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Ouidah Travel Blogs

Background: Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a prominent West African kingdom that rose in the 15th century. The territory became a French Colony in 1872 and achieved independence on 1 August 1960, as the Republic of Benin. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged.

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By ichaselions
December 6th 2008

E.T. Phone Home Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

I was we would say in Ghana...I have gone and come. Rachel and I left to go to Benin on Wednesday. I'd like to say we got up bright and early but considering we were up in moving before the sun...we just got up early. We hoped on a bus bound for Aflao, the border crossing point to go into Togo and of course got the bus without air conditioning, hooray!! But we did see an old woman who looked exactly like E.T. which basically made my day... Unlike my last time going through Togo, crossing in this time was pretty [View Full Entry]

By Kurogawa
November 23rd 2008

Big juicy prawn pasta with tomato and ginger!!! Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

Prawn Pasta!!!!
mmmmmm ginger. In Gran Popo, Lion bar, where I stayed, highly recommended.

Benin, Benin, a stable democracy and what seems to be a good president investing in healthcare and education. lots of NGOs working all over the place,roads are crumbling and it doesn't seem any much better than it's dictator ridden neighbour that get no funding whatsoever, ok, not looking at numbers, just the visible signs. Granted, Lome in neighbouring Togo is really not tidy, if you see what I mean. Throughout my journey in Benin though, I was constantly bugged by one statistic, all the economic progress made by it is rendered null on a per capita basis because they have so [View Full Entry]

Chemin des esclaves view of the marshes.

By rosekanasty
June 24th 2008

Ouidah: Benin's Voodoo capital Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

Our first stop in Benin was Grand Popo, a small beach town not far from the Togo border. Grand Popo has lots of hotels but seems to lack tourists this time of year. I think we were the only ones staying at the beautiful Auberge de Grand Popo; they were so desperate for our business that they invented a 25% Peace Corps discount. The Auberge has a beautiful beach with thatch shade huts and a swimming pool. It also has a beautiful outdoor restaurant that we couldn’t afford, but we found some great seafood in town. There are several kinds of [View Full Entry]

By Cocktailllll
April 27th 2008

Day Fifty-Three; Sunday, April 27 '08 Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

Woke up thinking it was 10:00 when it was actually 11:00 because of the time change. Weird to think there's a time change when Benin is only 90 miles from the Ghanian border. We headed off to the Python Temple which is the voodoo place of worship. When we arrived there was a morning service taking place which was completely unexpected as we were informed the temple was more of a museum than anything else. It was really awkward walking in and I thought they would be osmewhat annoyed with us, however, they offered us chairs to sit down and observe [View Full Entry]

By ouidah
February 25th 2008

La Maison de la Joie Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

the house of Joy
responsible travel in Benin and Togo

The House of Joy We could not miss a visit to Justine during our journey in Benin. We knew that she was giving a shelter to some women who had been kicked out of their home by their own husbands, together with their children. In general, a wife is kicked out because she did not accept that her husband brought home a second one. Also, the income often too scarce to maintain several wives and all of their children. Harsh quarrels begin, that most often end with the elder woman being kicked out. In general, she leaves her children to her [View Full Entry]

By ouidah
February 25th 2008

"Videmegone" enfant prete in Benin Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

the house of Joy at Ouidah
responsible travel inBenin and Togo

JOSHIANE Each time we go to Africa there is some novelty. Sometimes pleasant, sometimes sad or even dramatic. This time Maison de la Joie looks quiet. Children are growing up, their number is growing as well, from ten to twenty and others are waited. My wife and my daughter are there since one month. My arrival is welcome with a breakfast based on rice and chicken at 5 am. After a few hours sleep the noise and the kitchen smell wake me up. I meet the new children, there are stories to learn and to tell. Among them, a child of [View Full Entry]

By ouidah
February 25th 2008

Let's meet Benin Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

Into a village
In the north Benin, on meet the king of village

LET'S MEET BENIN: The country of the amazones, of the historical slave trade, of the children new slaves today, of the voodoo. A journey to meet, understand and share a culture. Also, a bit of adventure! The Africans say: “The world knows very well how people die in Africa, but knows nothing of how people live there”. With this journey, we would like to repair a historical and cultural injustice that makes the economic injustice even worse. The drums boom unrelently, dancers and young adepts staring at nothing out of fatigue, tribal kings with their courts of wive [View Full Entry]

By Viajerong Pinoy
January 17th 2008

BENIN IN 48 HOURS Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah

GANVIE

The border is just over an hour away from Chez Alice.We were given 48 hour visas at the border, lots of food vendors on both sides of the frontier. We drove to Ouidah, stopped at the Immaculate Conception church and had a few hours to walk around town, we decided to go to the Snake temple nearby and Chrissy, Ingrid, Mark and Jo had their photos taken with a phyton round their necks, I opted out. Then we went to the Museum of History, quite interesting place, but cant take photos. We met up at an outside bar next to the [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Africa » Benin » South » Ouidah