PRESIDENTIAL PALACE AND SACRED CROCODILE LAKE

The presidential palace, which could once be visited, is now closed to the public. The term "palace" is a very generic one to designate what is in fact more akin to a pharaonic complex, a sort of "fortress" in the city with its moat (in fact three artificial lakes) and its wall (the Yamoussoukro wall is 22 km long) separating it from the "popular" area. This disproportionate residential complex, of which the average person can only see the guest house, where President Félix Houphouët-Boigny used to receive foreign heads of state in Côte d'Ivoire, was built in 1983 by the Frenchman Olivier-Clément Cacoub, known as "the architect of the sun", a favorite of African potentates and therefore of the Old Man. In Yamoussoukro, he was also responsible for the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace and the President's Hotel, which were not to everyone's taste, but had the merit of fulfilling their role: to impose. The plot of land on which the "palace" stands was once home to the small hamlet of N'Gokro, the original expansion point of the city. In addition to the gigantic building, there are houses for the former president's relatives and staff, which are now very dilapidated. At one time, there was talk of restoring the palace and turning it into a museum dedicated to the memory of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, but it seems that this project has been abandoned.

The chapel. It overlooks the family vault where "the Old Man" has been resting for more than twenty years. In the family of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, to evoke the origins of Boigny N'Dri, the presumed founder of the city that was to become the future Yamoussoukro, they simply pointed to the rising sun and added that he had come from beyond the river. No doubt in allegiance to his illustrious ancestor, "the Old Man" insisted that his tomb should also face the rising sun.

The artificial lakes bordering the presidential residence were dug in the 1950s and are home to a population of some 200 Nile crocodiles, mistakenly called "caimans" by the population (the species being on the American continent). Some specimens, from Cameroon and Mali, were gifts received by Houphouët from the respective heads of state of these two countries. The "Commandant" in particular, which was the oldest and most snarling of the crocs, is believed to be a gift from Modibo Keita, the first president of independent Mali. He passed away in 2017. From now on, "Captain", "Sergeant" and "Chief of Staff", the largest of the remaining crocodiles, reign supreme over the dark waters of the sacred lake, even if the females don't let themselves be counted out when it's time for a snack. Problem in May 2020: the multiple floods in Yamoussoukro have allowed some clever saurians to escape peacefully. They were found on the asphalt in the middle of the city, in the middle of the terrorized population, wandering in the streets.

Feeding. You can, if you wish, see with the guards to feed the crocs. They will tell you to bring a chicken bought at the market (3 000 FCFA) and will call the keeper of the crocodiles in charge of the ceremony. But - for the faint of heart - seeing the poor beasts terrorized and hearing the fatal cracking of their bones is not to everyone's taste. In the past, every day at around 5 p.m., in accordance with tradition, the phlegmatic reptiles were entitled to their feast, consisting of quarters of rare meat (two whole oxen every two weeks) and/or, to impress the tourists when there were any, of chickens thrown alive into the pit. To perform this perilous task, Houphouët had several Bozos brought in especially from Mali, although it is said that "the Old Man" never failed to feed the animals himself when he was in Yamoussoukro, and had even created a poultry farm especially for this purpose. For 36 years, however, it was old Dicko Toké, the official caretaker of the sacred crocodiles who died in tragic circumstances in August 2012, who performed this strange ceremony. At the time of his death, he was in the process of training his son in the profession that he himself had learned from his father. The announcement of the death of the "undisputed master of saurians" deeply saddened Ivorians. Since then, it is hardly possible to walk on the sidewalk of the "alley of caimans", the place being closely monitored and firmly regulated. While this practice, which is rooted in local customs, may seem a bit creepy to the uninitiated, it is surrounded by a mystical aura here: more than a simple meal, the chickens are seen as an offering to the spirits that inhabit the sacred lake. For many people, feeding them to the crocodiles is a ritual act that allows them to pay a mystical right of passage on the sacred land of the Old Man, guardians of the mysterious palace obstinately hidden from view.

Security. In order to avoid any unpleasantness with the guards of the sacred water body, you should know that it is officially forbidden to (1) walk along the lake; (2) sit near the lake; (3) lean against the fence; (4) fish in the lake... on pain of legal proceedings (only that!).