AL-681-EL

Wow - amazing. Did you manage to capture many foreign plates in Burkina Faso?

+3

No, unfortunately not. That does not mean there are none, but I think I only got two. A combination of bad luck and many plates seen when spotting was not appropriate (work-related car drives e.g.). In general, I was a little more hesitant with open photography than I imagined before leaving.
I will upload some plates to the forum though, I spotted all neighbouring countries of BF (except Niger ) as well as Senegal and Nigeria.

+5

How did you end up in Burkina Faso? It seems like such a random country even inside Africa Were you volunteering?
What was the country like? Was it really hot? How difficult was it to get there from Germany? Sorry for so many questions, I can't promise I won't have more

+7

Absolutely understandable to avoid bringing any extra attention to yourself with open photography, especially given the current security situation in Burkina Faso.

Glad you managed to spot some cool plates even if they are just from neighbouring countries. They are still very interesting in the grand scheme of things and I look forward to seeing them on the forum.

+8

Thank you - well, it's not hard to draw extra attention on oneself in BF at the moment, I saw three other white people in five weeks, but you get what I mean.

+4

Yes, it's quite random, but I chose a topic for my Master's Thesis that dealt with one of the languages of Burkina Faso (Mooré, a so-called Gur Language, spoken by over half of the population). My supervisor happens to be one of the experts on Burkina Faso in German academia so I could organize a trip to carry out fieldwork for my thesis there.
Well, it was not sooo difficult to get to, I took a connecting flight from Frankfurt via Brussels.
It was not that hot, at the moment its rainy season, which means a really humid heat, around 30 degrees mostly, but it is surprisingly pleasant. The locals much prefer this time over the dry season where Ouagadougou can easily experience prolongued periods of 45 degrees.
Well, it's a country fighting a difficult war on terror, only 40% of the country's surface is actually controlled by the state and since Winter, they are governed by a Coup d'Etat Government, so the situation is really tense. There was at least half a dozen terror attacks during my stay, but none in Ouagadougou. For this obvious reason I also could not travel.
Otherwise, I found it really pleasant. All of the people I met were extremely friendly, even if there is a lot of mistrust in European governments. I had a lot of culinary experiences

+6

From which Nigerian states were plates you spotted? Maybe, Lagos and FCT Abuja only?

+1

Wow - I know many countries have travel advisories (I know Canada says "avoid all travel") so it makes sense that there aren't many foreigners.

0

Very good guess, I only spotted Lagos, but the only other state I saw was FCT Abuja.

+2

I watched road videos from Nigerian cities of Port Harcourt and Owerri. Plates from Lagos (AAA, KSF, LND, etc.) were quite common there, but I saw no one plate from such states, as Kano and Borno.
P.S. Lagos is a large and crowded city. Many thousands people cross roads everywhere, road traffic is jammed.

+1

Sounds great! Interesting topic for your thesis, amazing that you got an opportunity to do your fieldwork with natives, and really brave from you not to be scared away by terrorism (I actually didn't even know about this, maybe I heard some news, but forgot which country was it...)
I'd really like to visit Sub-Saharan Africa one day, it looks like those lands have a special atmosphere, and yes, every African I've met so far was very friendly and cheerful! I still have no idea where I'd travel and exactly how or when, but honestly I will definitely avoid such dangerous areas...

+1

Did you see Mauritanian, Moroccan, Gambian and Algerian plates?

+1

No to the first three, but I spotted an Algerian truck.

+1

I think that truck was from Alger or Oran. I'm not sure it was from Tamanrasset or In Guezzam.

+1

It was from Ouargla, in fact! A desert province too, but not on the southern border. I guess however it did not plan on going back, as it was a dump truck, not a cargo truck.

+1