Burkina Faso Country Information from Wikipedia
Burkina Photo Album

Very good piste road to Leo with a very good 'chop' stop for barbecued lamb - just opposite the market place, then first class paved (peage) road to Ouagadougou .

Posted parcels (clothes/presents) to UK from Ouagadougou because Lawra post office couldn't handle packages. Cost 1/3rd the price to send from Ouagadougou - French /Burkinabe legacy (they invested in infrastructure in Burkina, more so than the British and Ghanaians in Ghana)

First challenge/now sorted : the rear door lock on Mitzi (Pajero) decided to stop working. Got a temporary fix in Ouaga at New Garage, a very good Lebanese run garage (proprietor - George), would definitely recommend to a friend. Works fine now.

Second challenge/resolved: we could not get Nigeria visa here (as suggested in Lonely Planet - only if you are a resident of Burkina). We were assured we can get it in Niamey, Niger. So tomorrow (Friday 20th) it's off to Kaya, Gorom - Gorom, Oursi, for a couple of nights and then to Tera and Niamey (capital Niger) for the Nigeria visa on Monday/Tuesday. Nigerian Ambassador assured us that the maxim is to say you are tourists (not on official business - as that is a whole new ball-game), and you will have no problem obtaining visas in each country, for the next country.

Third challenge: we cannot get Gabon visa here as suggested in Bradt guide - will have to get it in Yaounde (Cameroun) later.

Fourth challenge-now resolved: prompted by our experience at the Nigerian Embassy we found the Consulat for Niger to check out on Visas; we had read that one could obtain them at the border - turns out that arrangement was discontinued 2 years ago. We submitted our Niger Visa application, 20,000cfa (cfa = West African Franc) each and in theory we were to wait for 3/4 days; Jenny smiled sweetly in the hope that we might get them quicker - we did! We got the Visas the next day (Friday 20th) after an extended conversation with the immigration officer who wanted to pratice his English . So off to Oursi

High spots in Ouagadougou - a great cafe au lait and tarte au pommes in the Patisserie by the Hotel Koulouba on the Avenue d'Aeroport, in the city centre. A great strawberry tart (fresh) on departure day - yummy

A lovely swim in the Hotel Ricardo swiming pool .

Oops - forgot - sorry you VSO's in deepest Ghana, but enjoyed a ham, gruyere cheese, cornichons and tomato bagette - vive la France!

Bumped into a Swiss couple, Jurg and Erika travelling down from Switzerland to Accra - would have liked to join up if possible but our plans are out of synch!

Friday March 20th - Mon 23rd
A good drive to Dori - overnighting at the Oasis Hotel (£25 - a room)- a euphemism for an industrial estate - but OK.
Picked up a guide (Pablo), visited interesting, but familiar to us, Peul and Fulani villages + really impressive Market Gardening project at De Djomba. A huge artificial crater which fills up with water in the rainy season and provides irrigation, by watering-can, for very productive salad and vegetable production.
Slept overnight in the Dunes at Oursi, shambolically disorganised, so disappointing - but still OK.
Did the camel ride and local museum.
Met Tom, a gap year student from UK meandering around Burkina.
Back to Dori, Hotel Dintal this time, (about £18 for the room) cheaper and better than Oasis. Enjoyed 'poulet - bicyclette' at the Pandor roadside cafe - delicious (£4 for 2 barbecued chickens between 3 of us).
Departed Dori for Burkina border (47km) at Seytanga and then, 40km of 'no-man's land' later, arrived at Tera - (Niger Border) after crossing very remote and sandy Sahelian semi-desert. Very tricky route finding and vehicle handling in deep sand. Eventually found Niger Immigration for passport stamp and then customs (Douane) for Laissez -Passer (vehicle permit).
Now for Niger