Travel Diary: Audrey Lang Connects To a New Home Away from Home—Côte d'Ivoire

Dozo doubles as a concept store for a variety of African brands—namely Ivorian ones including Kente Gentlemen, Loza Maléombho, Olooh Concept, Missouwa, and Vintage Nation—and as a creative hub where tastemakers gather to brainstorm, unwind and plan events. The space, centered around travel and discovery, allows for a unique shopping experience as founder Aziz has made it his duty to empower local creators.

Bathed in former glory, Grand-Bassam is coastal Côte d'Ivoire's centerpiece and a Unesco World Heritage Site. It's greeting is in the form of verdant palm trees stretching along the Atlantic coast.

The colonial-era stone buildings constructed between 1894 and 1920 are characterized by wide verandas, balconies, shuttered windows and colonnaded porticoes. Though dilapidated, walking through them was the most irresistible part of my trip.

This town center is void of the tourists it merits because of civil wars that remain fresh in the mind of the world, but its couple thousand inhabitants make it come alive.

It was elating to watch hoards of children make their way out of school. They came from all directions, varying in age but not in joy. Their chatter and laughter resounded as they rode bikes, played games and ran towards what looked like everywhere but home. Where some scurried by saying, "Tu es jolie, tata" (You are pretty, aunty), others blushed and said, "Merci, tata" (Thank you, aunty) in response to the compliments we paid them for their tapered hair cuts.

These four girls affirmed they were happy with the pictures we took of them.

Yamoussoukro, the administrative capital of Côte d'Ivoire, is home to an edifice that towers over the city like a mirage. The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace is the largest church in the world, surpassing St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Despite being able to hold 18,000 people, this oeuvre commissioned by the first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, typically holds mass for only 700 to 1,000 worshippers.

There is no denying this meticulously constructed church consecrated in 1990 is a grandiose form of propaganda.

Philip has been giving guided tours at the Basilica for 3 years. I am amazed by his wide breadth of knowledge about the structure—every aspect of it has an intent. We walk up what feels like 20 flights of stairs to view the church from a different angle but he doesn't join us, for his knee is paining him.

Street vendors are the epitome of hustlers. When they aren't weaving in and out of ongoing traffic, they are posted on the side of highways beckoning you to grab a piece of bread, fruit, sim cards and more.

This beauty sold coconuts near a gas station. What I admired most was how she could do so under an incessant, scorching sun coupled with high humidity. When I asked for a portrait, though bewildered, she gave in.