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The museum of Ouidah is located in one of the former forts of Ouidah, just south of the Grand Marche.
Ouidah was one of the most important centres of slavetrading in West Africa, so the exhibitions in the museum concern for a major part the slave trade and the connections of Benin with Brazil and the Caribbean.
Entrance fee is 1000 CFA, including a friendly guide.
First I couldn't enter the museum, because there was not enough change. Leave a Comment Address: Ouidah is at the coast 42 KM west of CotonouPhone: 341021Directions: The museum is in the centre of Ouidah, just south of the market.
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The people of Ganvie live mainly of fishbreeding and fishing. The fishermen plant branches in the muddy bottom of the Lake Nokoue.
When the leaves start to decompose, the fish come here to feed themselves. At that moment the men and boys of the village come to catch the fish in their nets. Leave a Comment
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The village Ganvie is established in the 18th century by the Tofino people. They tried to escape from the Fon people and the Dahomey kingdoms, coming from the north. Because of local customs the Fon people were not allowed to attack people in the water. So the Tofino decided to build their villages in the swampy lake. They constructed their houses about 2 meter above the water level. Leave a Comment Directions: You can reach Ganvie by boat. It is about 8 KM from Abomey-Calavi.
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Walking in the garden of the Voodoo museum in Ouidah I saw this striking colourful panel with mystical eyes and snakes.
My guide couldn't explain me exactly the meaning and use from it. Anyway it was once used as a door, he said.
I liked the colours and the images of it. Leave a Comment Address: In the Voodoo museum in Ouidah.
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In Ganvie the whole daily life takes place on the water, so does all the transport. It looks like children learn to handle a boat before they can even walk.
I swa a clinic, the postoffice, some shops, all on stilts on the water.
There is also a floating market. The market women gather with their boats full of colourful vegetables, spices and other stuff at a central point in the village. Leave a Comment Directions: In the centre of Ganvie
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Not every building in Ganvie is built on wooden stilts. In the middle of the village Ganvie you will find a small island with solid soil. Here at this island some buildings of stone, like the church and the school are constructed.
This is also the only place in the village where you see the villagers walk around instead of moving by boat. Leave a Comment
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There are a lot of beaches in Benin.
Driving from Ouidah to Cotonou we saw during 40 KM only beautiful beaches, mostly with a lot of palmtrees.
During the sunny days it's too hot to be at the beach unprotected, without any shade.
So you have to look out for enough palmtrees or a also an hotel/ campsite/ restaurant with parasols or sun-roofs will do, maybe even better. Leave a Comment Address: South coast
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When you visit Benin don't stay only at the beaches and in the towns, but visit also the countryside and the villages.
I really enjoyed to travel in the countryside.
The atmosphere there is very peaceful.
The people in the villages are very friendly and the landscape is beautiful.
Travelling can be very dusty. At the end of the day we looked rather reddish, but that was part of the fun. Leave a Comment Directions: The countryside is everywhere, directly outside the towns. Ketou is east of Abomey near the Nigerian border.
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Driving along the coast from Ouidah to Cotonou, we saw a lot of villages. Sometimes the whole community of the fishermen village helped to get the returned boat ashore. we saw dozens of people, drawing and dragging all together the ropes.
It was amazing to look at ! Leave a Comment Directions: Coast of the ocean between Ouidah and Cotonou.
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A few hundreds of metres west of the memorial in honour of the departed slaves is another monument at the same beach.
Also this monument looks very impressive.
In the middle you can recognize the contour of the map of Benin.
This monument is erected in 2000 at the occasion of the millenium. Leave a Comment Address: 4 KM south of Ouidah at the beach.Directions: Just west of the memorial of the slaves.
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on April 8, 2004
