Abidjan (Ivory Coast or Côte d'Ivoire)

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You might not think Abidjan is all that from the pictures, but for someone(me) who is from Conakry, Abidjan is very much a metropolitan city with overpasses, skyscrapers and nice neighborhood with fancy restaurants. Before the civil war broke out in Ivory Coast, Abidjan was like Paris of West Africa. Although the war didn't really hit the city, the city was not maintained for many years, therefore look a bit run down (it doesn't help it wasn't a sunny day when I was there). Ivory Coast just recently became peaceful with a brokered deal by the president of Burkina Faso to help the country to form a coalition government between Laurent Gbagbo continuing as the president and the opposition leader (rebel) as the prime minister. It was totally safe traveling along the coast of Ivory Coast, but I didn't dare going to the northern part of the country and crossing border into Guinea. They say you are suppose to get permission from the rebel to travel up country.
Anyway, I took a World Food Program flight (a UN humanitarian flight free for us PC volunteers) from Abidjan that took me to Liberia, then Sierra Leon and then back to Conakry.