Lomography

"Le Touba" Nouna, Burkina Faso
written by vicuna on December 21st, 2008 , one comment (1 vote)

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Nouna is a very small town in western Burkina Faso, and I was wondering what kind of lodging I could find there.

I asked some people when I arrived there a place to stay and they immediately told me that “Le Touba” was the best place. And it was just behind the central bus station so I was there in a few minutes. I went into the place and was really speechless: wow, what a beautiful paradisiac place to stay in such a little (and very poor) town!
And then came the owner of this place: It’s Rosemarie Kempers, a German nurse who settled down in this city 1975 and never left it because she felt in love with the country and people of Burkina. She opened this little place as well as a restaurant (just in front of it) and began a general humanitarian action for almost every people who needed something.

The place is really perfect (even if it was not like this at the opening 30 years ago…) and there are 4 rooms with ventilation (important if you want to sleep at night without suffocating from the heat…): 2 of them are in fact nice little round bungalows wit a great comfort. The garden around these is very relaxing, full of exotic and colorful flowers.

It was a real pleasure, not only to stay in a place like this, but also to met Rosemarie. She’s a fascinating person, almost 70 years old and still as hyperactive and motivated as if she was 20. She knows the country and the people very well and it’s very instructing to talk with her about the reality of the situation in Africa, the real problems in the villages and how to conduct a humanitarian program with enough intelligence (because it’s a far from easy task…) She speaks German, English, french and the local dialect as well, and everybody knows her in Nouna. Well, a great person devoted to help the others.

The prices of the rooms are cheap for what it is: the bed & breakfast formula is at 12500 francs CFA per person a day, that means less than 15€. And if you go out to eat, go to the restaurant in front of “Le Touba”, now conducted by Noellie, a great cook and very nice person. Ask for some roasted chicken with rice and sauce, and for about 1,5€ you’ll have a delicious meal!

If you’re interested in a stay in Nouna (and interested in the discovery of humanitarian action, Rosemarie will take you to “her” villages to show you the real problems…), here are the info’s (and you can tell her that your coming recommended by Stéphane, the photographer with the “strange cameras”;)))

Rosemarie Kempers – “Le Touba”
Nouna – Province de la Kossi
Tel.: (00226) 20 53 70 48 / 500226) 70 74 03 95
roke.touba@fasonet.bf