Between Sahelian empires and coastal kingdoms, between Muslim and animist Africa, between Saharan desertscapes and southern waterfalls, Burkina Faso weaves many of Africa’s diverging strands into a fascinating and thoroughly seductive fabric. ln the markets, turbaned traders on camels mix with farmers on donkey-drawn carts in a colourful swirl of diverse ethnic groups. The Burkinabe are descended from a long line of regal emperors who have suffered the plebeian indignities of colonialism and blackbirding, but this has only served to strengthen and preserve their cultural identity.

November to February

Strolling through Ouagadougon by day and then dancing the night away Marvelling at the intricate decoration of Bani’s seven mosques Kicking back in the languid charm of Bobo-Dioulasso, with its old quarter and distinctive Grande Mosquee Exploring the other-worldly landscapes of the Sindou Peaks near Banfora Wandering amid the colour of Gorom-Gorom’s Thursday market Swimming in the Karfiguela waterfalls in the dry season

Read The Maxims, Thoughts and Riddles of the Mossi by Dim-Dolobsom Ouedraogo, which offers a glimpse of Burkina Faso barely 30 years after the French colonized it

Listen to ldak Bassave’s Les Memes Problemes

Watch Les Etrangers by Mamadou Kola Djim, or Samba Traore by ldrissa Ouedraogo-both are excellent Burkinabe directors

Eat Brakina or So.b.bra-popular lager-type beers

Start the day with some More (the language of the Mossi): yee-bay-roh (good morning)

The Pan-African Film Festival; a ‘don’t worry be happy’ attitude; one of world’s poorest countries

Burkina Faso literally translates as ‘Homeland of the lncorruptible’, or ‘Country of Honest Men’. As a means of fostering unity among an ethnically diverse people, the name was coined from two of the country’s most widely spoken languages: the More word for ‘pure’ and the Dioula word for ‘homeland’.

Artistically, the Mossi are best Known for their tall wooden antelope masks, offen more than 2m high and painted red and white. Male and female antelope mask are distinguished from each by their top sections. Female feature a human female figure, while male masks consist of a nonhuman planklike structure. At the bottom of these masks is a small, oval face bisected by a serrated vertical strip, with triangular eyeholes on either side. The masks were originally worn primarily at funerals.