The Musée de Poni is a remarkable open-air ethnographic museum that brings the traditional architecture and material culture of the Lobi people to life. The centrepiece is a collection of reconstructed soukala — the fortress-like mud compounds that Lobi families still build today — which you can walk through and explore. Guides explain the function of each room, the symbolic carvings on the walls, and the way the layout reflects Lobi social structure.
Inside, the museum also displays bronze figurines, ancestral statues (thil), and everyday objects that illustrate just how distinct Lobi culture is from the rest of Burkina Faso. It is genuinely one of the best small museums in West Africa, and spending two hours here will transform how you see the villages around Gaoua.