Benin Travel Blogs

A Day in the Life of a Project and other tales
Apr 17, 2005

... anyway due to the drop in prices in the market. A journalist recently wrote an article specifically about the cotton industry in Benin and published it in one of the major economist/financial magazines in the states (the name escapes me). For those who ...

Bembereke and Women's Day
May 8, 2005 (6 photos)

... while not so important in the U.S. where women have a lot of rights, it is a very important in places like Benin where women's importance is continually downplayed and denied. Hence, I helped organize my second women's day celebration in Bembereke and this ...

Celebrating the voodun New Year
Jan 10, 2005 (2 photos)

... as such, is a national holiday. I made arrangements to attend a traditional ceremony in Bohicon, near Abomey, the cultural capitol of Benin. Met by Dah, the son of the voodoo chief and a traditional healer, I was brought to a ceremony in which people, ...

Cotonou
Mar 21, 2003

Hi Guys, You can read our update from Cotonou in our entry from Niamey, Niger entitled 'Togo and Benin to Niger'. Cheers, K & S

A Hodge-Podge of Thoughts
Sep 3, 2004 (2 photos)

You wake up under the green haze of a mosquito net that has become almost an extension of your own body; in the morning, your feet press outwards, tugging the protective layer away from the mattress, explaining those mysterious bug bites on your stomach, ...

My best friend and her daughter
May 8, 2005 (5 photos)

This entry is basically a manner to preserve digital images that others have taken with digital cameras and emailed to me. The photos here are of my best friend and her daughter, Clarisse who is a little over two years old now... so I have known her for ...

Bye Bye Benin
Nov 23, 2008 (4 photos)

Non convaincu par Cotonou, grosse ville surpeuplée par la pollution, j'ai fais une rencontre extraordianire d'un immigré clandestin traversant les frontières en quête d'une vie meilleur. Après lui avoir payé l'hotel, nous nous quittons ce matin à 10h40 car moi ...

notes cuturelles
Jul 28, 2006

Here are a few of the cultural differences from a worksheet that we received comparing and contrasting American and Beninese cultures: Benin- you can assume that sleepers are tired and can sleep though most noises, as they have been doing since they ...

Day 76 - Benin, Ouidah - Togo/Benin Border
Jan 23, 2009

... drive took us along a palm tree coast and through lakes with island villages.  Very nice.  Think I'm going to like Benin. We arrived into Ouidah around 12ish.  Got off and went wondering for 45 min whilst cook group shopped.  Oliver ...

African Christian Wedding
Jun 25, 2005

... Hospital at Bembéréké, which, if I haven't mentioned already, is one of SIM's missions and the major hospital in northern Benin, officially named by the government as an AIDS patient treatment center. Thank God for his abundant grace in using his children for ...

A day in the life of
Jun 10, 2005

Just so you know it's not all uproarious conversations with dashing and gregarious Béninois who propose marriage on the first meeting and hold out hope despite my anxiously-awaiting nearly betrothed (true story), I thought I'd share a couple less than ...

Bush Taxi
Jul 31, 2005

I was wide awake and hearing minimal percussion in my head at 5 AM. I waited for the 5:30 alarm and did what I always do when I'm leaving a place. In my head, every action became, "The last shower I take in this house. The last time I eat this kind of ...

First night at Paul VI
Sep 28, 2003

... runs throughout the country. It is basically a two lane dirt road. Once off the airplane, we are greeted by current volunteers from Benin. We are shuttled in Land Rovers to Jean Paul VI. It is a Catholic church/convent in the heart of Benin. At this ...

dfqd
Jan 26, 2006

... , but the Abomey city government in its infinite wisdom that travelers spin in wisdom has added a 2 dollar tourist tax. Punks. Benin, especially Abomey and Porto Novo are quite strange in the way that you often see women walking around topless - and it's ...

African Funeral
Jan 18, 2004

... died than given to them their entire lives in many cases! Well, the party is planned and relatives and friends from all over Benin are called and usually 4 or 5 months later the party is had. Get this though. Here's the kicker. The deceased person is ...

