Tour of Grand Bassam

The National Museum of Costume is an impressive colonial-styled building that houses a wide array of ancient cultural artifacts and collections from all over the country. remarkable for its collection of vintage photos, the most curious of which must be that of a pith-helmeted French colonial squeezing the breast of a naked N’Zima woman. The scale model villages downstairs examine the habits and customs of Ivory Coast’s indigenous people. The basketry, textiles, masks, ceremonial outfits and indigo goods are also worth a peek. The range of mannequins illustrates the various religious and ethnic traditions of the country: a loin-clothed Baoulé monarch is draped in gold jewellery, an Abouré féticheuse tasked with educating children about sex clutches a wooden penis and broom to deter malevolent spirits, and a Kru chieftain poses in a suit of tree bark and leather.By far the most interesting thing to see in Bassam is the 1.1- km2 open-air museum of colonial buildings constructed between the 1870s and the 1930s. Most are dotted around the easily walkable Boulevard Treich-LaplèneIt spearheaded trade and industry in the high colonial period.The Governor’s Palace, opposite the Courthouse on Boulevard Treich-Laplène is in good shape – its stucco walls were recently re-lacquered and its lengthy veranda was redecorated with sea shells. The dual staircases weave elegantly towards each other along the façade and meet and curl inwards to form a semi-circle at the main entrance.Continuing east along Boulevard Treich-Laplène, on the corner of Rue Sacre-Coeur, is the Post Office and Customs House, built in 1893 out of prefab materials shipped from France. Composed of a central tower and a green-shuttered first floor, it has been smartly renovated under the terms of the UNESCO project and is now home to the Maison du Patrimoine Culturel, a cultural center that arranges history-themed events and has a permanent exhibition of photographs depicting 150 years of important Bassamois people, places, and events.Enjoy a Canoe tour on the lagoon of Grand Bassam. Slide on the water past mangroves and palm trees. Take a 30-minute ride to the village where the N'zima people smoke the fish and then go back (preferably at sunset) to the starting point for another 30 minutes.Visit this fishermen village with houses built entirely with palm leaves and African bamboo. Watch the ghanaian fishermen coming to shore and unload the fish, while the women get ready to sell it directly on the beach.Visit the village of the N'Zima fishermen and see how they smoke the fish.