Saturday, January 30, 2016
Cotonou, Benin, western Africa
I did not have any preconceived notions about Benin. I had done my research, of course, but did not know what to expect. We signed up for a ship's excursion to Ganvie Village and my information and looking at pictures on the web led me to believe that we had made a good decision.
Instead of a "good" decision, I was blown away by Ganvie Village. Absolutely incredible experience and one of the best ship's excursions I have ever taken.
Dancer greeting the ship on arrival
We boarded a really nice, comfortable bus at the port with 2 great guides on board who talked about Benin, and 2 men on board "for security." The security guys were in street clothes and appeared to be unarmed but I have an idea that might not have been true! I never felt that we were ever in an unsafe situation but I appreciate the Benin tour company having them on board.
The drive was unbelievable. I did not see any stop lights and there were many buses, big trucks carrying goods, and hundreds of motor bikes. Since it was Saturday, everyone was out!
Everybody kind of 'went with the flow', but sometimes the motor bikes wanted to turn left in front of our bus from the right lane, so periodically our bus driver slowed down and the bikes, fully loaded with the passengers, turned in front of us....amazing!
Motorbike parking
Typical street vendors
Then we reached the Lake Nokoue, near Cotonou. We were helped on board boats with long bench seats and a wooden canopy and outboard motor with about 20 passengers to a boat.
A boat similar to ours carrying other Oceania passengers
There were many other smaller boats there as well with women selling fish from their boats--only women sell fish. Many of the boats were hollowed out logs, much as our Native Americans did when they burned the tops of the logs, chiseled out the burnt wood and then shaped the front and back to cleave the water.
A well dressed group commuting to the city
If you have ever visited Everglades National Park in the US, that is what Lake Nokoue reminded me of. Endless lake, no shoreline, no trees, but some reeds visible and then many, many small boats with one or 2 fishermen --only men fish, with long sticks to pole themselves, or with small sails or motors. The men fish with nets cast not with a pole and baited line.
The circles are "fish farms"
After about 20 minutes we began to see, in the distance a line of structures up on pilings. This was our first sight of Ganvie, a village built completely on the lake.
According to history, the Fon, a warrior people, attempted to enslave many smaller tribal groups to sell to the Portuguese. The Tofinu, realizing that they could not win battles against the Fon, retreated to Lake Nokoue. It was taboo for the Fon to engage in war on water settlements so the Tofinu, using the religious beliefs of their enemy, sought long term safety on the lake by building their houses ON the lake on stilts and 500 years later it has an approximate population of 20,000. Some say "Ganvie" means "those who found safety" and others say it means "we survived."
Several of us had moments of anxiety when we saw kids about 7 or 8 poling boats around and then we saw, in the bottom of the boat, little brothers or sisters as young as 2. Where were their parents, where were their life jackets, where were the certificates showing the boats were safe, we worried. Not needed....they were as home in the water as we are on land! According to our guides, every family in Ganvie hopes to have 3 boats; 1 for dad, 1 for mom, 1 for the kids.
Some of our companions didn't understand why many from Ganvie turned their heads or covered their faces when we aimed our tourist cameras at them. I totally got it....how would you like boatload after boatload of tourists taking pictures of you when you were on your way to market, or hanging out clothes on the back porch, or sitting in chairs on a Saturday morning talking to your neighbors?
I lowered my camera when I saw they didn't want their pictures taken and instead waved at the little kids and almost always got a grin, a smile, and a wave back.
I loved Ganvie Village and I'm so glad we had this experience. David bought me a hand carved boat with 3 men sitting in it to remind us of this wonderful day! ...... Au revoir......cynthia
Learning the family business
Cotonou, Benin, western Africa
I did not have any preconceived notions about Benin. I had done my research, of course, but did not know what to expect. We signed up for a ship's excursion to Ganvie Village and my information and looking at pictures on the web led me to believe that we had made a good decision.