SAVALOU enfin arrivees
Jan 19, 2008

Bonjour a tous, jai presentement recu mes bagages a cotounou lorsaque nous sommes arrivees au benin il y a maintenant 3 jours. nous avons fait escale a casa blanca au maroc ou nous devions attendre 8-9 heures et la compagnie nous amenait dans un hotel nous ...

SAVALOU enfin arrivees
Jan 19, 2008

Bonjour a tous, jai presentement recu mes bagages a cotounou lorsaque nous sommes arrivees au benin il y a maintenant 3 jours. nous avons fait escale a casa blanca au maroc ou nous devions attendre 8-9 heures et la compagnie nous amenait dans un hotel nous ...

Savalou La Belle
Feb 20, 2008

Kudéou a tout le monde! Les nouvelles ont tardées mais, mais bon j'en aurai simplement plus long à écrire. Je suis à Savalou depuis maintenant un peu plus d'un mois et je loge avec 8 étudiantes orphelines qui ont été prises en charge par l'abbé Maximin qui est à ...

Sleepless Nights
Jun 14, 2005

The cool breeze from the fan flutters the mosquito net in graceful wisps as the squeaking of the bats lulls me to a desire for the sleep that's recently eluded me. I roll over to face away from the small gleam of the porch light that sneaks through the ...

Golfe de Benin
Sep 30, 2003

Bonjour tout le monde, my french is beginning to get much better. This is surprisingly unsual but I have time and access to post another entry. I am currently in Cotonou and will leave this city on Thursday to travel to a town called Azove about ...

Entrepreneurs
Oct 19, 2003

... and very powerful there they have a door called the porte of no return on the beach where the slaves would pass under for their last time in benin and on the continent of africa i miss you guys hope life is treating you as well as it is me!!! Jace

the group
Aug 16, 2006

Well, I happy to report that I've officially messed up. No, no, it wasn't anything major and I found that I was laughing at myself as it was happening, but I thought I'd share what is probably the first of many language/culture mix-ups that I experienced ...

new goodies!
Jul 22, 2006

... Peace Corps policy and staying healthy. As with any new job, we were given more paperwork and information to read. The US Ambassador to Benin greeted us (even though this is his last day on the job) and let us know that we are the "true ambassadors" - ...

Baturé!
Jul 16, 2005

(The following entry should be read in my usual laughing, sarcastic tone and not as a serious comment on any society or the current state of race relations in any nation or internationally. It is simply a random anecdote from no particular day of my ...

The King of Benin lives here
May 25, 2009 (4 photos)

... villages, making it difficult for the traders to came and capture them. Abomey is a couple of hours north from the coast of Benin and a place where people visit to take in the ancient civilization that was based here. The kingdom was based here. We hired a ...

Causer avec les gens (Chatting with people)
Jun 9, 2005 (1 photos)

... him) but another guy added, with a gleam in his eye, "He must have broken into the core of the earth!" Other popular subject-Bénin's recent loss in football and who's to blame. But the most popular subject is God's faithfulness. How he's provided work for ...

Togo!
Jan 21, 2009

On the beach in Togo

Off to Azove!!!
Oct 2, 2003

Hello all, As I type this entry it is 12:16 pm here, so i guess 6:16 am your time. My business group, the faithful 15, leave for Azove at 2:00. I wanted to post another entry to tell you guys that I will not have email in Azove. The nearest email/ ...

birthday - benin style
Aug 31, 2006

... But, I have to say that I had a pretty swell birthday. To start, perhaps it's important to understand that birthdays here in Benin are of much less significance than they are in the US (to me, anyway). I might have mentioned this before that many people ...

baby benin
Sep 3, 2006

It's a boyyy! My pregnant mama, Roukiat, finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Saturday night I was socializing with my friends at the buvette next to my house when my non-pregnant mama, Saidat, came over to borrow my friend's moto to take Roukiat ...