Have you ever had a dream beach all to yourself? There are global conflicts here; there is currently war in these countries

A man sits alone on the shore, surrounded by palm trees. My little taxi boat chugs towards him.

It was just full of schoolchildren on their way home. Little Frederic also got off at the pier at the fishing village. He is the son of the village chief from the town right next to my accommodation. He then wanted to come visit me.

A little later we also go ashore. The man stood up and introduced himself as Ali. He is my “Gardien”, the guardian of the Lodge Rive d’Or. We walk the short distance to the three bungalows. Behind it is a main building with a kitchen, a swimming pool and in front, almost on the beach, a covered shelter with sun loungers. Behind it palm trees, a sandy beach and the sea. I think this is what paradise could look like.

There is still a small hut at the entrance to the lodge. Three children are playing in front of it, chickens are clucking around. “That’s where I live,” says Ali. I need to contact you if I need anything.

The only guest in the former hideout

I am the only guest at this beautiful spot on the headland near Assinie-Mafia. The place probably got the name Mafia in the 1930s because many anti-colonialists hid here to escape the French police.

The place today is far from that. In the 1960s and 1970s it was nicknamed the 'Ibiza of West Africa' because many young people enjoyed life here. The party crowd has left, but the town – just under a two-hour drive from Abidjan – remains a holiday destination. Most lodges are located on the landward side of the 20 kilometer long lagoon and then offer taxi boats to get to the beach on the 100 to 500 meter wide headland. There are still some fishermen living here and some lodges are on the headland, like mine.

This is how you solve problems

Unfortunately, I'm not just here for vacation. That's why I rely on an internet connection. Contrary to the description, there is no WiFi. Ali says, “I'll see what I can do.” For now, he's giving me his SIM card with a flat rate so I can set up a hotspot. Two hours later he shows up with a router. I could put it in my room.

I'm not sure how he did it at 8 p.m. But the router works fine. I think about the many stories about moving to Switzerland and how long it can take to get an internet connection. Africa can be so efficient sometimes. Or maybe I really have arrived in paradise.

Abandoned, closed, unfinished

The next day I walk five kilometers along the lonely beach. There is no one there except a few fishermen. The entire beach is pretty much mine alone. This one is pretty clean too. There is some plastic waste lying around, but compared to other places in the country, it is hardly noticeable. I collect some sand dollar skeletons, chat with the fishermen and enjoy life.

Why do I feel like I'm the only tourist here? Behind the palm trees on the beach I see several lodges. But they seem abandoned, not in use or not yet finished. It rarely resembles life in the resorts.

What if this was in Italy?

Ali explains to me later that all the city residents from Abidjan arrive on the weekend, so it gets busy. Weekdays are currently not peak season. He didn't have a new booking until the day after my three day stay. I can hardly believe my luck and after all the hectic and loud days around the Africa Cup of Nations I find a peace that I have rarely experienced.

What would such a beach look like if it were in Italy? Or somewhere else where mass tourism has long been established. “The tourist destroys what he seeks by finding it,” Hans Magnus Enzensberger once wrote.

It is quite possible that tourism here too will soon experience an improvement. Maybe I just got lucky with my stay. Behind Assinie-Mafia in the lagoon you can discover the Iles Ehotile National Park by boat or canoe, a few kilometers further on the coast there are surfers and a four-lane road from Grand-Bassam to Assinie-Mafia has just been completed. Anyone traveling from Europe can get here quite easily and without having to go through Abdijan city traffic. Perhaps Enzensberger will soon be proven here too.

President Alassane Ouattara had the road built. There will be elections next year. Although many people assure me that the ruler is doing quite well, his re-election is not assured. Former Credit Suisse boss Tidjane Thiam wants to return to power with his PDCI party.

To the sea by motorbike

Two days later I rent a motorbike and explore the beaches around Grand-Bassam. The first capital of Ivory Coast, whose old quarter has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012, is 30 minutes from Abidjan - if the city traffic means it right. I bump along the sea on dirt roads. Here the beach does not gently merge into the sea, but becomes deep very quickly. The waves are correspondingly high and crash violently against the shore.

I like the Maison de la Lagune. A French woman runs the small hotel complex. The houses are spread out towards the lagoon and until a few years ago there was a beautiful swimming pool and a restaurant on the beach. Then, during the 2019 flood, the sea 'eaten' the land and tore away the structures. When everything had been rebuilt, the flood came in 2022 and the return to field 1.

Without a swimming pool, which was destroyed, there will be even fewer guests. The fantastic location means little. The owner says: “I'm going to rebuild everything, but then I'll try to sell the hotel.” It's probably not paradise here after all. But at least it's close enough for a vacation.