| Benin has been something of a closely
kept secret since a group of young army officers, led by Major Kerekou, put a
halt to twelve years of repeated coups by taking control of the country themselves, in
1972. Even now, after the relaxing of the Major's
Marxist-Leninist line that turned colonial Dahomey into the People's Republic of Benin,
and earned it a somewhat naive title of The Cuba of West Africa, the Gulf of
Guinea's least known nation is still not on most travellers' list of destinations.
International representation may be lodged in the
characterless coastal town of Cotonou, but it is
not the country's capital. Principal status is reserved for a town with a more pleasant
setting, and a proper place in history; Porto Novo.
All routes lead to Cotonou though, and once official
business is seen to, then diversions and ways out of the sandy grid are sought.
For many Europeans on the Trans-Sahara Peugeot run, the
road ends in Niger; although flights to Europe are generally cheaper from the northern
Nigerian town of Kano.
Those who do travel along the coast, between Abidjan and
Lagos, look at Cotonou as nothing more than a stop between Ghana's beaches and the flight
home.
In fact there isn't really that much to do in Cotonou, except get out;
unless you like the idea of paying to join the French around the pool at the Sheraton. |
© Travel Notes
|
The most accessible attraction is the lake
dwellings at Ganvie.
|
Share-taxis to the landing stage at
Abomey-Calavi leave from the Dan Topka market at the end of Boulevard Saint Michel, in
Cotonou. And then the rip-off begins.... You'll need
to pay tourist prices to get on the lake. |
Called an African Venice, because fifteen
thousand people live in the dwellings perched on piles in the lake, Ganvie is a lot more
to the Tofinu peoples. |
To the Tofinu
peoples, Ganvie means:
the collectivity of those who found peace at last.
In the sixteenth century, the ruling Dan-Homey King combed
the countryside for men to be traded off in exchange for the goods that the Europeans
brought with them; especially guns.
On Lake Ganvie -- © Michel Guntern, Travel Notes
Initially, the weaker communities seeking refuge from the king's army were safe
on the lake, as the Abomey religion prohibited warriors from attacking over water. |
Then, at the end of the Seventeenth Century,
other feuds occurred, and there was a migration from over-farmed Tado to the swampy forest
around Lake Nokoue.
The Tofinu people work their lake efficiently, planting
branches in the shallow waters to produce artificial thickets that trap the fish for
extraction or breeding.
Women, accompanied by their young daughters, also preserve
the daily commerce of the riverside markets.
As Benin opens up, even the police are friendly, and
everyone has time for a smile.
Closed doors seem a thing of the past, but unfortunately,
"cadeaux" has become a word of the present.
Journey to Benin -- Landing in Lagos
Being in Benin -- © Travel Notes |
