Monday 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.
• You can also join us directly from our Western Sahara tour, for a deeper exploration of West Africa.
• Self 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 the Tahiti hotel at 6:00pm to discuss tour itinerary and to meet your fellow travellers and YPT guide.
• We’ll then have dinner at a local restaurant. We recommend trying smoked or grilled fish, Djèwo (Jollof Rice) or the famous chicken Yassa.

Tuesday 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

Wednesday 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 also see the Kpakliyawo, the temple-museum of the night guardians, commonly known in the local Goun language as Zangbéto. These night guardians protect the inhabitants and the King of Porto-Novo from invading enemies and criminals.
• If we’re lucky, we’ll witness one of the most spectacular voodoo dances, the “Egungun”, a Yoruba masquerade for ancestor reverence. Please note that on this trip, we’ll never pay locals to do dances or ceremony. However, we’ll use our connections to see authentic events whenever possible.

Afternoon

• From Porto Novo, we’ll head to the Akoloukou drum factory in Adjara. Drums are central to the spiritual and cultural practices of Benin, often used in Vodun ceremonies to call upon spirits or communicate between realms. You’ll be able to show us your skills!
• In the afternoon, we’ll drive to 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 two hours.
• Upon arrival, the village chief will welcome us with a solemn prayer of blessing and we will walk around the village, learning about their way of living. The Holi have resisted
  modern pressures to abandon their ancestral customs. We’ll also play with the curious kids until sunset.
• Overnight in Cové

Thursday 29^th January – Fulani and Taneka tribes

• Breakfast at hotel
• This morning, we’ll meet the Fulani tribe. Known for their rich cultural heritage (particularly their braiding style) and nomadic lifestyle, the Fulani have significantly influenced the regions they’ve inhabited. In Benin, the Fulani are primarily pastoralists, moving each month or two to different location.
• Fulani women and men are scarified and tattooed; women even tattoo 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 mostly see women and children, because the men are out with the animals.

Afternoon

• We will then stop in Dassa, a city founded in the 12th century. The city is famed for its hills, believed to be inhabited by spirits and deities. These hills provided natural protection for the kingdom that once thrived here, and they remain a sacred site for many followers of traditional beliefs.
• On the main hill, we will see several temples, each dedicated to different Vodun deities. One of the most fascinating was the baobab tree, said to be a deity used to influence
  the coming rain and the selection of rulers.
• We’ll continue to the Avogbannan market, where merchants sell everything from handcrafted statues to dead animals used in Vodun rituals. While the fetish market of Lomé, that we will see later, is a great place for an introduction to vodun and photos, it can be a little bit touristy. This fetish market is smaller but is truly the real deal!
• We’ll finally arrive in Abomey, the historic capital of the powerful Kingdom of Dahomey. One of the kingdom’s most feared and respected institutions was the Dahomey Amazons, an elite all-female military regiment that protected the kingdom.
• Depending on the time of arrival, we’ll visit the Royal Palace, see Vodun ceremonies or dances, or simply head to a local restaurant for dinner.
• Overnight in the Auberge d’Abomey, the former residence of the French ambassador during the colonial era.

Friday 30^th January – Dassa and Abomey

• After breakfast, 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.
• During our visit, we’ll learn about the “female king” Tassi Hangbé, who briefly ruled in the early 18th century and is said to have established the tradition of female warriors. Though her reign was short, she played a vital role in shaping the kingdom’s military policies and reinforcing the power of women in Dahomey society. If you’ve seen the movie The Woman King, with Viola Davis, it was partly filmed here!
• While in Abomey, we’ll also visit the massive voodoo church, shaped like a chameleon.

Afternoon

• After lunch, 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, in the village of Bopa. This is the sacred place of Shango, the Yoruba god of justice and thunder.
• The temple is filled with skulls, bones and coffins 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!
• 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.
• Dinner and overnight at the Hotel Chez Theo, in Aheme Lake. The lake area is a good place to see evening voodoo dances!

Saturday 31st January – 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 temples, 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.
• Overnight in Ouidah

Sunday 1st February – Cotonou – Lomé

• Breakfast at hotel before we depart for a 2.5-hour drive to Lomé, Togo.
• Before crossing into Togo, we will make a detour to visit the Refuge des Tortues de Grand-Popo, a conservation project dedicated to protecting endangered sea turtles along the Gulf of Guinea. The refuge serves as a safe nesting site for four species of turtles that return to these beaches between September and April to lay their eggs.
• The border crossing between Benin and Togo is easy, but not the fastest process in the world. It should take around one hour.

Afternoon

• On arrival in Lomé, we’ll have lunch before starting our visit of the city.
• Our first stop will be the Grand Marché, one of the most important commercial hubs in the region. Spanning several city blocks, it is a labyrinth of shops and open-air stalls selling wax fabrics, spices, everyday essentials, etc. The market is run primarily by Nana Benz, a group of influential female traders historically known for controlling the West African textile industry, especially the distribution of high-quality Dutch wax prints.
• We’ll visit the Monument to Independence, built to commemorate Togo’s independence from France on April 27th 1960.
• During our tour, 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 2nd February – Togoville

• Breakfast at hotel before we continue our visit of Lomé. We’ll start with a visit to the the Marché des Fétiches, or Fetish Market. It has existed in various forms for generations, serving as a place where priests, healers, and seekers gather to acquire sacred objects believed to hold mystical powers.
• We’ll then head 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 for our last night in Togo.

Tuesday 3rd February – Lomé

• 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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