Ivory Coast: Grand Bassam
Grand Bassam is the old colonial French capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The historic town, Bassam Anciene, is rather small and separated from a larger settlement by a lagoon – it’s basically a strip of beach with a couple streets with old colonial buildings and a string of beachfront hotels. This where a couple weeks ago a brutal Al Queda terrorist attack happened with 16 people gunned down as the terrorists went hotel to hotel. It’s mostly empty now with flowers lying in the sand and military present on the beach. The four hotels where the rampage happened are rather small boutique hotels, located close to each other along the wide sandy beach.
