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People often ask about the weather and conditions in Burkina. So, I thought I'd share a bit about the windy months of February/March, the months of Harmattan. I looked up Harmattan in Wikipedia to help explain:
The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter).
On its passage over the desert it picks up fine dust particles. When the Harmattan blows hard, it can push dust and sand all the way to North America! Imagine riding on a motor bike fully exposed to this ferocious wind coming straight at you - that's life in Burkina right now. Who wants to come visit? Oh, you'll get used to it. Although, I don't think we ever stop complaining about the layers of dust that tint our hair auburn, color our skin brown and leave thick layers on everything in the house. Along with the harmattan winds, the temperatures start to rise. We enjoyed a wonderful cool season (the Africans would say COLD); but are now preparing for the 115 degrees that almost bring life to a standstill during the months of mid-March through mid-June.
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