From Yamoussoukro we headed west, almost to Cote d'Ivoire's border with Guinea and Liberia, into the lands of Dan. The Dan, or Yacouba, is a prominent tribal group. What are they famous for? Masks. They use elaborate masks in ceremonies of all types, and in earlier days they carried small, hand-sized masks as identification cards when traveling. The small mask acted as a passport of sorts by showing which Dan group a person belonged to. Dan people no longer carry these small passport masks, but they still live a traditional lifestyle. We drove into the jungle and arrived in a Dan village, Sila Koro, for an overnight stay. We introduced ourselves in a time-honored way, by making a ritual sacrifice to sacred catfish (we marched into the surrounding jungle to a stream and handfed bread to the fish). Then we drank liquor with the village elders. We ended our fete in a tribal dance with the entire village. They laughed at our lack of rhythm. We retired to a village hut: no lights, no running water, dirt floor, and the walls smeared in dung. Sound comfortable? It was better than a tent. After an initial bout of claustrophobia, we realized dung kept off the mosquitoes.
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