Voodoo markets & Contonou: Bikers Galore – Benin 12th March 2010
Date: Monday 22nd March, 2010 | Country: Benin | 5 Comments »The Benin border was very straight forward, it was Reka’s turn to do all the paperwork and within 45 minutes she returned and we were ready to enter country no.11 within Africa. The border had a slightly different feel to Togo as there were many more people selling all sorts of things from ice creams to cd’s.
History
Around 350 years ago, Benin had been split into numerous principalities ruled by various kings. Each King grew richer by selling slaves to European traders, Porto Novo and Ouidah became significant trading posts along the coast. For a century an average of 10,000 slaves were shipped to the Americas every year. After French colonisation, Benin (then known as Dahomey) became independent in 1960, during the next 10 years Benin went through four military coups, nine changes of government and five changes of constitution. In the 70’s and 80’s Dahomey became known as Benin, ideologies were aligned to China and Marxism. A new constitution and Marxism was changed in 1989, Mathieu Kerekou ended his two 5 year term in office in 2006 and the new president Yayi Boni was elected with his campaign focused on ‘change’ pledging to fight corruption and have a stable economy.
Ice Cream
Have to give the following a quick mention while I am travelling through Africa. For the past few countries since Ghana I have had the pleasure of experiencing Fan Milk. For those that have tasted this lovely ice cream you’ll know that vendors tend to walk the roads or by bike carrying a frozen container with a number of ice creams and yogurts which cost very little (£0.10) to buy one. In the roasting heat to have one of these is like heaven in a sachet full of pleasure! Thank you Fan Milk!!
Voodoo Markets
*Warning – You may find the photos below disturbing*
On the way to Contonou the capital we had read that there was a town called Ouidah that was was meant to have a place where voodoo practitioners are able to buy there ‘ingredients’. On entering Ouidah the town seemed very chilled and there were many bars and chop houses serving the locals. We found a small square that had a centre piece of a wooden carving (see below) that told many interesting stories, like one of the opening scenes from Spirited away we walked around and saw many interesting sculptures and it would have been great to speak to someone about them.
We then parked up close to what looked like an indoor market and Reka then pointed to somewhere outside that on closer inspection was something I wasn’t really prepared for. Firstly, from a visual perspective, to see several hundred animals all laid out on a table was like walking into a natural history museum but confined to one room as opposed to several hundred. Secondly the smell was incredible, it is something I cannot describe aptly to you, you just have to be here! Thirdly, the spectrum of animals here was unforgettable, the pictures below may not clearly show this but from insects, birds, amphibians to mammals there was everything and anything here. For me it was sad, I don’t understand the culture surrounding voodoo.
Above: Voodoo Market, where a picture says a thousand words.
I am not an animist but 20 or 30% of all people in Benin are, to see Lion hides, monkey paws, dog heads, the question of animal preservation weighing against curing ailments does not seem to be a factor from what I saw, there could have been 80% of the animals on show to be in danger. On talking to Nicephore that we met later that day, being an Animist is like being religious but the beliefs behind the practises of voodoo go back generations of people and I don’t know too much about it to give a less biased view from what I saw.
What better way after spending a day in a voodoo market was by getting my haircut by some blunt shears!
Cotonou: Bikers Galore
What a crazy manic pollution filled experience Cotonou is, to be surrounded by thousands of motorbikes and to predict their every unsafe manoeuvre is something you have to experience, driving through here was exhilarating and scary at the same time. Most people use bikes as a form of taxi here and all taxi bikes wear yellow shirts here and outside the city it becomes a blue shirt.
Above: Crazy Contonou
Luckily we didn’t have to stay in the city itself as we met Nicephore on the road asking for directions to which he initially led us to a hotel but after having a few beers with him, he kindly offered his balcony in the cool wind to sleep for a few nights. Nicephore lives both in Benin and Denmark and his business is in tyres bring them over from Europe and selling them in Benin. We would like to thank him and his wife for putting us for a few nights, he with the help of his great cook Eve cooked us some great food while we were there. Their daughter known as Shukett was Reka’s playmate while we stayed there and she is one crazy but intelligent 4 year old!
Above: Shukett & Nicephore’s balcony
Conclusion
After only spending a few days in Benin we had a few amazing experiences, there is a lot more to see from what I have read about this country but unfortunately time is pushing on and I also have to apply for a new British passport in Nigeria the next country. We met some nice people who were very proud to tell us about their country, apart from dodging the bikers as a driver outside of the towns and cities driving can be a relaxing experience compared to some countries I have seen already. The border on exiting Benin on a Sunday is absolutely rubbish, people are half asleep, clueless about where to go and the Carnet could not be stamped so I left without the exit stamp after asking several people for an alternative.
My New look