Benin, a Little Treasure in Africa

            

There is no need for a time machine to transport you to another time. There is a place in Africa where, magically, time seems suspended in the air; this place is Benin. Do you want to know it a bit better? If so, let’s go to the core of atavistic Africa.

Benin is a little-known country located in West Africa, open to the Gulf of Guinea, an ethnic mosaic that retains traditions and indigenous languages despite the effects of colonization. It’s a place rooted in the past and barely exploited by tourist, a place with a harsh history of slavery and a long road ahead of it.

Benin is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Niger and Burkina Faso to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the South. Its flag displays three colours: the green symbolizes the forest and the country’s natural wealth, the yellow refers to its mineral wealth of the continent and the red is reminiscent of the millions of dead from slavery, a terrible story shared by many of the nations which emerged after decolonization; all of these colours are those of Pan-Africanism, the political, social and cultural movement for the independence and brotherhood of the peoples of Africa. Nelson Mandela was one of the spiritual forebears of this movement.

A former French colony, Benin is a small, safe, varied, colourful and friendly country where tourism is still not a widespread activity and where we can find very authentic scenes without much outside influence.

Its hot climate has two rainy seasons: one torrential, between April and July and another more moderate one between September and November. The best time to visit is between November and February, when the weather is cool and dry. There are huge differences of temperature between the tropical area where mangroves abound and the interior one with savannah-type vegetation.

This variety permits authentic nature sanctuaries like the Pendjari National Park in the Northwest, declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 1986 and known for its biodiversity and wildlife: lions, elephants, hippos, antelope etc… The French colonists, aware of its rich fauna, reserved it for hunting for years. The beauty of the park is enhanced by the Atakora range in the distance. The coast is the habitat of many birds, more than three hundred different species, endemic fish, turtles and even humpback whales.

Nine million people inhabit this multi-ethnic country. Groups like the Fulani are spread out throughout central and northern Benin, while to the south we find Guinean people such as the Fon, the Yoruba and the Mina and, in the northwest, the Somba and Taneka. There is an even greater linguistic and dialectal diversity (more than fifty). Although Benin has been independent since 1960, the official language continues to be French as a colonial inheritance.

A more ungrateful past is its history of slavery as millions of slaves left Benin’s shores over the centuries. This lucrative human trafficking was even carried out by the kings of Benin. In Ouidah, a city on the Atlantic coast, The Door of No Return symbolizes the end of a slave’s life in Africa. Most slaves would never return to their homes after being shipped to America. Further along the beach is a smaller statue showing some of those who returned and this monument is called The Door of Return.

The problem has persisted into the 21st century; thousands of children were sold by their relatives to overcome poverty, until finally, in 2006, the government of Benin abolished the exploitation of children.

Benin’s economy is highly dependent on subsistence agriculture and cotton production. Gold, oil and marble exploitations are under foreign ownership. The currency is the West Africa Franc but dollars and Euros are accepted in the cities.

 

Benin is the only country in the world where a non monotheistic religion is officially recognized, in fact, since 1991. This is the Voodoo that in the Yoruba language means "soul". Although colonization introduced Christianity and this religion is practised by elites, while Islam has entered from north, the true essence of Benin’s people is Voodoo: an animistic religion where the dead pass away to other stage, nor hell, nor heaven but among us. One way of paying homage, loving and remembering them is through totems, anthropomorphic figures called fetishes. Authentic Voodoo rituals with dances and animals sacrifices are found everywhere.

                          

Benin is an elongated country that faces the sea on its southern end, with a short coastline open to Atlantic in the western segment of the Gulf of Guinea. The importance of the sea is crucial from a strategic and commercial point of view and this is why the majority of the population lives here.

There are two capitals, the official one, Porto Novo which keeps its colonial name, given by the Portuguese for its resemblance to Oporto and, Cotonou, the main city of Benin which is the seat of political and economic power and with a population of about million and half people that has tripled in the last two decades, the country's most populated city. Cotonou preserves the architectural heritage of its Marxist-Leninist past in many buildings. 

It also boasts the Dantokpa market, one of the largest of Western Africa, covering over 20 hectares. Traders from neighbouring countries come here to sell their goods in the stalls of the main building and labyrinth of adjacent streets. Next to the crowd, noisy motorbikes and vans speed by.

A wide variety of fruits and fabrics for sale give more colour, if indeed that is possible, to this moving painting. Pedestrians wearing colourful prints and carrying full baskets on their heads are the principal actors.

 The market environment becomes a cultural and exhibition center during the Art Festival of Dantokpa. Photographs, paintings and craftwork take over the market streets and surprise the market’s usual buyers.

Bargaining is an obligatory practice in this market that gathers together all kinds of goods, from fabrics, foods, spare car parts and furniture to smuggled goods like alcohol or tobacco.

The market’s far north end is one of the most visited areas; it is dedicated to the sale of fetishes. There are all sorts of amulets and stuffed animals for Voodoo ceremonies.

Fetishes are the most disconcerting of Dantokpa's wares: monkey heads, turtles, frogs, birds, Voodoo dolls...

The Port district is Cotonou's colonial core. An ideal spot to walk through the streets, visit art deco buildings from the twenties and thirties and enjoy its peculiar atmosphere

Ganvié called the African Venice is located at Nokoué Lake. The city lives floating in the wetland. All transport and travel is by water. Every activity is done afloat. In the seventeenth century, escaping from slave trade, the ethnic group Tofinu hid in the swamp and settled in bamboo shacks built in the mud.

Without a doubt, Benin is worth visiting before mass tourism puts an end to its authenticity; a fascinating place which attracts not by material riches but by its profound spiritual wealth and goodness.
                                                                                      

 Aliud