Princess Uvbi's Cottage: A Trip To Benin Republic 😇

I had the best Easter celebration ever and all thanks to @socialprefect (follow her on instagram) for making that happen. I desperately needed somewhere to go relax, explore new opportunities, meet people and of course exhale from the stress and wahala of Lagos state and when I saw that she was planning an Easter tour to Benin Republic, I immediately jumped into it.

My experience in Benin Republic was indeed a pleasant one and I will be sharing with you the beautiful places I visited. I spent only two nights but I made sure that every minute was filled with memories.

History

Located in West Africa, Benin Republic was formerly known as Dahomey and it is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. It has a population of about 10 million people, and it got its independence from France in 1960. The capital of the Republic of Benin is Porto Novo and the main languages spoken in the country is French, Fon, and Yoruba.

The president of Benin republic is Mr. Patrice Talon. He is a business man and politician, who assumed office on the 6th of April, 2016. I got to find out that Mr Patrice Talon was known as the king of cotton in Cotonou. Before he became president, he was in charge of managing Cotonou imports at Port of Cotonou and was accused of embezzling more than 18million euros in taxes. He was the one who financed the campaign of the past president Thomas Boni Yayi in 2006 and 2011 election but along the line their friendship was dented and He was accused of involving in a plot to kill the president. This made him run to France before returning in 2014 after he was pardoned.

I asked a Beninese if he thinks so far the president is working and his response was amazing, he said; ‘’whether he works or he doesn’t, he is already the president’’. Africans and our mentality of not holding the government accountable!

The Trip

social prefect pictures

Prior to the date we were to take off, I already made my own enquiry on how long it will take getting to Benin Republic from Nigeria and I was told it was 2 hours 30 minutes. Little did i know that the border wasn't friendly at all.

We were about 25 in number and we were all asked to get yellow card before embarking on the journey. Some did, others didn’t. It took us about 2 hours to get to Seme border from Lagos. When we got to the border, we gave our passports and yellow card to our tour guide for checks with the guys at the border. It took them about 30 minutes to go through them. She came back informing us that some of the yellow card had been detected to be fake while others were incomplete. Mine was incomplete because according to them I needed to update it with the meningitis vaccine in which I haven’t done. So at last, they sha demanded N2500 from the fake cards and N1000 for the incomplete card. We spent about 2 hours 30 minutes trying to sort it out. It took us 6 hours to finally get to our destination.

Seme Border

When you hear anyone say our border is porous, believe it. Can you imagine our bags weren’t checked at all, while entering Benin Republic and leaving! All that the immigration guys were interested in is their tip which wasn’t even more than N2000. It’s even so bad that our bus wasn’t even checked.

I know Last year there was a deliberation on closing Nigeria borders with Benin Republic to stem smuggling of rice and other consumables as well as the illegal importation of weapons into the country but I don’t know how far we have gone to ensure our border is safe and from experiencing it firsthand, nothing indeed has been done.

Exchange Rate

At the border we changed our naira because we were told that it will be more expensive when we get to Benin Republic. We changed N675 to 1,000cfa.

Hotel Reservation

We lodged at Benin Diaspora Hotel, Ouidah. Hotel de la Diaspora is located in Ouidah, 300 metres from Porte Du Non Retour (Gate of No Return). The hotel has an outdoor pool and a private beach area, and guests can enjoy a drink at the bar and the most important free and fastwifi...yayyyy

It had detached rooms with its own balcony. I loved it and wished I wasn’t alone...lol.

The room had a big bed that could accommodate two people, dressed in a white bed sheet and a mosquito net placed ontop of the bed. There was a red couch and a small dining table placed close to the TV. A s for the TV, don't even bother turning it on if you don't understand french.

Visit to Temple Of Pythons ‘’Temple des python”

In Benin rather than snakes being feared, they are revered. Royal pythons are worshiped in Benin, especially in Ouidah. There is absolutely no place you visit in Ouidah that doesn’t have a snake sign.

When we got there, we were given an orientation on the history of the place and we were told that the pythons are not dangerous. An iroko tree was shown to us and according to the man, it has been there for years and sacrifices are being made to the tree.

Several shrines were built for offerings to the 'snake-god' Dagbe, but the biggest offerings come from the tourists who pay 200Cepha (100naira) to enter the Temple of the Sacred Python (what a ritual).

After the talk by one of the keepers of the snakes, it was time for us to carry the snakes on our shoulders and I knew with me kolewerk. No Jupiter or Saturn will make me agree to the snake resting on my neck. I was begged and told it wouldn’t bite but I rejected and appreciated the courage of others who carried the snake. The snake even pooed on some people...lol. I kept on asking myself, why the neck?

After everyone had finished carrying the snake, he then led us to a small room where they about 50 pythons were kept. It was indeed an experience.

Point of No Return

Ouidah is located in the South of Benin, on the Atlantic Ocean, and from here many slaves were traded by the Portuguese, French and English, each building forts in the city to protect their slaving interests. Just south of the Fort on the coast is the arched monument depicting the area where the slaves were marched to the boats. That area was named The Point Of No Return. Any slave who gets to that point knew it was the end for them. According to history, some of them preferred to die in the sea.

The slaves were shackled together and loaded into the boats.

Further along the beach is a smaller statue showing some of those that returned, in Western clothes and suitcases in hand. This monument is called The Door of Return.