Cotonou, Benin Monday March 14 2011

We spent March 13th at sea sailing north to Cotonou, Benin - an area the French colonized in 1864. Cotonou's main claim to fame was the slave trade which changed it from a small village to a substantial town. When the French took over they started building the infrastructure of a modern city. The port is its main income today. FYI, the name Cotonou, in the local Fon language, means "mouth of the river of death".

Sailing into the port, we saw a lot of ships coming and going - this was a loaded container ship heading in to unload - one of many.

We were greeted at the dock by a local dance troupe with two men on stilts and one youngster hidden in a white feathery costume.

Here's one of the men on stilts - they were quite talented and struck some clever poses.

This gentleman was the most enthusiastic dancer of the troupe - he was really 'into it' and exciting to watch.

Most of the 'better dressed' locals we saw, wore these outfits - they looked cool (metaphorically and literally) and pretty sharp.

We had quite nice coaches waiting for us - here's my sister. We tried to get the window seats so we could take photos through the windows, but we had to laugh because the windows were never washed. Sometimes we managed to wipe them by leaning out and twisting uncomfortably.

Here's a nice shot of our ship. Our cabin was on the second white deck up from the black deck and about two-thirds back from prow.

While I was watching the 'goings on' on the dock, a motorcycle came zooming down to the ship and the passenger was carrying this tub on his head. The kitchen staff traded for the fish and they were on the menu that night. Lord knows what had happened to them between being caught and being cooked!

I opted out of the morning trip to a museum and took the very interesting afternoon trip. We had police escorts - here are some of the officers enjoying lunch of one of our coaches.

This was our main escort - he was so entertaining. He'd clear the road in front of us by either swaying towards a vehicle or kicking his legs out to the side to indicate he wanted the vehicles to move over. He was a joy to watch - nice fellow too when we talked to him later.

Some of the varied forms of transportation in Benin.

You have to give this guy kudos for making just one trip instead of many.

Everyone it seems, no matter how poor, has cell phones.

We drove 40 minutes to Abomey-Calavi where we boarded local boats for a sail across Lake Nokoue to reach the town of Ganvie (pronounced GON' VEE AY) which is a town of about 20,000 people who live in houses on stilts in the lake itself.

This is our 'poleman' who took us across the lake.

This is the kind of craft we were in - not too sturdy but it got us there and back.

We saw all sorts of crafts on the lake so I'll include some here without further narrative.

These are fishing net traps that were installed near the reeds and of course, there were plenty of birds waiting for a fish smorgasbord.

Here's one of them waiting for the fish to be caught - so he can have his free lunch. How do you like his bright yellow toes???

Superstition and voodoo is an integral part of a small section of the populace. This tribe lives on the stilts because (way back when), a chief was advised to live in the lake to protect the tribe from potential enemies. They've lived here ever since.

I found another picture of interesting vessels which were close to the village.

The enterprising owner of this establishment made sure that all visitors and residents will see his place of business first. It's a bar/restaurant and sells art objects.

This boat came to greet us - as you can see. One of the men jumped on board our boat and danced on the bow. I think we were supposed to give him a tip but no-one volunteered.

This is a typical house. The bamboo area to the left of the picture is the outhouse. One 'goes' on the hole in the outhouse and the lake water 'flushes' it.

Some of the houses were skewed and looked very wobbly - I presume those are the ones whose supports didn't hit bedrock when it was built.

These two boys were happy to see us. We were told that the parents take the kids to shore on a regular basis so they learn how to walk properly.

There were two or three building built on actual dry land - this church was one of them and it doesn't look like it's finished yet.

This was the town market - everyone selling wares from their boats would gather here to make it easier for the residents to do one-stop-shopping.

We stopped/tied up, at the tourist market and these ladies were sitting under a nice canopy welcoming us.

These were on the floor near the doorway to the tourist market. They were about 7" - 8" long, carved out of native timber - I don't think any more explanation is required.

This was taken in one small section of the market - it was crowded with goods, and when we got there, with tourists.

At the farthest corner of the market, I found a little snack bar/drink bar where others had boldly gone before. I didn't have local currency so I talked one of our guides into buying me a thirst-quencher (beer).

This was one of our police escorts who came with us on the whole trip - they were all very pleasant and non-intrusive.

On our way out of town, I took this shot to let you see what the township really looked like.

Most of the boats with sails, had make-shift equipment. This creative individual used a bedspread for a sail.

This person had been to the town onshore and was returning with lots of shopping. Notice how low the boat is riding in the water?

Here we are coming back to shore - you can see one of our coaches waiting for us.

We saw so very many women with their children fastened to their backs - it seems like a good idea because it leaves the mothers' hands free; however, we were told that many children have poor depth perception and they believe this is why.

We sat in our bus waiting for everyone to return from Ganvie so we could all leave together. Our motorcycle police escort was interested in my sister's camera so she obliged by regaling him with everything it can do and let him take some shots himself.

Vendors were selling everything under the sun. They walked around our coaches offering their wares. I can see all these women having severe neck problems when they get older.

From this person, you can buy clothing and fabrics. She's wearing a type of sombrero with hard edges and has the clothes hangers hooked on it.

waiting in the coach was almost as interesting as visiting Ganvie - here are two young vendors.

This young woman looked so interesting. For one she's not carrying her child on her back and I have no idea what she's carrying besides him.

From this woman you can purchase loaves of bread or bread rolls and if you fancy eating them right away, she had margarine too.

Most of the locals were more interested in us than we were in them. These four young men were 'begging' to have their picture taken.

A highway scene as we made our way back to the ship.

The troupe of dancers was still on the dock waiting for our return and they put on another fabulous show for us - until the time the gangplank was stowed and we moved away.

We didn't understand the story behind the dance, but when the female entered the picture, things definitely took on a different feel.

There were a lot of reminders of American Indians - these dancers reminded me of some of their costumes and the dances themselves were very reminiscent of the American Indian dances.

The huge cargo ship which docked next to us was unloading several Toyota cars - with different countries' license plates. I heard a comment that they may be stolen cars. We were not allowed to take photos of that ship.