Things to Do in Burkina Faso in July

Ouagadougou's Grand Marché has operated in some form since the city was a Mossi trading post, and walking through it in July means navigating a warren of covered stalls where the air is thick with the woody, fermented punch of soumbala, the locust-bean paste that anchors most Burkinabè sauces. The mornings before the heat builds are the time to go, when the fabric merchants are still unfurling bolts of Faso Dan Fani, the handwoven cotton strips that Burkinabè women tie into wraps, the colors running from indigo to burnt sienna. From the market, the artisan quarter of Ouagadougou stretches into bronze-casting workshops where sculptors still use lost-wax techniques, the smell of hot metal and beeswax hanging in the humid air. July's cooler mornings and the absence of Harmattan dust make this the most physically comfortable time of year to spend hours on foot in the capital. Arrive early.

The Grand Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso rises from the Kibidwé quarter in the Sudanese mud-brick style, its twin conical towers bristling with wooden beams that jut from the walls like the spines of some enormous animal. Built in 1893, the mosque is re-plastered with fresh banco mud after each rainy season, and in July you may catch the tail end of this communal maintenance, the entire neighborhood arriving with buckets and bare hands to smooth wet earth onto the facade. The old quarter around it smells of damp clay and woodsmoke, the narrow alleys winding past dyers' pits where indigo-stained cotton hangs drying under tin overhangs. Bobo-Dioulasso has always been the more relaxed of Burkina Faso's two main cities, slower-paced and greener, and in July the mango trees that shade every courtyard are dense with leaf. Non-Muslim visitors can typically view the mosque exterior and courtyard with permission. Ask respectfully and dress conservatively. Be polite.

The Cascades de Karfiguela sit roughly 12 km (7.5 miles) from Banfora in Burkina Faso's southwest. They are the single best argument for visiting during the rains. In dry season they barely trickle. In July, fed by weeks of downpours, the water hammers off sandstone ledges into pools below. You feel the mist on your face from 20 metres (65 feet) away. The surrounding forest is dense and dripping. The canopy buzzes with insects. A turaco's crimson wing flashes occasionally. Nearby, the Dômes de Fabédougou, a landscape of eroded sandstone domes and arches, turns otherworldly when wet. The rock darkens to deep ochre. Ferns fill the crevices. Combine both in a day trip from Banfora. Start early. By afternoon, storm clouds stack on the escarpment. The laterite access road gets slippery fast.

About 30 km (19 miles) from Ouagadougou, the village of Bazoule has coexisted with West African crocodiles for generations. The animals live in a pond at the village edge. Locals regard them as sacred protectors. In July the pond is full. The surrounding grass brushes your knees. The crocodiles, sluggish in the relative cool of the wet season, lie along the banks with a docility that still spikes your pulse. You squat a metre away from a three-metre (10-foot) reptile. Village guides, always from local families who tend the crocodiles, lead visitors to the water's edge. They explain origin stories in French or Mooré. The experience is surreal. unlike anything else in West Africa. It is also short. An hour at most including the drive. Pair it with a morning in Ouagadougou's artisan quarter for a full day.

Burkina Faso's live music tradition runs deeper than most visitors expect. The maquis, open-air courtyard bars scattered across every neighbourhood in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, are where it happens. A maquis in July smells of charcoal smoke and grilled chicken. The famous poulet bicyclette is Burkina Faso's unofficial national dish. The birds are free-range and lean. The skin is charred and rubbed with ginger, mustard, and soumbala. Music starts late. Rarely before 9 PM. It runs past midnight. Bands play Mandingue guitar, Afrobeat, and coupé-décalé while rain drums on corrugated tin overhead. The sound of a Burkinabè maquis in wet season is layered. Electric guitar. A djembe cutting through. Rain hammering zinc. Bottles clinking on metal tables. The low hum of conversation in three languages. July evenings cool to around 22°C (73°F). Comfortable enough to sit outside between downpours.