From Mali to Ivory Coast, 1st stage

As a state in West Africa, Ivory Coast shares its borders with Liberia and Guinea in the west, Mali and Burkina Faso in the north, and Ghana in the east. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the south. In the center of the country, the political capital Yamoussoukro is announced by the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, one of the largest Christian structures in the world (2nd section).

When we traveled from Mali to Ivory Coast in 2010, the country was still divided. Rebels held the northern part and government forces controlled the southern part of Ivory Coast. The division of the country was the result of the civil war that occurred from 2002 to 2007, which in turn was preceded by the exclusion of candidates and voters with immigrant backgrounds from the northern neighboring states of Ivory Coast, among other things, in the presidential elections in Ivory Coast in 1995 and 2000.

We took one of the rebels with us and we passed through the rebel territory in the north without any obstacles. They even allowed us to take photographs. It is 1,153 km from Bamako (Mali) to Abidjan (Ivory Coast). We stayed overnight once.