Ganvie is a lake village in Benin, Africa, lying in Lake Nokoué, near Cotonou. With a population of around 20,000 people, it is probably the largest lake village in Africa and is very popular with tourists.

The village was created in the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries by the Tofinu people who took to the lake to avoid Fon warriors who were capturing slaves for sale to European traders. Making the shallow waters and islands of Lake Nokoue a haven, the Ganvie villagers are often referred to as "water men"[1] and the area itself is often called the "Venice of Africa."[2]

Originally based on farming, the village's main industries other than tourism are now fishing and fish farming. The only means of transportation to and from the village is through wooden boats

The village was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on October 31, 1996 in the Cultural category

Porto-Novo is a port city and the capital of Benin, in West Africa. It’s known for colonial buildings like the Brazilian-style Great Mosque, formerly a church. The Ethnographic Museum displays ceremonial masks, musical instruments and costumes. The Musée da Silva recounts Benin’s history and celebrates Afro-Brazilian culture. Just east, the Honmé Museum was King Toffa’s 19th-century royal palace.

The Dantokpa Market, or simply Tokpa, is the largest open-air market in West Africa, located in Cotonou, Benin. It is one of the most important retailing areas in Benin, covering over 20 hectares. It is also economically important for the country, with a reported commercial turnover of over a billion CFA Francs a day

Ouidah is a city in southern Benin, in West Africa. It’s known for its role in the 17th- to 19th-century Atlantic slave trade. The Slave Route, a track down which slaves were taken to the ships, is lined with monuments and leads to the Door of No Return, an memorial arch on the waterfront. The Ouidah Museum of History, based in an 18th-century Portuguese fort, chronicles the city’s slave-trading past.

Abomey is a city in southern Benin. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey from the 17th to 19th centuries and is home to 12 royal palaces from that period, most now in ruins. The surviving palaces of Ghézo and Glélé form the Historical Museum of Abomey, which features bas-reliefs on the palace walls and a throne mounted on human skulls. A nearby artisan center sells traditional crafts like appliqué textiles.

Built in 1835, the Woold Home belonged to a scottish slave trader John Henry Wood and was inhabited by a royal family. The chief Assiakoley had practiced slavery on Aného ribs but those were under the supervision of the British authorities and anti-slavery cruises. The Assiakoley leader and his associates went in the land without taking away from the sea in order to illegaly continue their trade. The house was hidden well enough and the chief Assiakoley was negotiating with tribal leaders in the north of the country to reduce their people to slavery.

The house had four bedrooms, a large living room and a cellar of 1.50m in height. The slaves were kept in the cellar, which was under the living room and in which it was impossible to stand and in pretty horrific conditions. A trap door in the living room provides access to the cellar. Gaskie sent us down there, in the dark, so we “could be aware” of the position in which the slaves had to stay for days, weeks, months. Inhuman…

Before being “shipped” to the United States, slaves were taken to a well called “Puit des enchaînés”, close to the Woold Home for an very last bath. Then, they were forced to do 7 laps around the well to lose all connection with their gods and beliefs.

The house has been renovated but there are some authentic furnitures. The ceiling has been repaired twice. Unlike the slave house on Goree Island in Senegal, the Woold Home is a place that still frightens residents of Agbodrafo.

Kpalimé is a town in southwest Togo. It lies in the Plateaux Region, surrounded by coffee and cocoa plantations. In town is a 1913 German-built church with a tall steeple. A craft center in nearby Kloto features traditional crafts such as woodcarving and batik. To the east, Mount Agou has trails and views across to Ghana. Northwest, on the Ghanaian border, Missahohé Forest is known for its butterflies.

Peruse and purchase arts and crafts unique to Benin at Artisanal Center, where a wide array of stands and shops sell traditional handicrafts

November 12th