Benin Travel Forum

hello everyone, quick question. Are travelers traveling from Benin Republic obligated to pay a Basic Traveling Allowance? and if you can tell me more about that BTA.


thank you all..

Hello fellow VTers-

I am planning to make a private tour with guide and driver for three weeks to Ghana, Togo and Benin and would like your suggestions, revisions, additions, etc. to any of the activities or accommodations.

Am I missing anything? I will be traveling as a single person in June or August. Which month is better weatherwise for these countries, June or August?

Here is my proposed itinerary:

The Itinerary:
Day 1. Accra: Arrive in Accra, Ghana, and transfer to hotel. O/N in Georgia or Shangri-La Hotel -- do you recommend?

Day 2 Accra: Visit to the old town of Accra. Visit a very good ethnographic museum, craft markets, antique dealers and the carpenters who build coffins. O/N Georgia or Shangri-La Hotel.

Day 3. Accra -Kokrobite: Drive down the coast to the village of Kokrobite and the Academy of African Music and Arts. Along the way, visit typical fishing villages and enjoy the coastal scenery. In the evening, have a visit to see African music, drumming and dance from many different countries in the region. O/N Kokrobite Academy.

Day 4. Krokobite - El Mina: Drive further to Cape Coast Castle. Then arrive at the town of El Mina, site of the El Mina Castle. See some of the numerous animistic Posuban shrines throughout the town built by Posuban societies. O/N Coconut Grove Hotel.

Day 5. Elmina - Kumasi: Drive to Kumasi. Visit the museum and meet some Ashanti chiefs.
O/N Georgia or Four Villages Hotel.

Day 6. Kumasi - Techiman: Visit the Ghana National Cultural Center and the Manyhia Palace that was once the Palace of the Ashanti Kings. Later drive to Bonwire village to see Kente cloth woven. On the way back to Kumasi stop at the Besease Fetish House. O/N Hotel Dymns, Techiman.

Day 7, 8. Techiman- Wa: Travel to the town of Wenchi that is a stopover on the way to the Kingdom of Wa. Along the way, see the ‘soudanese’ styled mosques in West Africa. Visit Lobi fortified compounds in the trip. Visit one of the Lobi villages and meet with a famous traditional musician who will perform on the ‘Balaphones’. I understand that few visitors come this way, but those who do are rewarded with intimate encounters with some of the oldest animistic traditions still practiced in Africa today. End in the town of Wa. O/N Upland Hotel.

Day 9. Wa, Bolgatanga: Would like to have an opportunity to meet with a regent with whom I can meet and learn about this small kingdom. Then continue to the town of Tamale, for visits to the Gourounsi (also known in Ghana as the Kasena). O/N Sandgardens Hotel

Day 10, Bolgatanga - Tamale: Further down the road, visit the Talensi people who reside in large fortified family compounds. Later take a hike to the Tongo plateau and the animistic shrine of Tenguzu. Enter accompanied by a priest who performs ancient rites to allow visitations. O/N Piconia Hotel.

Day 11, Tamale - Bassar: I understand that this is a rarely visited region of Ghana where the Dagomba and Konkomba people live in villages of clay huts and thatched roofs. Have a chance to talk to them about their lives and about a special village shrine where they are cleansed of evil spirits.

Then cross the border into Togo and into the Bassar region to attend a ceremonial dance around a huge bonfire. O/N Le Campement.

Day 12, Bassar - Kara: See how the Bassar still perform their ancient craft. After passing into Benin visit with the Kabye people, and end the day by hiking up to their sacred mountain. O/N Hotel Kara.

Day 13. Kara - Natitingou: In the border region between Ghana and Togo are the lands of the Taberma and Somba who build fortified houses within an arrow’s flight from one another. I understand that this area is rarely visited by westerners, but is of considerable ethnological interest. Later travel to the town of Natitingou and check into the hotel that I understand s designed like a Somba compound. O/N Hotel Tata Somba.

Day 14. Natitingou: Drive from Natitingou to the hills and the villages of the Taneka tribe. Visit these people by hiking through several of their villages. Along the way, see traditional blacksmithing, weaving of cloth and winnowing of millet. Then return to Natitingou for a tour around the town. O/N Hotel Tata Somba

Day 15. Natitingou - Bohicon: Travel from Benin’s Sahelian north to the tropical south. Along the way, pass some ancient voodoo shrines. When I get to Abomey, visit a vast banco complex that was once the king’s palace. Walk around and see the animist temples that the king used to converse with his ancestors, the throne room that is built on 4 human sculls and several other palaces that now make up the museum. O/N Hotel Dako.