Instead of a "good" decision, I was blown away by Ganvie Village. Absolutely incredible experience and one of the best ship's excursions I have ever taken.
Dancer greeting the ship on arrival
We boarded a really nice, comfortable bus at the port with 2 great guides on board who talked about Benin, and 2 men on board "for security." The security guys were in street clothes and appeared to be unarmed but I have an idea that might not have been true! I never felt that we were ever in an unsafe situation but I appreciate the Benin tour company having them on board.
The drive was unbelievable. I did not see any stop lights and there were many buses, big trucks carrying goods, and hundreds of motor bikes. Since it was Saturday, everyone was out!
Everybody kind of 'went with the flow', but sometimes the motor bikes wanted to turn left in front of our bus from the right lane, so periodically our bus driver slowed down and the bikes, fully loaded with the passengers, turned in front of us....amazing!
Typical street vendors
Then we reached the Lake Nokoue, near Cotonou. We were helped on board boats with long bench seats and a wooden canopy and outboard motor with about 20 passengers to a boat.
A boat similar to ours carrying other Oceania passengers
There were many other smaller boats there as well with women selling fish from their boats--only women sell fish. Many of the boats were hollowed out logs, much as our Native Americans did when they burned the tops of the logs, chiseled out the burnt wood and then shaped the front and back to cleave the water.
A well dressed group commuting to the city
If you have ever visited Everglades National Park in the US, that is what Lake Nokoue reminded me of. Endless lake, no shoreline, no trees, but some reeds visible and then many, many small boats with one or 2 fishermen --only men fish, with long sticks to pole themselves, or with small sails or motors. The men fish with nets cast not with a pole and baited line.
The circles are "fish farms"
After about 20 minutes we began to see, in the distance a line of structures up on pilings. This was our first sight of Ganvie, a village built completely on the lake.
According to history, the Fon, a warrior people, attempted to enslave many smaller tribal groups to sell to the Portuguese. The Tofinu, realizing that they could not win battles against the Fon, retreated to Lake Nokoue. It was taboo for the Fon to engage in war on water settlements so the Tofinu, using the religious beliefs of their enemy, sought long term safety on the lake by building their houses ON the lake on stilts and 500 years later it has an approximate population of 20,000. Some say "Ganvie" means "those who found safety" and others say it means "we survived."
Several of us had moments of anxiety when we saw kids about 7 or 8 poling boats around and then we saw, in the bottom of the boat, little brothers or sisters as young as 2. Where were their parents, where were their life jackets, where were the certificates showing the boats were safe, we worried. Not needed....they were as home in the water as we are on land! According to our guides, every family in Ganvie hopes to have 3 boats; 1 for dad, 1 for mom, 1 for the kids.
Some of our companions didn't understand why many from Ganvie turned their heads or covered their faces when we aimed our tourist cameras at them. I totally got it....how would you like boatload after boatload of tourists taking pictures of you when you were on your way to market, or hanging out clothes on the back porch, or sitting in chairs on a Saturday morning talking to your neighbors?
I lowered my camera when I saw they didn't want their pictures taken and instead waved at the little kids and almost always got a grin, a smile, and a wave back.
I loved Ganvie Village and I'm so glad we had this experience. David bought me a hand carved boat with 3 men sitting in it to remind us of this wonderful day! ...... Au revoir......cynthia
Learning the family business
2 comments:
Hi,I noticed your comment about lowering your camera. There are a lot of places where you are heading where they are pretty sensitive about cameras. I have seen tourists get an AK shoved in their face because they think its ok to take pictures or in my case have a couple of blokes throw shoes at me. Its a great part of the world tho and I am really enjoying your blog.
Chris
We loved Ganvie village when we visited back in 2010. We stopped at one of the shops and bought a beer to drink there as it was so hot.
Thanks for your wonderful comments and photos as it has brought back our day in Lome so vividly through your writing and photos.
Jennie
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