The amazon female warriors of Dahomey, thrones of human skulls and stilt villages

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Benin was for a short period after independence called Dahomey, in honour of the Dahomey empire. Dahomey was famous for its Amazon female warriors, who were far more vicious than the men.



The other main attraction I've just visited is the stilt village of Ganvie, built in the middle of a lake, which is Benin's main tourist destination.



So to catch up with recent events...

WED 6th

By the time I'd booked into a Hotel in Cotonou, I was too late to get to the Niger Embassy. I needed to be in Cotonou in order to get a Visa. I lazed around for the rest of the day.

THURSDAY 7th

I found the Niger Embassy and sorted out my Visa. They asked me to return the next day at 5pm. I had some difficulty finding the Embassy - I walked past it several times. The place looked like it was falling down, they obviously don't have a huge budget for their foreign missions!



Not surprising really, as Niger is the 2nd poorest country in the world on the UN Human Development Index, and 400000 people in the country are in receipt of emergency food aid because of the plague of locusts that afflicted parts of North Africa last year. At this time with people starving, the government introduces a sales tax on basic items including food. It's because of this new tax that there has been political instability in Niger in recent weeks. A couple of weeks ago a General Strike was called off, as I mentioned in my previous blog. It was called off after the government arrested the leaders of the protest against the price increases. When the strike was called off, the government released the protest leaders. The government claims that they have no choice, and they may be sort of telling the truth. At the moment Niger is the victim of a World Bank Country Assistance Plan. I tried to download the plan, but the bad connections in the internet cafe wouldn't let me get the whole of the PDF file. My suspicion is, that as part of the World Banks terms for writing off some of Niger's debts, the government needs to raise more revenue in taxes. Hence the 19 % sales tax. Getting taxes out of a population where 60%!o(MISSING)f the population lives on less than $US1 a day is like getting blood out of a stone. Especially as the government provides sod all services to its people.



Tony B-Liar talks the talk about poverty in Africa, but I don't see much evidence of action. In fact, as in the case of the World Bank, the conditions that are imposed on poor countries makes their people poorer!



After my visit to the Embassy I lazed around for the rest of the day.

FRIDAY 8th

In the morning I changed hotel to the Hotel du Plage, mainly because I liked the view of the beach from the hotel balcony. It was more expensive, that is 30000 CFAs. The place probably was once a very nice place, but it really needs an extensive re-fit, it suffers from faded glory. Again, I didn't do much all day except collect my passport and visa.

SATURDAY 9th

I took a zemi-john (motorcycle taxi) trip to the garage for Calavi, taking my life in my hands, weaving in and out of traffic on the back of a motorbike. From the garage it was less than 1 hour to Calavi, where I booked into a cheap hotel for 10000 CFA's. It was a large room with no furniture except a bed. But it did have an air conditioning unit, which I checked before I took the room.



I was in Calvani because it is a starting point for Benin's major tourist attraction, the stilt village of Ganvie. Ganvie is a large village of 35000 people, built on stilts raised 2 metres above Lake Nokoue. The village is in the middle of the lake, 8km's from the mainland town of Calvani. The only way there is by boat.



I took an unmotorised pirogue from Calvani to Ganvie at 2pm. We sailed to Ganvie, with an improvised sail made from an old sheet. At Ganvie, we stopped at a stilt hotel and restaurant where I had a soft drink. The guide and captain then took me on a tour of the village, showing me important places.



The pirogue returned to Calvani at 4.30pm. I walked back to the hotel and had a meal, fighting off the flies, which seemed very keen on my fish! As I was sat outside the hotel under the tarpaulin, it rained heavily. I even had to move seats because the tarpaulin sprung leaks.



If I had left it another hour before going on my trip to Ganvie, I would have been caught in a tropical storm out on the lake.

SUNDAY 10th

After breakfast I returned to Cotonou by bush taxi and booked into an expensive hotel - the Hotel du Port, which cost me 38000 CFA's. I wasn't that keen on the place - it was nice, but I didn't think it was value for money.

