Travel Information Benin Cities
Travel tips for your trip to Benin Hotel Maps Famous Places in Benin helps you to make your trip to Benin in the holiday a Splendid One
Occasionally tagged as the Venice of Africa, Ganvie, which is in Benin, is a large lagoon wherein different stilt houses and structures are being inhabited by the locals. Once in Ganvie, you will be amazed by how the locals do their daily routines on top of Lake Nokoue.
Ganvie is a four hundred year old town on top of a lagoon built by Africans to protect their tribe from getting enslaved by other tribes which were then present. Until now, the stilts are still being inhabited by locals and everything seen in normal towns are then made available in Ganvie.
Most of the locals live through fishing and tourism. However, some of the locals, especially the elders, are not that hospitable to tourists and they might find it quite rude once you start taking pictures of them or even their town without asking for their permission.
The main attraction in Ganvie is the town itself and how the locals conduct their everyday lives on top of a lagoon. The beauty of the town is also quite remarkable once you get on one of the boats and roam around the town. Restaurants and other buildings catering to tourists are also available in Ganvie, all of them accessible by boat.
Roaming around the town in a pirogue should be on top of your list of things to do so that you get to see everything about a town on top of a lagoon. Using a pirogue instead of a motorboat will take you quite longer when traveling, but it will be less noisy and more serene.
If you want to spend a few nights in Ganvie, hotels on top of stilts are available and are offered to tourists for a fair price. A good place to stay when planning to visit Ganvie is in Cotonou since most hotels available offer their tourists different packages for a tour in Ganvie via a motorboat.
Abomey The Royal Palaces
Amidst the monarchies of England and France in the 17th to 18th century, little has been known about the kingdoms and fiefdoms in Africa. But, if you get the chance to check out Benin in West Africa, you will find the center of one of the most powerful kingdoms in African history, the Royal Palaces of Abomey.
The Abomey Royal Palaces were constructed by the Fon people between the 17th and 19th centuries. These structures served as lavish dwellings to the twelve successive rulers of the kingdom of Abomey, formerly known as Dahomey. Because the Royal Palace was practically the seat of power in Abomey, it was protected by a mud wall with six guarded gates and surrounded by prickly acacias, a common method of defense in African strongholds. It’s rumored that the sturdiness of the mud walls are because they were made from the blood of human sacrifices to the tribe’s ancestors. During this period, the kings held absolute power over everything in Abomey, even its residents. They enjoyed a life of luxury and prosperity. However, in the 1890s, the Fon people were engaged in a war against the French. France eventually overcame the kingdom and destroyed most of the Royal Palaces of Abomey.
Just like the ones destroyed by the war, the two remaining palaces are simple brick houses with large courtyards. The main attractions for visitors are African artworks, called bas-reliefs, which are on display inside the compound. It is unfortunate that the harsh African weather is slowly contributing to the destruction of this World Heritage Site. Efforts have been extended to preserve the palace buildings, not only for the past they represent, but also for the cultural traditions that they help sustain.