Day 16. Bohicon - Ganvié: Spend time at the Royal Da Homey Palace.

Later take a road trip followed with a canoe ride across Lake Nokoué to the village of Ganvié. In the quiet of the evening and again in the early morning I would like to watch the ancient ritual of women propelling their pirogues to the market.

Spend the night in a bamboo guesthouse so that I can watch this scene especially long after other visitors have left. During the visit, see a number of Gelede masks. O/N Hotel Chez M.

Day 17. Ganvié - Grand Popo: Cruise the town and visit the people. Then continue on to the coastal town of Ouidah to see and feel the power of voodoo, including the sacred Kpasse forest. Also have a visit to the National Museum in a Portuguese fort then enjoy the ‘Zangbeto’ dance in one of the nearby villages. O/N Hotel L’Auberge, Grande Popo.

Day 18. Grand Popo - Lake Togo: Take a dugout canoe to explore the Mono River estuary visiting the ‘village of twins’ and a salt village. Then drive along the coast and cross into Togo ending up at a lakeside hotel. Before nightfall have an excursion to a village to watch an authentic voodoo ceremony complete with drums and dancers who often go into deep trances while in the possession of ancestral spirits. O/N Hotel du Lac.

Day 19. Feb 19, Lake Togo – Lomé: Visit a famous voodoo priest known for curing the mentally ill. Then continue along the coast to Lomé and check into the hotel. Then visit the fetish market. O/N Hotel Gulf.

Day 20. Feb 20, Lomé – Accra: Cross the border back into Ghana and return to Accra for our flight to the United States.

Hope to hear from people of who live in these countries or travelled there recently.

Thanks.

Nathan

One of the tips says, do not go out at night. Hey where are you from. All larger cities have its problems, sure there are places where you do not go out at night. A European New York does not go cycling through Harlem at night time, in Cotonou you do not take a motor taxi at night time and on the same note you avoid certain areas of the city such as the road in front of the port.
Cotonou is safe if you take care of yourself!

IS it possible to get Benin visa at the Togo border or perhaps in consulate in Accra or Lome?

Dear fellow travellers,

I have two simply questions, please...

1) I don't know a single word in French. Is it possible to travel there without any problem just by using English language?

2) What about the sea on the south? Is it nice (good swiming, beaches, maybe snorchling)?

Thank you!!

is there fishing in the Lac Nokue?

I have heard about a hotel in Cotonou called Hotel du Tachere. Can anyone give me some information about it please? Like the size, location, address and telephone number. I can not find anything about it anywhere except through a friend who mentioned it passing by and said it was a good deal

Anyone currently living in Proto-Novo, or anyone who has recently lvied there?

Hi I am looking for an agency who can put together a trip for me.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I'm leaving Belgium end May for a few months of W Afrika with an old toyota landcruiser, the original idea was to go with 2, but now it turns out I'll have to go by myself..
So if someone should be interested in traveling along..
(It's realy cheap because fuel prices there are very cheap and we have the possibility to sleep in the 4WD)
planned route so far: Spain>Marocco>W Sahara>Mauritanie>Senegal(maybe)>Mali>Burkina Faso>Benin>... and back to Belgium
eric@ecls.be ( I'm 24, travel a lot, but this will be my first trip to the black continent )

hello, i m going to benin in about 3weeks (mid of april), what is the weather there like at that time, and what clothes should i take? is it hot at that time? what vaccinations do i need? are there any other tips that i should take into consideration?
thanks for any help
anais

It is any Burger king in Benin.

What king of foods are available for foreign people.?

I want to about Benin culture and climate.?

It's dangerous to stay llong outside in Benin?

Where are the most scare place to live.?

How people survive in Benin?

What is Benin History.
Are they agricultual field in Benin and what tis the main recolt.

What is the distance in time and miles between Accrea Ghana and Cotonou,Benin by bus? Any insight will help,
Thanks

sorry for asking lots of questions today :) but i wonder if anyone here have been to benin recently(less than a year) and got some pix to share?