Any Travels

Benin is situated in West Africa on the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea. It has land borders to the north by Niger, on the west by Togo, and on the northwest by Burkina Faso.

The coast has no natural harbors, river mouths or islands, due to access difficulty because of sandbanks. Behind the coastline is a network of lagoons, from that of Grand Popo on the Togo border (navigable at all seasons) and joined to Lake Aheme, to that of Porto-Novo on the east, in which flows Benin's longest river, the Oueme, navigable for some 125 miles of its total of 285 miles. Beside Oueme, the only other major river in the south is Couffo, which flows into Lake Aheme. The Mono, serving from Parahoue to Grand Pope, has the boundary with Togo and is navigable for 50 miles but subject to torrential floods in the rainy season.

Benin's northern rivers, the Mekrou, Alibory and Sota, which are tributaries of the Niger, and the Pandjari, a tributary of the Volta, are torrential and broken by rocks. North of the narrow belt of coastal sand is a region of lateritic clay, the main oil palm area, intersected by a marshy depression between Allada and Abomey that stretches east to the Nigerian frontier. North of the hills of Dassa, the height ranges from 200 to 500 feet, broken only by the Atakora Mountains (1,500 - 2,400 ft), stretching in a southwesterly direction into Togo.

Benin has played a major role in the Slave trade in the 17-th and 18-th century. From that period you will find many monuments reminding the traveler of the tragic sort of those deported to the West Indies and Brazil. After that the French have colonialized the country and the have left a profound mark on the country. It is in many aspects a very French country. Cotonou even has its own Boul' Mich and you will see Beninois walking there with a baguette under one arm and a French newspaper under the other.

From Cotonou it is 20 minutes to Porto Rotondo with its museums and royal palace. The slave port of Ouidah with many historical sites and museums is 40 Kms west of Cotonou. To Abomey, the ancient capital of Dahomey it is 100km north. All main roads are paved and in good condition.

Ganvie, "the Venice of Africa" a village build on stakes in the lake is a few kilometres north of Cotonou.

Porto Novo is the capital city and one of the most interesting towns in Benin. It has a number of buildings dating from the period when the Portuguese used it as a base for buying slaves which were shipped off to the New World.

Other sights in town include the Musee Ethnographique which retraces the history of Porto Novo and has a good collection of Yoruba masks, the Palais Royal of King Toffa now a museum which gives you a good impression of how African royalty lived before Colonial times.

Just outside of town is the Grand Marche d'Adjara which is held every fourth day. There is also an interesting Brazilian-style church here which is now in use as a mosque. Another good option for a day trip is to hire a priogue and to make a trip to one of the villages on the lagoon.