For the June 2026 school holidays, we decided to go on a trip to Thailand and Malaysia. Our first stop was Abidjan. But it wasn’t my first time in Côte d’Ivoire. I lived there briefly in 2019 when mom was working there and I was one year old. Anyways, we flew with Air Côte d’Ivoire in their A319 aircraft and here’s how it went.
Arrival
Our plane landed in Abidjan earlier than planned because it was a direct flight, instead of a stopover in Niamey, Niger. Since the hotel shuttle wasn’t there, we had to take a taxi. We negotiated the price and when we were walking, that’s when I saw the ugliest car I’ve seen in my life. It looked like it was never cleaned since 1932. But it was too late to cancel the ride. We opened the window because it was so hot. It then started raining and the driver couldn’t close the window completely because of the heat. It also smelled like gasoline in the car. But we made it safely to the hotel.
Mom said the room was “basic”
When we arrived at the hotel, my mom said it was a basic room, nothing fancy. But when we got in, I said: “it isn’t basic, it’s First Class!” I liked the modern design of the furniture and the bed was the best! Anyways, we went to the supermarket afterwards. I saw shrimps, got Burger King, and went to sleep early because we had an early flight in the morning.
Leaving Abidjan
We woke up at 04:00 and checked out of the hotel at 05:00. When we went outside the hotel, it was 90% raining. We ordered a taxi and the security guard helped us get into the car with his umbrella. It was so nice of him. Imagine us getting drenched before a long flight!
We arrived at the airport and waited for two hours. I saw the plane outside the airport window and we continued to Qatar. Stay tuned to read more on our stop at Hamad International airport in Doha!
