The other reason may be because of the energy costs, Paul.
At between 70 and 80 light years, even using a full-blown conversion engine that can come close to attaining the speed of light (and good luck finding materials that can handle that kind of stress), it would still be a minimum of a 160 year round trip to go from point A to point B.
We've only been broadcasting into the ether for about 120 years, which means the first neighbors to hear the noise pollution won't be coming around to complain for about another 20 years or so. They may also be totally unaware of radio signals, because they have a different biology.
So, Fermi's Paradox, while intriguing, is basically ethnocentric. Sentient life doesn't have to be bipedal, upright, and have the same spectrum sensitivity that we have. For all we know, there may be other sentient life here on Earth that we have not yet discovered.
The other thing about the energy costs is the return on investment. Even if you COULD visit Ougadougou or Timbuktu, why would you want to if Paris is easier to get to?
"You have the right to remain silent. If you choose to waive this right, I may have to kill you in self-defense because you're boring me to death."