Korhogo

Korhogo anchors the Senufo north, and its name travels on cloth: the toiles de Korhogo, cotton strips painted in earthy black-and-ochre with hunters, birds and spirit figures, made in the surrounding villages - Fakaha most famously - where painters work fermented-mud pigments with knife-edge control. The craft map spreads wider: weavers' quarters where strip looms clack in shaded alleys, Koni's blacksmiths, carvers producing the masks and figures that made Senufo art a cornerstone of world collections, and beadmakers threading the markets. Sacred woods edge the villages - the poro society's domain, respected from outside - and the Friday market pulls the whole savanna to town.

What you actually see

• The painted cloth - toiles de Korhogo made stroke by stroke in Fakaha.
• The weavers' lanes - strip looms and indigo in the craft quarters.
• Senufo carving - masks and figures from the master workshops.
• The grand market - the savanna trading at full Friday strength.

When to go

November to February for dry roads and harmattan-cool mornings; market days (Friday grandest) set the town's tempo. Craft villages welcome visitors in working hours - mornings are best.

Honest expectations

Buying is the courteous engine of visits - prices are negotiated but fair play keeps the welcome; guides broker village introductions usefully. The poro society's sacred woods and ceremonies are not visitor territory - admire the culture through its arts and let the rest be. Northern travel logistics deserve a current check when planning.

Nearby

Fakaha's painters, the Mount Korhogo viewpoint and the road toward Comoe's western approaches.