Benin Part 1

Tuesday was a very interesting day. We took an all day tour (which we do not

normally do).

We were in the country of Benin in West Africa. West Africa is much different

from South Africa. The countries are very poor and since we are near the equator

it is very hot. Our port was Cotonou. Dancers were on pier to welcome us.

We had three non-air conditioned buses doing this tour and security was very high.

We had a truck with security leading us and each bus had an armed guard. We moved

as if we were the only ones on the highway. There was a lot of horn blowing. The roads

were quite bumpy. We went through a large interchange being built by the Chinese

Our guide said the Chinese were doing a lot of building in Benin.

I have been in many countries and have seen deplorable conditions. But this is the

first country I ever remember being in that I NEVER say an affluent area. We drove

mile after mile and saw shack after shack.  However, I noticed many had cable dishes

and many more had antennas. There were a lot of “roadside businesses.”

We only occasionally saw a newer well-built structure. It was also very dirty. 

There are more scooters than cars in Benin. We noticed a lot of them were driven by

men in yellow shirts. These were taxis.   We saw many women carrying things on

their heads. I was surprised when we passed a large cemetery and the tombstones

looked very nice and clean (liked new). I did not remember to ask our guide for an

explanation.

To be continued