A fon gandia! (Greetings! in Fon language in Benin) We've been in Africa one week now, and it feels good to have the warm sun on my face and the gritty dust in my eyes.
I'm traveling with my friend Jaimie from Boston, and I have to say she puts my traveling experience to shame with her "minimalist" packing skills and extensive globetrotting travels. It's not often that I meet a fellow traveler who also thrives on exploring the path less trodden via any means possible, and can handle hours of discomfort riding on cramped buses, trains, and motorbikes with for me, traveling is about the journey, the people I meet along the way, both new friends and old, and the "destination" is just wherever I happen to be for the day.
For this trip, the destination is really close to my heart, because I'm in now back in Benin! My main goal is reconnecting with many of my friends and former colleagues, and West Africa is new for Jaimie, so we're taking in as many of the local cultural sights and activities along the route.
- Dancing and drumming on Labadi beach on the coast of Accra until far too late
- Confusing & crowded tro tros of Accra, making friends along the way (a lady tried to take us home with her)
- Peace and tranquility of the secluded KO-SA beach resort 20km outside of Cape Coast
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| Cape Coast KOSA beach, Ghana |
- Surviving the crashing waves of West African coast and swimming in the ocean
- Fresh coconuts (coconut juice!) and playing frisbee with kids on a deserted beach in Ghana
- Exploring Lomé (Togo) with a soccer friend I met in Berlin last year (Discover Football)
- Staying with Marianne in her village in Saxwe-land (Benin), and eating at the restaurant on stilts on Possotomé Lake
- Riding on zemidjens (motorbike taxi) at terrifying speeds through chaotic traffic in Cotonou (Benin)
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| First zemidjen ride in Benin (going to Possotomé Lake) |
- Meeting up with Parakou friends now in Cotonou
- FAN MILK ice cream and TAMPICO!! (or Fandango as Tampico is now called)
That brings you up to speed on the past week, we have officially been in Africa 7 days now and have covered a lot of ground! Today my friend from Parakou took us out to Ouidah, a coastal town with a lot of history on the slave trade and voodoo origins. The main road to Ouidah is under construction, we had already traveled it on our way into Cotonou the day before, it was bumpy, dusty, and very unpleasant in general. My friend suggested that the "road" along the beach would be best, so off we went on his motorbike and Jaimie on the hired zem. Planned to leave early, but had to dash across town at 7am to buy our bus tickets for the next morning to Parakou, so by the time we left for Ouidah it was after 8am and the sun was already high in the sky.
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| My friend Mahomet (Parakou athlete) who took us to Ouidah |
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| Beach road from Cotonou to Ouidah |
Main point of interest for us at Ouidah was the "Gate of No Return", the point where the captured slaves passed through on their way to the ships carrying them to Europe, America, and the Caribbean According to the self-appointed tour guide, approximately 15 million slaves went through this gate, mostly to the Americas. Benin is the birthplace of voodoo, so it was from this gate in Ouidah that voodoo spread across the seas to the Americas with the slave trade in the 1500`s through the mid 1800`s. The tour guide actually did very well explaining the history, most of which I had never heard before, and then I did my best to translate to English for Jaimie (I got a bit brain-drained in the midday blazing sun, somewhat dehydrated as well).
From Ouidah we tore back to Cotonou on the red dirt road, and then headed onto the famous Ganvié fishing village on the other side of Cotonou. Covered in fine red dust, still haven't finished my morning cup of coffee, it's noon and we haven't had breakfast, but decide to head out on an open boat to tour the village on stilts in the middle of a lake in 45'C midday heat. Our tour guide was very eager, I didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't come, so he joined Jaimie and I on the motorized pirogue (wooden canoe) and chatted away at us about the local folklore on how the village on stilts came to be.
Slightly sun-stroked and covered in a what felt like a month's worth of travel dust, we made it back to Cotonou for Lebanese late lunch, picked up our passports from the Burkina Faso consulate, sped back to our host home (couchsurf) just minutes before a lovely tropical rainstorm blew in. Cool rains definitely welcomed for our 8 hour bus trip (hopefully with a/c) to Parakou tomorrow morning, where we'll be spending the weekend before continuing north to Burkina. Excited to see more friends in Parakou, 3 days is much too short, but it will be nice to spend time with good friends even if just for a brief time.
Until next time, maybe will update after our safari tour of Pendjari Park once we arrive in Ouagadougou (Burkina) and have a decent internet connection again.
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