Mosquée de Kouto and Mosquée de Kaouara

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Mosquée de Kouto

   Kouto is a small town in the far north of Côte d'Ivoire, close to the borders with Mali and Burkina Faso, and its mosque is one of the best-known of the Sudanese-style buildings of the region. Mud-brick walls rise in battered buttresses, each topped by a small pinnacle, and timber beams project from the surface like the quills of a hedgehog. Seen across a field in the morning light, it looks as though it grew there.

   Read the complete Mosquée de Kouto write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mosquée de Kouto is where the day begins. Next is Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor.

2. 2. Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor

   In the north of Côte d'Ivoire, where the forest gives way to savanna, the villages are built of mud and every mosque looks like a sculpture grown out of the ground. They belong to the Sudanese style, a tradition from the Sahel that spread south along trade routes carried by Dyula merchants, and UNESCO listed several of them in 2021. The mosques of Kaouara, Kouto, Nambira, Tengrela and others are the survivors of that tradition in this country.

   Read the complete Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor comes up about 83 km into the recorded legs. Next is Mosquée de Kaouara.

3. 3. Mosquée de Kaouara

   The mosque at Kaouara looks as though it has grown from the earth, and in a sense it has. It is one of a group of Sudanese-style mosques in northern Côte d'Ivoire, built of mud brick over timber frames, with tapering buttresses and wooden beams that stick out of the walls like quills. These beams serve as permanent scaffolding, which allows the community to climb up each year and replaster the surface with fresh mud. UNESCO added the group to the World Heritage list in 2021, recognising a building tradition that came down the trade routes from the old Mali Empire.

   Read the complete Mosquée de Kaouara write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 191 km into the recorded legs you reach Mosquée de Kaouara. Next is back through Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor.

4. 4. back through Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Mosquée de Nambira ou Namboura missiri kor, late in the day. Next is Mosquée de Kouto.

5. 5. Mosquée de Kouto

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mosquée de Kouto write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Mosquée de Kouto. That is the ride.