Crocodile Lake of Yamoussoukro

When Felix Houphouet-Boigny built his palace at Yamoussoukro he had a lake dug around it and stocked with crocodiles, which by one account was meant to echo an older chiefly tradition and by another was simply for effect. They are fed in the late afternoon in front of whoever is watching from the bank. The keeper who did the feeding for decades was killed by one of the animals in 2012, which is a reminder of what is actually in the water.

What you actually see

• The crocodiles - a stocked population in the moat around the palace grounds.
• The feeding - the late-afternoon feed, watched from the bank.
• The palace - Houphouet-Boigny's residence behind the water.
• The scale of Yamoussoukro - the wide avenues and monumental building around the lake.

When to go

November to March is the dry season and the most comfortable. The feeding is usually in the late afternoon and the time varies. The rains from April to July make the banks muddy.

Honest expectations

The animals killed their long-serving keeper in 2012; the bank is not a place to lean over. Feeding times shift and there is no schedule to rely on. There is nothing else at the site beyond the lake.

Nearby

The Basilica is nearby, and Abokouamekro reserve is north.