Cotonou
Cotonou is not visited like a museum: it is crossed. Here is what genuinely earns the trip, in what order, and what to know before you go.
One of the largest open-air markets in West Africa, spread along the lagoon bank. Everything is there: wax cloth by the metre, calabashes, spices, electronics, and the fetish market for ritual objects. It is loud, dense, and it is Cotonou.
In the morning, with company, phone away. We send someone with you if you would rather.
The bronze statue standing on its esplanade, facing the presidency: a Dahomey warrior, spear in hand. It has become the city's landmark and the place its big gatherings happen.
Late in the day, when the light drops and the heat lets go.
Contemporary African art, shown seriously and free of charge for twenty years. The Cotonou space for exhibitions, and the Ouidah museum, in the Villa Ajavon, for the collection.
Its red and white bands over the Ganhi district: the most photographed building in Cotonou, and a good place to start walking the old trading centre.
Bronze casters, wood carvers, batik, the appliqué hangings of Abomey: you watch people work, you talk, you buy without being pushed. This is where you find something that genuinely comes from here.
The liveliest stretch of sand in the city: tables in the sand, grilled fish, music, and the sun going down over the Atlantic. It is Friday evening in Cotonou.
The coast road heading west, between the ocean and the coconut palms, through the fishing villages. An hour's drive and the city is gone. It is also the road to Ouidah.
The current along the Beninese coast is strong: swim where the beach is watched, never alone.
Amiwo with its chicken, red pâte, piron, fermented-corn ablo, wagasi cheese from the north seared in a pan, and grilled fish in tomato. The best tables are not the most expensive — they often have no sign.
Tell us what you like and we send you to the right address rather than the most visible one.
The two districts where you dine, have a drink and finish late: Lebanese, Italian and Beninese restaurants, cocktail bars, terraces. This is where the expat crowd and a good part of the city live.
Egungun, Zangbéto, Guèlèdè: these are not shows, they are ceremonies. They follow a calendar that is not the traveller's, and you attend by invitation, at a distance, and you do not photograph without asking.
When one is held during your stay we tell you and we come with you. We do not stage them to order.
The yellow motorbike taxis are the nervous system of Cotonou: faster than a car, and the best way to understand the city. You agree the price before getting on.
Helmet, and not at night or in the rain. For long journeys or with luggage, we send a car.
The best of Benin is done from Cotonou, keeping the same home.
Photograph : Saliousoft · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
A driver, company at the market, a table with no sign, a mask procession when one is held. Tell us your dates.
+229 01 67 60 80 60
