Sunday 26^th January – Cotonou, Benin

• Arrival at your convenience into Cotonou. The largest city of Benin is well connected with flights to and from West and North Africa, as well as Istanbul, Brussels, Paris and Addis Ababa.
• Pre-arranged transfer to the Hotel Tahiti.
• Our hotel is located 100 metres from the Plage de Fidjrossè, the most beautiful beach in Cotonou. You can relax and have a swim before the rest of the group arrives.
• Pre-tour meeting will be held at the lobby of our hotel at 6:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• We’ll then have dinner at a traditional restaurant. As this is Saturday, we will then explore the nice Cotonou nightlife!

Monday 27^th January – Cotonou and Ganvié

• Breakfast at hotel
• We’ll first dive headfirst into the cacophony of Cotonou, visiting the Dantokpa market. It is the largest open-air market in West Africa, covering over 20 hectares. If you’re a foodie, you may know it from the Netflix documentary “High on the Hog” about African American cuisine.
• From the 1970s to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Cotonou was the place from which General Mathieu Kerekou ran his socialist regime. Multiple artefacts of the socialist times can be spotted around this city.
• Our city tour will take us to the Amazon Monument, a monumental 30-metre-high statue erected in tribute to the Amazons of Dahomey, in the style of socialist-realism.
• Visit the Red Star Square. Its central monument depicts a man holding a sickle and is the symbol of Cotonou. The monument promotes green socialism, the idea which promoted self-sufficiency through agriculture.
• It wouldn’t be a YPT trip is we didn’t stop at the Place du Souvenir. Formally known as the Martyr’s Square, it was built with the help of North Korean artists from Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang. The monument commemorates the sacrifice of Beninese, aided by none-other than North Korean soldiers, who helped push back a putsch attempt orchestrated by anti-socialist countries in 1977.
• Stop by the Monument to Georgi Dimitrov, the first leader of the Communist International (Comintern) and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Government.

Afternoon

• Lunch at a local joint best known for pounded igname with curry.
• In the afternoon, we’ll board a boat to visit the incredible Ganvié village – a village fully built on stilts and has been nicknamed the Venice of Africa.
• Ganvié’s origins date back to the 18th century, when slave raids drove the people of the region to take refuge in the marshes. This lakeside city has been on UNESCO ‘s Tentative List since 1996 (so it is not yet a World Heritage Site, but still well worth a visit!).
• Dinner and overnight in Cotonou

Tuesday 28^th January – Porto Novo and the Holi tribe

• Breakfast at the hotel
• We’ll drive to Porto Novo, the capital of Benin, located 30 kilometres from Cotonou.
• Porto-Novo is one of the African capitals with the best-preserved heritage. Its architecture is original, with Portuguese and French influences (notably the Governors’ Palace). Sacred trees are also an important part of this heritage.
• We’ll stop at the Afro-Brazilians architectural-style Great Mosque, which was constructed resembling a chapel with a long central hall and shallow vaulted roof.
• We’ll witness one of the most spectacular voodoo dances, the “Egungun”, a Yoruba masquerade for ancestor reverence.

Afternoon

• In the afternoon, visit of the Holi tribe, one of the most interesting ethnics in the country. They are know for their their facial scarification and belly tattoos.
• The drive from Porto Novo to the Holi takes around three hours. On the way, we’ll stop in Adjarra, where percussion instruments are made. You’ll be able to show us your skills!
• Overnight in Cové

Wednesday 29^th January – Fulani and Taneka tribes

• Breakfast at hotel
• This morning, we’ll meet the Fulani tribe, which are nomads who live apart from the rest of society in easy-to build houses.
• Fulani women and men are scarified and tattooed; women even tattooing their lips with a black ink as it is seen as sign of beauty. Both genders like to braid their hair and ornate them with beautiful jewellery.
• During our visit, we’ll only see women and children, because the men are out with the animals.

Afternoon

• We’ll continue further north, to the Taneka tribe, famous for wearing traditional clothes and smoking pipes.
• The Tanekas are very open and we will be received by their chief. We can give them some presents, such as rice or other food, but never candies or toys.
• Taneka’s culture is quite interesting, as they are not an indigenous group, but are the result of three different groups who decided to live together in the mountains, to defend themselves against the slavers coming from the south and the Islamisation coming from the north. They are still deeply rooted in the animist traditions.
• Dinner and overnight in Djougou

Thursday 30^th January – Dassa and Abomey

• Early breakfast at the hotel before we start heading South. Our morning drive will take around 4 hours, with rest stops.
• Our first stop it will be in Dassa, a city founded in the 12th century. It is famous for its surrounding forests and hills, many of which contain voodoo temples.

Afternoon

• After lunch, we’ll continue to Abomey, capital of the ancient realm of Dahomey.
• Along the journey you’ll stop by the underground warrior shelters of Bohican. The warriors of the Dahomey Kingdom, the fiercest in the region, would hide in impressive man-made caves to prowl on unsuspecting locals and turn them into slaves that they would sell to European slave traders.
• We’ll visit the Abomey Royal Palace, that functioned between 1695 and 1900 as the cultural hub of the empire. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Explore the fetish market of Abomey. While the fetish market of Lomé is a great place for an introduction to voodoo and photos, it can be a little bit touristy. The fetish market of Abomey is smaller but is truly the real deal, with locals purchasing live animals for their sacrifices.
• Visit the massive voodoo church, shaped like a chameleon!
• Night in the Auberge d’Abomey, the former residence of the French ambassador during the colonial era.

