Traffic in Ganvie

Gliding Through Ganvie, Benin

---

November 14th 2006
November 11: We crept into Benin at twilight, after hours of frustrating travel to the East frontier of Ghana and across Togo. The country appeared unremarkable at first sight: a plain of grassy earth punctuated by a few modest mud structures and tall palm trees ending, rather abruptly, at the deep blue waters of the Gulf of Guinea. The chartered taxi that we were traveling in dropped us in the ... read more

Africa » Benin » South » Cotonou

---

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 gov... ... read more