Qualla: Abidjan https://qualla.com/abidjan en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:05 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wp/piroguiers-cleaned-b-w.jpg Qualla: Abidjan https://qualla.com/abidjan Abidjan: Introduction https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit Eric browin, CC BY-SA 4.0. The orange taxis of Abidjan are both warning and welcome. They swarm the boulevards of Le Plateau, weave through Yopougon's street food stalls, and ferry passengers across a city that was once called the Paris of West Africa - a nickname earned during the long boom years under Felix Houphouet-Boigny, the first president who ruled for three decades and built monuments that still define the skyline. His death in 1993 triggered coups, civil war, and an exodus that stripped Abidjan of its cosmopolitan polish. Yet the city endures. Over six million people crowd its neighborhoods along the Ebrie Lagoon, making it second only to Lagos in West Africa. The expats mostly fled, but the nightlife survived. The Hotel Ivoire has been restored to five-star glory as a Sofitel, though much of its original 1960s character was lost in the 2011 renovation, but Princess Road in Yopougon still pulses after dark. This is a city that has learned to keep moving.

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Image: Eric browin | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Abidjan: The Lagoon City https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit BorisAhonon, CC BY-SA 4.0. Abidjan sprawls across the Ebrie Lagoon, its neighborhoods connected by bridges, ferries, and the shared chaos of West African traffic. The ferry ride costs 150 CFA and offers the best view of the city skyline at sunset - towers rising from the Plateau district, fishermen's pirog...

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Image: BorisAhonon | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-the-lagoon-city.mp3 0:06 2 full Abidjan: The Checkpoints https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain. At midnight, Abidjan closes. Barricades go up on every main road in and out of town, remnants of curfews imposed during the civil war years. Miss your chance to cross, and you wait until five in the morning - no exceptions, no bribes sufficient. The military checkpoints that dot ...

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Image: AnonymousUnknown author | Public domain

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-the-checkpoints.mp3 0:06 3 full Abidjan: The Paris That Was https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit Rc1959, CC BY-SA 4.0. Walk through the Hotel Ivoire and you walk through the dream that Felix Houphouet-Boigny built. Israeli architect Moshe Mayer designed the hotel, which opened in 1963, inspired by the Ducor Palace Hotel in Monrovia. A second phase completed in 1969 added the famous ice skating ri...

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Image: Rc1959 | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-the-paris-that-was.mp3 0:06 4 full Abidjan: After Dark https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit Osinakachinzenwa30, CC BY-SA 3.0. The best fried chicken in West Africa comes from roadside vendors on Princess Road in Yopougon, prepared right there on the street while live music spills from a dozen maquis - the open-air bars that define Abidjan nightlife. This is not sanitized entertainment for tourists. The ...

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Image: Osinakachinzenwa30 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-after-dark.mp3 0:06 5 full Abidjan: Arriving and Surviving https://qualla.com/abidjan/ Photo credit Maxence, CC BY 2.0. Felix Houphouet-Boigny International Airport connects Abidjan to the world - Air France from Paris, Turkish Airlines from Istanbul, Emirates via Accra, Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa. The visa process has modernized: apply online, receive approval within 48 hours, collect th...

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Image: Maxence | CC BY 2.0

]]> Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/e/b/v/n/abidjan-wk/ebvn-abidjan-arriving-and-surviving.mp3 0:06 6 full