Africa

[Visited: May 2018]

Even before our bus comes to a stop, we already see the spiky towers of the famous mosque of Kong, the main reason why we have made it here. For a short while, we consider taking our bags and walk directly to the star attraction of this town, but then decide it is better to leave our bags at a hotel first. This turns out to be a good decision, as the only hotel of Kong turns out to be a little out of town; moreover, there is no taxi or moto-taxi system here. When we take a sandy road off the main road to reach the mosque, a very dark-skinned, fatty man lying on a bench under a tree barks at us that we should pay him an entrance fee if we want to visit the mosque. The old building stands on an open space with several entrances, and this man in his white shirt does not seem to be the caretaker anyway, so we ignore him and walk on.
Once inside the sandy courtyard, we stand at the northwestern corner, and watch the light intensifying on the earth colours of this centuries-old beauty. It has two towers constructed at the corners, tapering towards the sky. It is not clear to me if they are minarets, as I do not see loudspeakers attached to them, nor openings at the top. We walk around the building, on the shady eastern side, where we find a small girl looking at us. She gestures with a naughty smile: come with me, and then opens one of the doors of the mosque, and indicates we should enter. At first, we are hesitant, remembering the less-than-friendly reception of the guy with the white shirt who is not far away, but after a short hesitation, gladly accept and quickly make our way up the dusty, steep stairs with the low ceiling.
When we step onto the roof, we are surprised to find grass covering it: it looks like a small garden. We now have a close-up look at the smooth, round shapes of the wall, with fake ostrich eggs placed on top of the peaks in the wall. These once were real ostrich eggs, and they adorn the mosque. Kong was once the capital of the Kong empire, an important trading city of the region, until it declined in importance when other cities came to the foreground, and the railroad to the north was constructed, bypassing Kong and downgrading it to a regional, sleepy town. We walk a short distance to another, much smaller mosque, also in the Sudano-Sahelian style, and quickly return to the main mosque and watch the setting sun intensify the earth colours of this beauty, turning it into orange and red. The next morning, we try to catch a bus nearby, and it turns out that the same guy with the white shirt now is in charge of selling bus tickets. He of course remembers us, and still begs for money for our visit of the Muslim building. We kindly refuse, and have another morning look at this marvellous building before a faulty bus takes us away from Kong.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Kong mosque (Ivory Coast). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Kong mosque.
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Kong mosque > Ivory Coast > Africa

[Visited: May 2018]

Around the World in 80 Clicks

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