La Casa del Papa Ouidah

... br><br>The next morning, I woke up at 6am to see the sunrise on the beach. It was a nice attempt, except there were clouds and fog so I couldn't see the sun. I got some nice photos of the fisherman preparing their boats though. It would have been neat to see them put the boats in the water, but it was an all day process and I needed to move on to my next destination.

This morning, I woke up at 5:30am to go to Ouidah (wee-duh). This is a city rich in history, but not really history it can be proud of. It is one of the cities on the coast of West Africa where the slave trade occurred.<br><br>I visited the museum and retraced the footsteps the slaves walked from the trade-market, to the retention centers, and to the beach where they boarded the boats, called the Point of No-Return. It was very ...

After a well-deserved night's sleep, we woke up and got breakfast at the same hotel restaurant just down the road from our villa. I should also mention that we had barely any money on us. The money we had exchanged in Ghana was for Ghanaian currency, and just enough CFA to get our Togo visas. Prince and Bruce-Lee were generous enough to pay our bills for the first two days, just until we could get to a bank (since it was the weekend). Very poor ...

We arrived early morning in Accra, Ghana. We had no problems with customs, and were greeted at the exit by our tour guide Apollo. He led us out to our van, of course with 15 other Ghanaians trying to grab our luggage and carry it for us (for a hefty tip). <br>We eventually got all loaded in and took a quick detour downtown to exchange money. By this point, Mom was freaking out and definitely regretting her decision ...

<br> Benin<br> Again, Benin is a small narrow country with little coastline. Howev** we managed to pack in a good fews things ov** a limited time.<br> First stop was Grand Popo - a voodoo and mangrove tour - which was incredibly und**whelming...the guide didn't provide much insight into their voodoo culture, which is practiced widely in this country. Next, we stayed in Ouidah ...

... the pleasure of sampling a small Armagnac, my favorite after dinner drink. We landed after dark, past 7:00 pm. I whisked through immigration, the agent hardly even glanced at the visa, just stamped the passport. But then the waiting began again. It took nearly 90 minutes for my suitcase to arrive on the carousel. I'm not sure what takes so long, but it always seems to take a very long time here. Even tonight, when my suitcase has the ...

... que ainda estao em estagio infantile, mas ja da para antecipar a futura beleza do lugar. O Simon um dia sonhou, como todo o rapaz pobre por esse mundo fora, em faz** a vida como estrela renomada do futebol mundial, mas recusou naturalizar-se marfinense para se faz** catapultar e soube quando por os pes na t**ra e consacrar-se as suas ambicoes mais modestas. Muito nice o mano. Dia seguinte apressei o passo e, mais uma vez vou poupar-vos os detalhes de ...

Usual rise and shine up around 7. I hit the pool for a quick 20 lengths. No idea how I used to swim the way I used to. 500m near killed me!! After sandmatting truck out we drove to the stilt village of Ganvie where we arrived around 11:30ish. Walked down to the harbour where we watched market traders selling fruit and a boy walk his pet crab, complete with leash. Very funny. He nearly set it upon his little friend's bare bottom whilst he ...

Up 6, leave 7:30. Attacked by branches on the way out - sure way to wake you up. Arrived at the Togo/Benin frontier around 9 where the clocks went forward one hour. Easy exit and no mans land pretty much non existent. Entry into Benin also easy... the highlight being a lady who sold sausage rolls (croissant with frankfurter in the middle) for 250CFA. Upon entering we received Little Kate's country summary - a way to ensure we learn ...

Now comfortably back with the Daphne and the tour group at a beautiful beach resort area I needed a day to do no more than relax on the beach and frolic in the waves. Supposedly th**e's a dang**ous und**tow at Grand Popo, but I didn't feel much evidence of it when I was in the wat**. Sure, th**e w**e some basic sight-seeing options available - going on a guided night sea turtle-watching expedition on the beach, a guided morning nature walk and pirogue ride ...