I
ing to get things t a reasonable
price. Later we tour the former
capitals of Grand Bassam and
Bingerville, living relics of the
French colonial pas . Especial
ly noteworthy is tfte Ecole
D'Art de Bingerville, a school
training young Ivorians iJ;l wood
carving and scuiptering. The
Africa that many didn't think
existed. Wlth its skyline of com
mercial buildings and high-rise
apartment developments,
Abidjan symbolizes modern
wealth and social stability for
Black Africa. It h the hustle
and bustle of a e York or San
Francisco, and the gentilly and
rese of a Paris or Vienna. We
e the Hotel Ivoire, con-
S1UC� the m famo hotel
Africa. It's a 75()..room •
am' theater, ice
bowIing.alley, su
permar et, tennis-sports com-
plex and casino. Thelma's
impressed, I knew she would
be. Our room provides a spec
tacular view of downtown Abid
jan d the lagoons that flow in
• and around the four peninsulas
th t form the city.
Meet Adri t An ExcelieDt
Gul • We were lucky to have
the services of guide who
provided a well planned and in
formative tour, the best we have
liad during this trip. Adrien is a
tall, slendar, dark-skinned
lvorian with intens eyes. He's
Baoule, and his command of
English w competent enough
for him to understand the nuan-
. ces of the language. But he has
never been to the state , and
hat he kno s of America is
from the movies and American
television re-runs. He i shock
ed by my telling him that there
are home people sleeping in
the streets in the states, and he
. asks me over and over dover
if I am certain about this. We
visit the human laundramat in
the Pac du Banco, where
hundreds of men earn a living by
washing clothes in a small
stream, using large stoees em-
-bedded in car tires as wash-
for homecooking, the chances
are excellent that they'll find it
here. We went native. One eve
ning we took taxi to a Togolese
re taruant, Keurama, for din
ner at 7 p.m., the only folks
there. The diminutiv and af
fabl w iter told that folks
here ate their dinner round nine
'or ten in the evening. We're the
early bird. We have drinks,
fried bananas, tuffed crab ,
poule m' fe (chick n in- a
groundnut uce) with rice,
Ire h pineaple and bottled
water for about S 19. The waiter
gracious and efficient, and the
price right!
buffet lunch can be had at the
lakeside tel (Hotel du Lac) ..
Across the lake is the village of
Togoville, where in 1884 the na
tives signed a protectorate
treaty with the Germans which
resulted in the eventual
colonization of the country. We
rented a pirougue for the trip
across the lake to the village.
With his long pole braced on the
bottom, a young boatman
guides the craft over the water.
Not that much to see in
Togovillc, with the exception of '
a Catholic Church, which h
be utifully painted mural, and
the meeting hou e of the
villag , sitting chief, who works
in Lome .:
giant wood carvings on displa;y
there must be among the best
found in Africa.
At H : The 1> ctures we
too reinforce the p ticuJars of
this trip. But they cannot convey
the adventure, the h enge,
and the symboli m th tour
memorie provide in the recall
of this exciting and educational
West African journe .
boards. We inspect the city's
two newest Catholic cathedraJs,
explore the plush re idential
section in Cocody, and do a
walk-through the National
Museum which exhibit the
dress and tools and art facts
from the various parts of the
country. There's also a . it to
the Treichville Market, .
I itable in its size and vari ty of
T 0 and Togoville:
About 15 mile from Lome i
. Lake Togo, a ercne body of
water, no more than seven feet
deep, which beckons 1 rge
ero ds on the weekends for
wind-surfing, can cing" and
swimming. Good drink and'
Finally, It' Abidjan, Cote
d'�voire: This jewel of a city dis
pelts the many sterotypes about
Africa. It presents. a face ,..of
African goods and wares, and
where it takes serious bargain-
amibia
Co tJ rro 2
ized by Zimbabwe Ambassador
Kennedy Manyik a member of
t e Frontline State observer
mi ion here: "T e e people
have no right to determine the
future of the amibian people.
Namibi can n also go to
South Africa d vote in ep
t mber. Why should South
Africans come here to vote."
UNT AG officials y there's .
no chance the law will be
reversed or altered.
Glorv
Co dou from P S
ere slaughtered. It flew from �
p blic buildings -which were
segrega ed by law for decade .
The flag carried into illegal
and immoral military oper -
lions fro V' etnam to Grenada.
There' no glory in Old. Glory
for those ho have been
deliberately' denied the
American Dream. And as long
equality and justice are il
lusions for miIlio 0 people,
the: 0. ill be an ironic
1\
rFl inder of ab ence of real
democracy in tho country. .
Protestors who burn the ag.
. however, do not adv ce the
s�rugglc fo democracy, be-
9lU5e they create y and e 0-
tiona! t rgets for pu lie
outr e. led of burni the
flag, we need to challenge the
political ystem' represen in
order to chieve economic op- .
pertunity and social justice (or