Friday 31st January – Aheme Lake – Ouidah

• Breakfast at hotel
• Today we will go to Aheme, one of the main places of voodoo, a 2-hour drive from Abomey.
• We’ll attend to a voodoo ritual in the Temple of the skulls. This is the sacred place of Shango, the Yoruba god of justice and thunder.
• The temple is filled with skulls and bones from the men executed by Shango. During the ritual, the priest will get one skull, pour some home-made liquor in it, pronounce incantations and sacrifice one or two chickens to the Gods. This may be one of the strangest experiences you’ll ever experience!

Afternoon

• After such emotions, we’ll have time to relax by the Aheme Lake, Benin’s second largest lake. You’ll be able to explore the area at your own pace or partake in optional activities such as fishing, canoeing, swimming, or simply chill by the lakeside.
• We’ll then drive to Ouidah, a small Atlantic coast town famous for its Voodoo culture.
• Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Chez Theo, in Aheme Lake. The lake is a good place to see evening voodoo dances!

Saturday 1st February – Ouidah

• Breakfast at hotel and drive to Ouidah
• Ouidah is known as the birthplace of voodoo. Here, you’ll witness elaborate rituals of dance and drumming to honour the 500-year-old religion’s panoply of gods and spirits. You’ll also learn more about voodoo, which is no longer considered sorcery and is a one of the spiritual roots of African culture.

Afternoon

• There’s more to Ouidah than voodoo, so we’ll also visit the city, famous for its afrobrasilian and colonial architecture. We’ll walk the “slavery route”, a 4-km path from the Chacha Square to the Door of No Return, a memorial to the enslaved Africans who were taken from the slave port of Ouidah to the Americas.
• We’ll also visit Ouidah’s temple, including the The Temple of the Pythons where more than 50 of them roam free. The existence of a cult of snakes, a particular form of Voodoo, has been documented here since the late 17th century and its live sacred pythons are one of the town’s most impressive sights.
• We’ll then head back to Cotonou for our final night in Benin.

Sunday 2nd February – Cotonou – Lomé

• Breakfast at hotel.
• Group A members: tour concludes. YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing flights.
• Group members continuing on our Togo tour will depart for a 4-hour drive to Lomé.
• Group B members: arrive at your convenience in Lomé, the capital city of Togo which is well connected from many countries within Africa and most of Europe.
• Pre-arranged transfer to our centrally located hotel and meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide in the lobby at 2:00pm

Afternoon

• Visit the Monument to Independence, built to commemorate Togo’s independence from France on April 27th 1960.
• We’ll visit Africa’s largest fetish market. Locals visit this market to purchase animal carcasses and charms to obtain favours from the spirits.
• During our tour, we’ll pass markets and sample famous local snacks such as fufu with a wide range of sauces. We’ll also see the cathedral, built in just over a year (April 1901 to September 1902) by the German colonial authorities.
• Lomé is situated by the beach and packed with nice bars and spots to mingle with the locals. We take up this opportunity and enjoy the nightlife!

Monday 3rd February – Togoville

• Breakfast at hotel before we take a short drive to Togoville. The German explorer Gustav Nachtigal signed a treaty with the town’s chief, Mlapa III, in 1884, from which Germany claimed dominion over what became Togo. In June 1984, a monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of the treaty was erected.
• The small town, which gave its name to the country, is located on the edge of a very shallow lagoon, known as Lake Togo. We’ll reach the town by canoe, crossing the lake from Agbodrago.

Afternoon

• We’ll visit the Togoville Cathedral, built-in 1910. It includes a shrine to the Virgin Mary to mark where she is said to have appeared in the early 1970s.
• Togoville is also a centre for the practice of voodoo and voodoo shrines are present near the former royal palace. We’ll have the chance to see them and to visit the fetish market.
• During our visit of the town, we’ll also see the Maison Royale, a small museum that houses Mlapa’s throne and various historic relics and photographs.
• We’ll then take our canoe back to Agbodrago and drive back to Lomé.

Tuesday 4^th February – Kpalimé

• Breakfast at hotel
• We’ll head North on a two-hour drive to Kpalimé
• Once arriving into Kpalimé, you’ll visit the craft school where students are learning to sculpt, weave and paint.

Afternoon

• Treak the jungle of Kpalimé. Our local guide will introduce to you the strange plants and trees that grow in this jungle and the multiple uses locals have for them. Along your trek you’ll also see buildings dating back from the German colonial times as well as local villages up the hill. You’ll also see waterfalls with the opportunity to swim.
• Overnight in Kpalimé

Wednesday 5^th February – Kpalimé

• The Kpalimé market is held on Tuesdays, so we’ll see how residents come from all over the region to sell their crops and stock up on provisions.
• We’ll continue our exploration of the Kpalimé and to Mount Agou area.
• We’ll go to the Kpalimé Falls, also known as Kpime Falls. They are the tallest waterfalls that can be found in Togo. You can swim beneath the falls, for epic pictures and a refreshing moment!

Afternoon

• After a quick stop at the Kamalo waterfall, we’ll drive to Château Viale, a castle built by a Frenchman in the early 1940s. The panorama over the surroundings is amazing. If the weather is good, we may even see Lake Upper Volta.
• We’ll then drive back to Lomé for our last night in Togo.
• Dinner and overnight in Lomé

Thursday 6^th February – End of tour

• Breakfast at hotel
• Tour concludes. YPT is able to arrange post-tour accommodation or advice for ongoing flights.
• Travellers continuing on our Ghana Tour will depart for a 4-hour drive to Accra.

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