Benin Part 1: More than you think.

Before making my first trip across a border in Africa, I figured that there was very little to see in the sliver of a country on the other side of the line. 1) it is tiny. 2) I had very limited historical knowledge to discern Togo from Benin. 3) Most people couldn't point at either on a map. I decided to go to Benin and pass through Togo because I had never been to either, I had volunteer friends in both and they are 2 of the 4 countries that border Burkina that are considered safe.

On arrival Benin was instantly distinct. The beginning of the road through Benin went over hills with beautiful rock cliffs. I was shocked and delighted at the sight of varied elevations. Although I have blood in Kansas, the idea of living somewhere flat never appealed to me before moving to Burkina (and still doesn't). Burkina is beautiful in its own way, but hills and mountains make my heart sing in a way that rolling fields never will.

On my trip through Benin I realized that the country has a lot more to it than I previously thought. It is very different from Burkina Faso in many ways: geographically, culturally and religiously. Aspects of development in Benin seemed to be less and more than Burkina at the same time. (Burkina volunteers like the street cred that we get from volunteering in the Peace Corps country with the lowest Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index rating, but they aren't clear-cut measurements.)

So a tad bit of history on Benin:

It is the beating heart and the home of Voodoo. Something like a third of Beninois and Beninoises practice the traditional belief of vodu. According to the C.I.A. Factbook, Benin was a former French Colony (beginning in 1872) later to become a republic, a Marxist state and democracy. Benin was also home to much of the slave trade which subsequently spread Voodoo across the world to Brazil, Central America and the American South.

I went to Lome, Ouida, Porto Novo, Abomey and Natti before crossing over to Togo. Benin seems to have a variety of landscapes from arid flats (like much of Burkina) to plantations of palms along white sandy beaches. In general, the vegetation seemed to be more abundant than Burkina after hitting Central Benin. The country actually has two rainy seasons, unlike Burkina which is dry for more than half of the year.

The food was also instantly different. There was a form of local cheese almost anywhere you went (as our director would say: score!). I became a glutton for fresh coconuts. We also sampled the variety of bean cakes to the delight of onlookers at the marche in Porto Novo.

The following blog entries will be a summary of my trip.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Airtel Burkina Faso.