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Published: August 28th 2006
Day 1
Natalie and I head out bright and early on the bus to Parakou. We are so beautiful... right.I found out during a week of travel in early August that it's not only when in Kansas that I have to vacation to find mountains and waterfalls. I went north; oh my, it is beautiful. I traveled with Natalie, another volunteer from southern Benin who had never seen the upper part of the country. We met Sunday night in Cotonou, then took the bus to Parakou the following day. Parakou is the Cotonou equivalent for the north of Benin, which makes it quite a hopping city. Parakou is the mid-point of the country north and south, and is the junction to continue northeast toward Malanville, or northwest to Natitingou. Natalie and I went in both directions.
We spent Monday afternoon in Parakou with one of our colleagues who lives there. We had wanted to be tourists and go through the museum, but it looked rather dead and the volunteer said it wasn’t too exciting, so we followed her to her missionary friends’ home. There I found a playground; not just any playground, but a magnificent, Erika-sized playground! I swung on the swings for a while, then balanced with Natalie on the teeter-totter, and then swung again until we had
Lean Natalie, Lean!
Natalie and I balance, for the most part, on the teeter-totter in Parakou. to leave for the market. Our hostess is an excellent cook, I learned; we had pad Thai, salad, and white wine for dinner.
The terrain changed significantly just south of Parakou. There are hills and large boulders in Benin! The south is mostly flood or coastal plain, filled with palm-oil trees on land that was once covered in a seasonal rain forest of towering Iroko, Fromagier, and other beautiful trees. The change to climb-worthy hills and boulders awaiting scramblers was a lift for my soul I hadn’t known possible. The vegetation appeared mostly the same as the south, but re-texturized.
On Tuesday we left for Karimama, a town farther north than Malanville, and home of the most northern volunteer. Natalie and I had to wait about an hour for the taxi to leave Parakou, and we had to wait again in Guéné, the junction for Karimama, but after ten hours and a small rainstorm, we arrived. Toward Karimama the land flattened again- we were on the Niger River floodplain. The vegetation changed; baobab was the tree I could identify, and all the plants were scrubby and more widely dispersed, like pre-desert. The rainy season had just begun, so
Niger River Floodplain
Looking toward Niger from Karimama. the vibrant young green plants reminded me of spring. And, of course, there was lots of mud.
The volunteer in Karimama speaks Dendi. A working Dendi, which means not really fluent, but much better than my Mina communication skills. We ate lentil burgers and treated our hostess to a beer as well. The next morning, we went to the Niger River and gave her a good looking over. We rented a canoe for a couple of hours, and stayed on the river and walked on the little island for most of the morning. The overcast sky and the rain from the day before kept the sun from beating us too badly, and the landscape and the company were ever so pleasant. Our boat guide spoke Dendi and rough French, so Natalie and I were given Dendi names and traded vocabulary in three languages: Dendi, French, and English. Mina was useless that far north. My Dendi name is Fatima. (in Mina, my name is Kwasiba, which means I was born on Sunday. I was born on a Sunday, right?)
We left that same day’s afternoon, after a nice nap. We stayed the night in Kandi, another busy little northern
Jack the Parrot
Actually he's a cat, but he really liked to perch on my shoulder. What a weird baby. town. The next day we arrived in Parakou again, to find a taxi to Djougou.
Djougou is a lovely town with lots of commerce, tree lined streets, and one mean omelette sandwich stand. I was also more cold in Djougou than I have ever been in Africa- I slept with two sheets over my legs! The next day was warm, and Natalie and I caught a taxi direct to Natitingou. There, we dropped off our stuff and went to eat the best lunch a person can find in the north: pounded yams with peanut sauce and wagasi, a type of cheese. Oh, you have never found yams pounded so smoothly or a sauce so sweet and perfectly spicy. And the cheese, well, whoever does not like it, I will gladly pick up your slack.
Natitingou is in the Atacora Mountain Range. “Mountains;” these aren’t the Rockies, but I was winded after climbing to the top (which took about 10 minutes hurrying). The vegetation was much the same as in Karimama, but up-and-down. Valleys and peaks and waterfalls and everything but snow.
On Saturday we took our time getting going. The night before had been on the town,
Volunteers in a Boat
Heading out to view the river. drinking tchoukoutou, or fermented millet. It’s good stuff. We ate French toast before heading out with a third volunteer to find a taxi to Tangieta, another village about an hour north of Natitingou. Tangieta is a lovely town too, I am sure, but we only looked for zemidjans to take us to the waterfalls, another 40 kilometers away.
The afternoon spent at the waterfalls was my favorite. That’s hard to say after the morning spent on the Niger River, but in the end, it’s mountains and waterfalls that I love. The zemi drivers liked to move right along, so while sitting on my zippy moto I watched the beautiful countryside slide by. The mountain range was to my right as we drove to the waterfalls, with cornfields and Mango-Acacia tree farms to the left. As Tangieta drew farther behind us, the groupings of huts became smaller and the road grew ruttier. While I was looking right and left, the zemi driver was intelligently looking ahead; I know this because that’s where he directed my attention to two monkeys! Two monkeys, just spending time in their natural habitat, in front of me! It was like a city-dweller seeing deer for
Fatima in a Boat
Eli was a great tour guide. We saw a dead snake in the water and all kinds of birds (But what birds were they??) the first time, as in, I was very excited, but the zemi driver told me he saw them often.
At this point in the report I would love to give you a description of the bird life, but in place of that I have a confession with an excuse: I forgot two critical items because I packed hurriedly, 1) my bird book, and 2) my binoculars. Oh, c’était grave! I can tell you I might have seen a black-bellied or a Senegal bustard, a Senegal parrot or a yellow-bellied fruit pigeon, a little ringed plover or a crocodile bird, and some kind of hornbill. I tried to identify what I had seen in the north after returning to Athiémé, but it was too frustrating. The birds and the trees and the landscape were beautiful. (Some kind of barbet, or was it a species of woodpecker? I just don’t know!)
I can describe for you what I saw of the people. The north has a reputation for being calm; no price haggling, no harassment for money or marriage; I think this reputation is true to form. From the dealings I had with the northern Beninese, I have to say
To Catch Fish...
This is a great picture of land up north; to be honest, to have a picture mid-net throw is pretty darn cool. hassling was not part of the process. The friendliness I find in the south was just as apparent in the north. The most distinctive people in the north are the Fulani, the mostly nomadic cattle herders. Their features of high cheekbones and fine face structures make them easy to recognize. This culture of people also dresses a little differently with a different manner of wearing cloth, and with the addition of many bracelets and delicate make-up. “Beautiful” is the best way to describe what I saw.
We discovered upon arriving that there were two waterfalls, the first being short and wide, the second, after scrambling over rocks and tree limbs, we found to be tall and thin with a perfect swimming hole at its base. And the water felt beautiful, as water usually does.
I was accused of swimming too long, the reason why we had to wait for the rain to pass. But pass the rain did, and we raced back to Tangieta for a taxi to Natitingou. Zemidjans are the best method of drying off after swimming. The following day was the long bus ride to the south. Home again, home again! I brought back lots
On the River
This is a village in Niger on the river. It looks a lot like a village in Benin on the river. of wagasi for my friends in Athiémé, and many pictures for myself. I do love my home, but I also really like going places.
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Greta
non-member comment
It looks really pretty! Woohoo! Is this what I get to see when I visit the north with you?!?!?!?!?