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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.
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.
For visiting Ganvie in the Lake Nokoue you can take a boat from Abomey-Calavi.At the launching point there it was very lively with a lot of pirogues with local people. I really enjoyed to look at this.For the 8 KM ride to Ganvie you can choose to take a roofed motorboat or a piroque.With 5 persons we took the motorboat, paying 4000 CFA each, without guide.
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 !
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.
In the heart of the city of Cotonou, near the intersection of the Avenue Clozel and Avenue, you see the colourful cathedral in red and white, like a landmark.From here it's only 300 M to the old bridge, the "Pont Ancien'', crossing the Lagune de Cotonou, going east.
The extension of our visa for Benin, we had to arrange in Cotonou. So we decided to spend a day here by exploring the city on foot.Cotonou is not that exciting, but just a relaxed city to walk around. We had a drink in the Jonquet area with the nightclubs and bars and a good meal somewhere in the heart of the city near the junction of the avenue Clozel and Avenue Steinmetz and we found some cybercafes.You can also visit the Grand Marche de Dantopka north of this area.
It's nice to take the untarred road from Ouidah to Cotonou along the coast of the ocean. The 40 KM long route shows a beautiful scenery of the ocean and beaches edged by palmtrees. There were also a lot of small fishermen villages along the road, with huts made of palmleaves and with many small boats at the beach.The kids and adults were enthusiastically waving and yelling at us, when we passed.
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.
From the towncentre of Ouidah leads the 4 KM long Route of the Slaves to the coast, the road of no return. This is the route the slaves took to the coast to board the ships to the Americas. Along the road you can find many monumental statues of traditional African symbols. Also nowadays this road has its significance for the people of Ouidah because of the supernatural and historical legends about this road. You can still find here a lot of fetishes along the road.
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Reviews and photos of Benin attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Benin sightseeing.
Q: I shall be travelling through Ghana, Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso very soon. Any advice on what I should or should not wear...
A: Hi I am assuming from your VT name that you don't usually favour skimpy clothing? Well, just in case I am mistaken, this is not the part of the world to venture out in...
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