Trips to Benin, the country of voodoo.
The Republic of Benin is located in the Gulf of Guinea between Nigeria, Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso.
Geographically, the country is divided into five natural regions: the coastal region, the plateau area, a high plateau with wooded savannah in the north, a mountainous region in the northwest (“Atakora”) and the fertile plains along the Niger River in the northeast.
Benin is a paradise for photography lovers. On a trip to Benin you will discover and experience an authentic Africa, full of rituals, where voodoo is the official religion and not a tourist attraction.
Benin was once the mighty Kingdom of Dahomey, from where thousands of slaves were shipped to the new world. Interesting museums that will remind us of an atrocious history, old UNESCO heritage palaces, colorful markets where we will find curious fetishes are just some of the cultural visits we offer you.
In the valleys of the Atakora mountain range, in the north of Benin, we find the Somba Country or Otomari Country, a unique natural and cultural territory, where we will find the fascinating tatas, or castle houses.
What do we visit on our trips to Benin?
- Ganvie, the African Venice. About 25,000 people live in this lake town.
- Ouidah (Ouidah), the religious capital of voodoo. The temple of the pythons, the door of “no return” or the museum of history are some of the attractions of Ouidah.
- Somba country, beautiful mountain landscapes and fortified houses.
- Holi country, hiking and living together in one of the most fascinating ethnic groups of this part of Africa. We can see in women of a certain age how they wear a considerable part of their body tattooed
- Pendjari National Park, one of the best and largest wildlife reserves in West Africa, the closest thing to a classic safari.
- Attend voodoo ceremonies. In Benin voodoo is the official religion. It is possible to attend different types of ceremonies such as the zangbeto and the gambada
- Porto Novo, museums, old colonial buildings, an impressive Afro-Caribbean style mosque and a relaxed atmosphere in its streets and many possibilities to attend a traditional ceremony.
- Grand Popo, a very cozy beach town, with beautiful surroundings, where it is possible to attend voodoo rituals.
Tailor made trips to Benin
We organize tailor-made trips to Benin with an excellent Spanish-speaking guide who will help us to better understand the culture, religion and history of this small but interesting country. We can combine the trip to Benin with Togo and Ghana.
The level of comfort and adventure as well as the duration of the trip can vary according to the preferences of the traveler.
If you want more information do not hesitate to write to us at info@kumakonda.com or leave us a message on our form.
Security in Benin
Travel to Benin and by extension to Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and much of Nigeria, countries with which a trip to Benin is usually combined, is totally safe.
In recent months the situation in the north and east of Burkina Faso has been getting worse, which makes us at this time (August 2019) advise against travelling to Burkina Faso from Benin.
Besides being a safe destination, Benin is an easy destination, not too expensive and pleasant to travel to. Benin is a largely developed country, which has an acceptable network of paved roads, a proper police force that will not harass the traveller, a good public transport system if you want to travel to Benin on your own, and acceptable hotels and campsites, compared to most of its neighbours.
Best season to travel to Benin
If you dive in the travel guides, you will read that the best time to travel to Benin is in the dry season, which runs from October to February. But for colorful tastes, and we love to travel through Africa in the rainy season. The landscapes are bright green and the skies are blue and clear. The heat is always mitigated by the occasional downpour or shower. Also, in August the rains give a little respite in the Gulf of Guinea and make it a great month to travel to Benin.
Benin Visa
For some years now, Benin has made available an on-line visa that is very easily processed in:
- https://evisa.gouv.bj/fr/
- Its price is 80 euros, and it is valid for 3 months
- The Beninese visa can be obtained quickly in a few minutes and we recommend taking it out a few days before the trip.
The documents required to obtain a tourist visa to travel to Benin are:
- Passport valid for at least 6 months
- Photocopy of your passport
- Hotel booking
- 1 identity photo with white background
Photographic trips to Benin
Benin is a paradise for photography lovers. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have expensive lenses to return home with a large number of good pictures.
Full of life colourful markets, colonial or traditional architecture, unusual places and, most of all, fascinating ethnic groups that preserve rituals and traditions, these will be the centres of interest of any photographic journey to Benin.
Some examples of beautiful portraits, are these great images (and others in this blog entry) provided by Miguel Del Valle, one of our latest travelers to join our trips to Benin. We link his personal travel blog with interesting stories and photographs from different parts of the world.
http://cronicastrotamundos.blogspot.com
