Blogs from Benin, Africa - page 2

The next place on our itinerary was the small club-shaped nation of Benin, birthplace of voodoo and stretching only 120km along its coastline at the southern end of the country. The Benin border was great, talk about a quick exit from Togo, quick entry into Benin and a border upon which you can buy everything you could possibly need at the time (at very cheap prices!). Between the two of us we bought ice cream, cold drinks, meat snacks from street vendors, new shorts and scarves - it was a really easy border and a great little shopping stop! We headed for our destination of the day – Ouidah, and were pleasantly surprised how lush and green the landscape is. It really seems a lot more green than previous countries! Palm tree plantations stretched along beside ... read more

Cotonou, the 'safest city in Africa', was quite dull. Miles and Sally ate a pizza and were strolling towards the hotel when Sally's bag was snatched. Miles bolted after the thief at slightly less than top speed, down narrow dark alleys, leaping across drainage ditches, vaulting fences, and kicking a dog in the head. Cowboy boots were not made for running, nor was Miles. He casually wondered about the abandoned Sally, whether he would see or hear of himself again and pounded stupidly on, thief still in sight. The robber entered a house. Miles followed, bursting into a simple sitting room where a family watched TV, no thief in sight. Miles, huge and white, stood panting, then spun on his Cuban heel and exited wordlessly. In a candlelit night Mileset he laughed guiltily at the remnants ... read more

Wednesday June 16: Benin We left the beach in Ouidah to go to Cotonu, with some stops along the way. We started at the Door of No Return, which was one of the last stops for the enslaved to be taken to the New World. There was a memorial set up to represent the last stop of the Slave Trail in West Africa. We continued along the road, which was the Slave trail, and saw many statues that had been put up as part of the Dahomey Kingdom and the religion of Voodoo. The next stop was at the Dahomey Kingdom and the palace that still exists today from it. The Kings would build their own palace right beside the previous Kings palace. It was interesting to see how Benin functioned before colonialism began. We then ... read more

May 14, 2010 Hotel: Hotel de la Pendjari, Benin Today was the start of our two-day safari to Pendjari Park, on the border of Benin and Burkina Faso. It is one of the best organized parks in West Africa, well maintained and has a list of accredited guides. We left the hotel around 6AM for the 2-hr drive to the park entrance. There are several guesthouses near the entrance to the park, but the only hotel inside the park is some 75kms from the entrance, quite a drive! The road from Nati to Tanguieta was paved, followed by dirt piste to the park gates. From there it was rattling washboard road all the way to the hotel.. I felt a little dizzy so popped a Dramamine which helped immensely. We arranged for 60,000 CFA per day ... read more

May 12, 2010 Hotel: Chez Monique, Abomey, Benin We woke up this morning around 5:30 to get to the bus station, hoping to catch an actual bus for the 3-hr ride north to Abomey. One thing we had noticed in Benin was the proliferation of motorcycle taxis, known as zemidjans (or zems for short). The drivers all wear yellow or purple shirts, and the cost is pretty cheap. It was so early though (still dark out) and there weren't many out on the street yet, we had to wait a few minutes before a moto came by, he then drove off and was able to get two more. They plunked our bags onto the handlebars and then we rode off into the cool morning air on the pillion. About $0.60 to the bus station, at Etoile ... read more