MONDAY 11th APRIL

I booked out of the hotel at 9am. Outside the hotel I avoided the expensive taxi's that hang around the place. I couldn't see any zemi-johns, so I walked the short distance to the gates of the port, where I got a zemi-john (motorbike taxi) to the garage for Abomey.



Abomey was the capital of the Fon Kingdom. It is famous for its kingdom's fearsome female fighters. The women soldiers of Dahomey were reputed to be much more vicious than the men.



The bush taxi took 3 hours to get to Abomey, where I booked into Chez Monique. It was only 7500 CFA's, although the water was a bit hit and miss. The rooms had showers and toilets but the taps ran dry regularly. That's because the source of water was a well, the water had to be carried to a tank from the well. As a result I was careful in my use of water, even if other people weren't!



Later that afternoon I visited the Musee Histoire d'Abomey. I didn't get any pictures because you are not allowed to take photos. One item in particular would be very photogenic - that is the throne that is mounted on 4 skulls of vanquished enemies.



The museum contains what remains of 2 of the palaces of Dahomey. The palaces are a shadow of their former glory, as the 10th king of Dahomey burned down the palaces as he fled the advancing French forces.



At its height, the compound covered 100 acres, with a court of 10000 people. The museum also contains fetish items, royal thrones, tapestries and human skulls once used as musical instruments.

TUESDAY 12th

I booked out of the hotel and caught a zemi-john to the town of Bohicon - a 20 minute journey. I went to Bohicon because it is the busier junction town for picking up transport. At Bohicon I was recruited into a bush taxi, which took 4 hours to reach Parakou. I didn't see much of the town, it was only a place for me to stop on my journey north to Niger. I stayed in the Hotel les Canaris, for 9000 CFA's. I could have paid as little as 4000 CFA's, but that would have meant a concrete cell with shared bathroom. As it was, I took the most expensive room, although it will win no awards for decor, it had air conditioning and an en-suite shower. Considering the heat I didn't think air conditioning a luxury.

WEDS 13th APRIL

At 9am I caught a zemi-john to the garage for Malanville, which is the border town for Niger. The bush taxi left at 9.30am. It was very full, it was a small car, which should have carried a maximum of 4 passengers, but in fact they got 7 people into it. I thought I had caught a bush taxi all the way, but at the town of Kandi, I had to change cars, although I didn't have to pay any extra. The car we were transferred to was even older and more decrepit. The windscreen looked like it had been glued back together from dozens of pieces.



We finally arrived at the border town at 2pm. I told the crowd hustling for business as I got out of the car, that I needed a drink. One of them showed me to a Buvette (bar). I had a 0.6 litre bottle of coke for only 400 CFA's. I then felt human enough to approach a motorcycle taxi. The motorbike took me across the border, through the border controls and onto the garage in the town on the other side.



I was delivered into the hands of another bush taxi. I was told it wouldn't be long before they left; as they only had to find another 2 passengers. In fact I waited an hour. Whilst I was waiting, I searched for some water. It was difficult to find - the only water I did find was boiling hot, it had been sitting in the sun all day. Instead I bought several bottles of soft drinks.



The car finally left at 4pm. I knew I was back in a Muslim country when the car had to stop for prayers. We finally arrived in Niamey, the capital of Niger at 8pm. I then caught a taxi to the Hotel Sahel. The vehicle didn't sound very healthy and in fact finally broke down 100 metres from the door of the hotel. So, the driver walked with me to the hotel entrance. The place cost me 25000 CFA's, which includes satellite TV and air conditioning. I needed to eat, as I hadn't eaten all day - so I went straight to the Hotel's restaurant and felt so much better!

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Photos

Piroque on lake Nakoue
Travelling to the stilt village of Ganvie

Cotonou
View from the balcony of the Hotel de la Plage

Ganvie
Fishing nets on Lake Nakoue

Ganvie
Taking a break in a bar

Abomey
Hotel Chez Monique