Adams Trip to Cote d'Ivoire

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     I went to the Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) the day after my college graduation to visit my girlfriend Kareen Bar-Akiva who is stationed there as a volunteer of the Peace Corps.
     I hadn't been on a plane since I was twelve and I had never been to any other foreign country other than Canada. I did not know French which is the official language of Cote d'Ivoire, along with around 40 other recognized regional languages, but love make us do strange and amazing things. I had the time of my life there and saw a world few westerners get a good glimpse of. Africa is a different world. One that seems to be straining to catch up with more industrialized nations yet our way of the life does not suite their culture or climate.
     Cote d'Ivoire is a land of contrasts. Mainly the contrast between rich and poor. There is virtually no middle class so one is either stinking rich or heartbreakingly poor. There is poverty, disease, hunger but along with that there is beauty and kindness and a simple way a life, but not an easy one. I traveled all the way from the port city of Abidjan to Korhogo the city in the north and along the way I saw the contrast between how the Southern city/jungle dwellers live all the way up to the Sub-Saharan desert dwellers.
I have compiled series of photos from my trip for you to see. I wish I had more to show you all but I had a hard enough time with being the rich American tourist in a land so full of poverty. I have to say I felt like I was exploiting many people with my comparative wealth and privilege. I didn't like the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb. So taking pictures just didn't feel appropriate a lot of the time. I guess I love to travel I just hate being a tourist. It's a fine line, I know.
      So enjoy the pictures and I tried to provide some extra information like maps and links and the like because when I was doing research for this trip I only found one other first hand account of someone's trip to Cote d'Ivoire on the web and that was from the early 90's. Hope this helps someone out in their travels. Drop me a line if you have anymore questions of any kind or just want to shoot the shit about Cote d'Ivoire.
      I have to say a special thanks to my parents, Kenneth and Suellen Slater, without them this trip would have never been possible and I probably wouldn't have opened my eyes to that part of the world. Thank you Mom and Dad your the best. I also need to thank my dad again who designed the Pearl scripts that built the photo pages. It's a really cool, simple, nice way of putting together photo album's on the web. So thank again dad. - Love Adam.

	Adam Slater's Trip to Cote d'Ivoire 5/21/2001 - 5/31/2001
*Photos of Cote d'Ivoire*	Home - Pictures - Links - Country Info - Maps I went to the Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast) the day after my college graduation to visit my girlfriend Kareen Bar-Akiva who is stationed there as a volunteer of the Peace Corps. I hadn't been on a plane since I was twelve and I had never been to any other foreign country other than Canada. I did not know French which is the official language of Cote d'Ivoire, along with around 40 other recognized regional languages, but love make us do strange and amazing things. I had the time of my life there and saw a world few westerners get a good glimpse of. Africa is a different world. One that seems to be straining to catch up with more industrialized nations yet our way of the life does not suite their culture or climate. Cote d'Ivoire is a land of contrasts. Mainly the contrast between rich and poor. There is virtually no middle class so one is either stinking rich or heartbreakingly poor. There is poverty, disease, hunger but along with that there is beauty and kindness and a simple way a life, but not an easy one. I traveled all the way from the port city of Abidjan to Korhogo the city in the north and along the way I saw the contrast between how the Southern city/jungle dwellers live all the way up to the Sub-Saharan desert dwellers. I have compiled series of photos from my trip for you to see. I wish I had more to show you all but I had a hard enough time with being the rich American tourist in a land so full of poverty. I have to say I felt like I was exploiting many people with my comparative wealth and privilege. I didn't like the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb. So taking pictures just didn't feel appropriate a lot of the time. I guess I love to travel I just hate being a tourist. It's a fine line, I know. So enjoy the pictures and I tried to provide some extra information like maps and links and the like because when I was doing research for this trip I only found one other first hand account of someone's trip to Cote d'Ivoire on the web and that was from the early 90's. Hope this helps someone out in their travels. Drop me a line if you have anymore questions of any kind or just want to shoot the shit about Cote d'Ivoire. I have to say a special thanks to my parents, Kenneth and Suellen Slater, without them this trip would have never been possible and I probably wouldn't have opened my eyes to that part of the world. Thank you Mom and Dad your the best. I also need to thank my dad again who designed the Pearl scripts that built the photo pages. It's a really cool, simple, nice way of putting together photo album's on the web. So thank again dad. - Love Adam.	*Photos of Cote d'Ivoire*
Abidjan Abokouamekro Yamoussoukro Korhogo Kenoroba		Abidjan Abokouamekro Yamoussoukro Korhogo Kenoroba
*Cote d'Ivoire Links*		*Cote d'Ivoire Links*
Lonely Planets Guide to Cote d'Ivoire A first hand Account of Cote d'Ivoire Ivorian Cook Book Africa on a shoestring Healthy Travel Africa West Africa The Peace Corps		Health Information for Travelers to West Africa The Republic of Cote d'Ivoire Embassy Embassy of the U.S. in Côte d'Ivoire Sabena Airlines Swiss Airlines Ivoire Voyages Tourisme or e-mail Spector Travel of Boston, Inc or e-mail
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