparently also parked on private property. A very grumpy man confronted us as we approached and started yelling at us and the ranger intervened. As Sekou and I got into the car and drove off, the ranger was still arguing with the villager about why it was okay for some tourists to leave their car there for a few hours so they could enjoy the park. We assume a few thousand francs of our tip exchanged hands and hope that perhaps an enterprising villager considers starting a paid parking lot for Ehotile National Park. Want to help us protect the natural wonders of Cote d’Ivoire?  Join us on our next Travel with Purpose tour!

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