Benin is a small, little-visited West African nation. This former French colony has a democratically elected government and enjoys relative peace and stability. It scores...
Walking the Slave Route in Ouidah, Benin
As well as being the centre of the voodoo religion, from the 17th to the 19th century, Ouidah in southern Benin was a major slave-trading post. In a scenario that was repeated across West...
Learning about Voodoo in Benin
As our West Africa tour continued through Benin, the subject of voodoo kept coming up. After all, Benin is where voodoo, or Vodun as it is known here, first began. It is recognised...
Ganvie, Benin – the Venice of Africa
One of the highlights of our recent West Africa tour with Dragoman was the time we spent in Ganvié, a stilt village in the middle of Lake Nokoué, north of the busy city of Cotonou in Benin. It...
A Visit to Abomey, Benin
We visited Abomey, Benin on our recent Dragoman tour of West Africa. It turned out to be a memorable couple of days.
History
Abomey is the former capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey,...
A Two-Night Stay in Pendjari National Park, Benin
The Pendjari National Park, the best place to see wild animals in West Africa, is located in north-west Benin, adjoining the Arli National Park in Burkina Faso. We spent a couple of nights...
A Visit to the Tata Somba Region in northern Togo and Benin
The Tata Somba Region, declared a World Heritage Site in 2004, is located in the Atakora Mountains in northern Benin and Togo. It is little-visited and yet has one of the best examples of local...
A Review of a West Africa Tour run by Dragoman
Mark and I do a lot of independent travel. We enjoy the freedom and flexibility that goes with ‘doing our own thing’. However, this type of travel can be exhausting! When we completed...
