July 30, 2003
Cotonou, By The Sea
Now it's Benin, the capital city Cotonou. What a difference a day makes! We've gone from the the heat and dust in Bamako to what at first appeared to be a mostly deserted city in Florida.
Instead of killing ourselves with a five-day, 1500-mile overland journey through Burkina Faso and northern Benin in the rainy season, Liz convinced me that it made infinitely more sense to fly here directly. We were able to find one-way tickets on STA Trans Africa Airlines for under $300 each--double what I'd planned to spend on bus fares but the difference was still less than a single day of hiring a car and driver in Bamako. Plus, flying was it's own adventure as we debated the contents of the the cellophane-wrapped in-flight meal served between Abidjan and Lome.
Another bonus was the chance to see Bamako, Abidjan, Lome and Cotonou from the air. This is Cotonou.
The airport really was deserted when we arrived. We walked straight through the passport check, and then waited in baggage claim with about four other passengers. It was sort of comical to watch them crank open the roll-up security door and rev up the baggage moving machine for a grand total of five suitcases, which included the Kinkajou Pelican case, my duffle bag and Liz's backpack (which we'd had coccooned in plastic at the Bamako airport).
The only hustler we encountered was a pleasant young woman in a white blouse and blue jeans with an airport ID, who offered to set us up with a taxi to our hotel. Sure, 4,000 CFA was a ripoff for a ten-minute ride, but it was a relief not to have to deal with the usual crowd of pushy maniacs.
Other observations. The taxi driver was adamant about refusing a tattered 1,000 CFA bill, hanging around the hotel lobby and complaining for about fifteen minutes until I relented and traded him for a newer bill. After three weeks of handling all manner of mangled currency in Mali, I'd forgotten how picky people can be about money here on the coast.
The air here is much cleaner, the strong sea breeze apparently pushing all of the smog and dust inland. The broad-leafed trees of the Sahel have been replaced by coconut trees and other palms. The hotel, solidly in the mid-range of Cotonou logements, is already nicer than anything we were able to find in Bamako. The bright blue pool in the central courtyard was frothing with screaming little kids all afternoon.
Taxis here are ridiculously expensive, largely because they're so outnumbered by the more popular alternative: the moped taxi. Piloted by yellow-shirted young daredevils, these mopeds swarm the streets of Cotonou like schools of fish. Stepping onto the curb at a street corner is sufficient invitation to attract a buzzing crowd of them, all politely jostling and revving their engines in clouds of blue smoke in order to get as close to you as possible.
Liz and I hopped onto the backs of matching mopeds for our 250 CFA trip downtown to dinner. Watching other passengers bounce along the sandy streets around us, we figured that they all chose to hunch passively on the back with their hands in their laps (a) so as not to distract the driver by clutching them in a panic and (b) so as to have both hands entirely free to protect their heads and other valuables in case of a wipeout.
We've got just over two weeks left to go in this field study. We'll spend the next couple days out at Grand Popo, compiling our the notes, photos and video we've collected to date. After that, we'll head up to Parakou in central Benin to meet Gabriel Agbede from MVV in Kemon. Gabriel has put together a fantastic, three-day itinerary for our trip to his village. We'll get to visit a number of MVV-lead community development projects, and we'll have to opportunity to experience different facets of village life. After Kemon, we'll head back to the coast to Porto Novo, to visit Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo and his colleagues at the Centre Songhai.
Posted by Timothy Prestero at July 30, 2003 09:50 PM
