Burkina Faso. A Beer Bash in West Africa
Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou (pronounced waa-guh-doo-goo) is not a well-known destination for international tourism. A university colleague and I were in southern Mali so we decided to spend a few days in the city of 2.4 million. Central Burkina Faso has a long history of human occupation. Nomadic hunter-gatherers first arrived at least 5,000 years ago followed by groups that practiced semisedentary agriculture. A city called Kumbee-Tenga (meaning “land of princes”) was established on the site in the 11th century. During the 14th and 15th centuries, Ouagadougou served as the seat of power for a succession of West African kingdoms. Following French colonization in the late 19th century, Ouagadougou became capital of the French territory of Upper Volta. Slightly larger than the U.S. state of Colorado, the territory remained a French colony until the country’s independence in 1958. In 1984 the Republic of Upper Volta was renamed Burkina Faso. In recent years political unrest has led to several coups, the most recent in 2023.
The Mossi, Burkina Faso’s largest ethnic group, are concentrated within the Mossi Plateau, located in the country’s central region that surrounds Ouagadougou. Speaking a language known as Moore, the Mossi make up just over half Burkina Faso’s population of 23.5 million. Another large group are the Peulh (aka Fulani), nomadic pastoralists who account for about 8.5% of the country’s population. The remaining ethnic groups are the Dioula, Bisa, Bobo, Gourmantché, Dogon, and Tuareg. The city’s hot and semiarid climate is affected by its proximity to nearby tropical wet-dry areas. West Africa’s monsoon and harmattan (dry winds) also influence the city’s climate. We made our trip to Burkina Faso in mid-June, during the rainy season which lasts from May until September.
Our drive northeast to the capital took us through Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second largest city (1.1 million). Among the city’s most impressive buildings is the Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso. The mosque’s name comes from the two largest ethnic groups in the area, the Bobo and the Dioula. Hundreds of mosques like the Grand Mosque were built throughout West Africa as Islam spread southward from North Africa. Construction of the Sudanese-style mosque began in 1850 and was completed in 1885. Its design employs mud masonry with wooden beams and bricks surrounded by a flat terrace. Its roof is supported by 42 pillars and its sides by heavy buttresses with wood beams that extend from its adobe exterior for a few centimeters. Another religious building is the Cathédrale Notre Dame, a Roman Catholic church located near the city’s railway station and central market. Mixing traditional and contemporary architectural styles, the church is dedicated to Our Lady of the Lourds (aka the Virgin Mary).
Although Burkina Faso is among the world’s least developed countries, its capital is clean and well-maintained. It’s not difficult to find food with markets and shops positioned along many roads. Major crops include millet, rice, ground nuts (peanuts), potatoes, and yams. Some popular dishes are babenda (fish covered with a spicy peanut sauce), tô (a thick porridge made from millet), riz gras (a rice dish) and yassa (a chicken dish). There is also dégué, a dessert made from millet, yogurt, and couscous. A popular drink is bissap, a juice created from hibiscus flowers. Another is tamarind juice, made from tamarind fruit. On the day we visited, the city was bustling with activity. Hundreds of motorcycles and bicycles clogged the streets.
On our first day in Ouagadougou, we accompanied our guide to a social gathering in one of the city’s neighborhoods where millet beer (aka Malwa or Bantu beer) was being served. People danced with music provided by men who played instruments including drums called bendré that are made from a gourd covered on one side by goat skin. Other instruments were the kora (a lute with 21 strings), balaton (wood xylophone), and the mouth bow. Several men played Djembe drums of Malinké origin that are fashioned from a single piece of wood cut from a lenke or caïlcedrat tree. We sat in the back of a small courtyard surrounded by houses. At our feet, shy guinea pigs darted among hiding places including piles of stones. A common alcoholic beverage served throughout Africa, millet beer is consumed from a calabash gourd. Known locally as dolo, the beer is made from millet kerns that have been soaked in warm water until they sprout. The millet is then dried to stop the germination process and subsequently crushed and mixed with water to form a wort. The wort is boiled to kill bacteria. After adding yeast, the mixture is fermented for five days. In West Africa, millet beer is part of daily life and served at marriages, births, festivals, and other special occasions. A woman with a large glass jar made the rounds, filling gourds held by people relaxing in the courtyard. When drinking millet beer, the calabash gourd is held in the right hand and a few drops are poured on the ground to honor ancestors before the contents are consumed.
On our second day we visited the Musee National (National Museum) which is focused on preserving and interpreting the country’s diverse cultures. The museum displays masks, costumes, and other cultural artifacts associated with Burkina Faso’s major ethnic groups. Masks are used in this part of the Sahel region for rites of sacrifice to gods and animal spirits. The 7,500 items displayed also include statues, jewelry, and musical instruments. On our final day we headed to the airport for our return flight to New York City via Paris. Regrettably, luggage handlers at the Thomas Sankara International Airport left our suitcases on the tarmac during a heavy rainstorm. Fortunately, we were able to dry our clothing when we reached our hotel in New York City.
