Blogs from South, Benin, Africa - page 2

Monday June 14: Ghana This day was awesome! Spent most of it outside at a Botanical garden, Dr. Opoku’s farm, and also went to an Herbal Medicine Center. We went from Accra (which is a large city) to the mountains (and I can’t remember the name of where we went to). The mountains were beautiful and made me feel right at home. The first stop up the mountain was the Herbal Medicine center where they have found many natural ways to help people. Some of the main issues they are currently working on are Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Typhoid, and some issues present in Africa and around the world. We were also able to purchase some of the herbal remedies if we wanted to; so I bought a natural painkiller, so we will see how that works. ... 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

Geo: 7.18456, 1.9903Today we finished off our last chaotic border crossing. I've got to think that running the gauntlets that are major West African border crossings gives one a preview of a Mad Max apocalypse in motion. People running in all directions, everyone shouting instructions and no one actually listening, overloaded vehicles just daring a customs official to undo the one rope holding all of the legal and illegal cargo in place, livestock desperately searching for grass and shade (at least those critters not tied securely to the top of a truck or hanging upside down from a piece of string), and stamp-happy immigration police writing our personal details into a large 1984ish ledger book that could not possibly be a meaningful future data source. I think there must be a lesser known prize among African ... read more

Safe & Sound... will update the blog at some point in the very near future! :) (Finally found a wifi connection here today). :)TnT... read more

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 fish and lots of lobster available. Each day we could watch see fishermen, 20 or so people working together to slowly tug a giant net up on to the beach. After a few days of ... read more