1. One of the safest and most convenient West African countries for a tourist, we felt very comfortable
2. It is quite easy to combine nature and popular culture-oriented visits
3. Many decent hotels and restaurants, the tourist infrastructure is quite good
4. Boat trip on the Mono river starting from the bucolic seaside town of Grand Popo
5. Ganvié village built on a lake
6. To observe the “creativity” of the locals as they are smuggling fuel in from Nigeria, the wacky illegal gas stations
7. Fishing villages with huts built on piles in the lagoons near Porto Novo
8. Benin local food is the best in the region
9. No violence in political life, which is rare in the region
10. Pendjari National Park
West Africa - Benin - village life - Elter photo
Benin - Cotonou - Dantokpa market - backside - k.a. photo
1. We had the feeling that calling us “yovo” (white man) was, in fact, a kind of expression of the locals’ contempt for us, we also had an uneasy feeling of being regularly observed because of our skin color (few tourists)
2. Few decent beaches on the coastline
3. A lot of excellent photo opportunities were missed because most people do not allow you to take a picture of them (according to their beliefs, a photo taken of a person may strip the person of a piece of his/her soul)
4. Although Benin is relatively safe, the locals regularly warned us of safety issues (“Dears, stay away from taking the local bus!”)
5. The dominant city (business capital), Cotonou, is not very interesting for a tourist
6. The Voodoo objects are mostly creepy
7. Awful quality of tap water– do not drink
8. The colonial buildings of the city of Ouidah are in a very dilapidated condition
9. The streets of Cotonou are in a crappy state
10. There are almost no normal gas stations in Benin. Everyone buys smuggled gas from neighboring Nigeria
