General
The pace is relaxed and the people are friendly. The main market seems to spread out everywhere and everyone is selling something. Enjoy bargaining.
Most places we eat are outdoors or have outdoor seating. It's hard to beat dining on a fresh grilled whole fish with a Beninois (OK,the hub likes Castel).
There are some beautiful beaches. More touristy, near Quartier S. Jacques. is a beachside restaurant where you can relax with a drink. This neighborhood is full of guarded walled in houses and expensive cars.
Some other Factoids:
Gas is sold from refillable glass bottles, but there there are many more gas stations in Cotonou now.
The club scene is hopping and everyone dances.
People are out and about from early until late at night.
You can see buildings falling into the ocean as the shore line changes as a result of the port construction.
Many people build within a compound wall. The construction wave seem to be continuing apace, but the price of cement has gone up, up, up. I think they've pretty much shut down people taking free sand from the beach for construction now.
Ouidah--UNESCO site of slave trade port. Somewhere between Cotonou and here we visited a sacred forest where an older gentleman guided us through with a bit of a story about each deity/sculpture. A place where if you haven't lived the story you know you're only at the very edge of an endless ocean of learning.
Porto Novo--the capital city. The more I go there the more it's growing on me as calmer than Cotonou. I have to find the library.
Ganvie is a community of stilt houses on the lake. We took an open motorized boat from Cotonou. It was great, but the river is a trash dumping ground--crazy. Fishermen each have their own areas set up...and a water iris imported from somewhere else is doing it's best to choke the environment.
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