Getting Around Benin

If you are travelling from the UK the visa for Benin is very fast and easy to get. Mine arrived within 7 days and I got it through CIBT a visa agency in London.
The cost of the visa is £45 if you are applying directly through the embassy and CIBT charge a processing fee of £55 plus postage. This is for single entry, and as we decided to go to Togo for a day trip I had to purchase an extra visa at the border. I got a 48 hour transit visa which cost me 10,000 CFA (about €15)

The address for the Benin consulate in London is
Millennium Business Centre
Humber Trading Est, Humber Rd, London, NW2 6DW, UK
Tel +44 20 88308612

The taxi motorbike is very popular throughout Benin. The name ZimZim comes from the word Zemija which means “ take me as far as you can.” The ZimZim taxis started during the financial crisis of the post Marxist 1980’s when the government could not afford to maintain the roads. The only vehicles that could negotiate most roads were motorbikes so unemployed university students in Porto Nuovo started taking passengers on their motorbikes, which could take most people right to their front doors. The trend soon spread to other areas and the ZimZim is now the most popular type of taxi.
In Cotonou and the surrounding towns the ZimZim drivers wear yellow shirts so they can be easily identified amongst all the motorbike riders.
None of the ZimZim drivers have safety helmets! However, in busy cities like Cotonou they don't get the chance to drive too fast.

Petrol costs 480 CFA per litre at the petrol stations. However, most people buy the petrol that is brought in privately from Nigeria. It is either transported by road via Porto Nuovo using specially adapted motorbikes or down the river by boat. All along the roadside in Benin you will see stalls selling petrol in smaller bottles for the motorbikes or larger ones for the cars. The cost at the roadside is 350 CFA.
There are 650 CFA to 1 euro

The main method of transport for people in Benin is the motorbike. As you drive through the main cities and towns it is not unusual to see over 20 motorbikes waiting at the traffic lights. They are driven by both men and women and nobody wears a crash helmet. It is common to see families of 3 or 4 people on one motorbike. The cost of a motorbike is now around $1000 dollars and they are made in China. Much cheaper than a car and easier to get through the traffic.

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On the main street leading to Nigeria you see so many loaded cars literally stuffed full of people. This car shows three rows of seats and then still loads of luggage. Mostly you will have three people in the front seat and then as many as can fit in the back. Not always comfortable and its a wonder the cars go at all with all the rattles you hear when you are going. We often hired a taxi just for the two of us, so that we could go where we wanted. We paid 2000 cfa for one hour. Its cheaper if you share the taxi with others.

Within the city of Cotonou you will never be left stranded. The roads of Benin are full of motorcycles (Zemidjan) wanting to give you a ride. The familiar looking yellow jacketed motorcycle riders will never leave you alone on the road, they will always stop by you hinting you a lift. Night or day it is really easy a mode of transport. Just carry a helmet with you..the ride is rough !!!

There are a few connections from/to the Cotonou Airport.
Airlines Operating

Air Senegal - to and from Dakar (Senegal) , Abidjan (Cote d'ivoire)
Air Mauritaine - to and from Dakar, Abidjan, Bamako (Mali)
Air Ivoire - to and from Abidjan
Air France - to and from Paris (daily)
Air Gabon - to and from Libreville (Gabon)
Air Burkina - to and from Ougadougou

Air MAuritaine, Air Gabon, Air France are the better airlines that I have travelled in, the rest operate smaller aircrafts.

For anyone coming from Europe, the best connection is Air France - Paris. From US and americas, the best connection is from Senegal.

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Theyll get you everywhere in Cotonou for between CFA 2-350, theyre very handy, and theyre very unsafe. Couldnt do without them for sure, but I wish they all had proper mirrors and lights and drove a tad slower. Zapping trough town on a zemidjan at dusk is fantastic - candle lit stores on the sidewalks, zillions of huge bats in the sky.