Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
The first place we visit in Benin is Grand Popo, on the coast. In Grand Popo, fishing is carried out using enormous nets. It seems as though the whole village is involved when one of these nets is hauled in.
Volunteers at the turtle sanctuary in Grand Popo, set up by the NGO Nature Tropicale, collect eggs laid by turtles at night and allow them to hatch in a protected area. The baby turtles then stay in an indoor pool for another four or five days before being released. After a guided tour, in exchange for a donation, we are allowed to release about ten baby turtles onto the beach and watch as they crawl towards the sea, only to be swallowed up by the water.
We drive on further between a lagoon and the sea, stopping off at Possotomé on Lake Ahémé. We see various sacred voodoo sites.
The lake plays an important spiritual role. According to traditional beliefs, it is home to various water gods and spirits. One of these is Avlékété, a vodun associated with water. Certain parts of the lake are therefore protected.
We then drive back to the coast, to Ouidah, a lovely little town featuring, amongst other things, the Python Temple. There are sacred pythons there. This species has no venom glands and is therefore not dangerous. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but still quite amusing.
The clothing in Benin is really lovely. Not only do many women wear dresses or trouser suits in bright colours (mainly blue, yellow and green) with vibrant geometric patterns, but men also wear such outfits made of thin fabric. Everywhere we see workshops with treadle sewing machines (which are still sold new) where the outfits are made.
Ganvié is a town with a population of around 40,000. The houses are built on stilts in the water.
There are no walkways between the houses, so everything is done by boat. Shopping is done at the floating market, where women paddle around selling tomatoes or soft drinks. Many men are out fishing. They are alone in small boats, constantly casting a net and hauling it back in. In many places.
We drive on to Porto Novo, the capital of Benin.
In the old town centre of Porto Novo, amongst crumbling colonial buildings, stands a huge, hideous mosque, next to an old, closed building that resembles a church. It is also a mosque. The people from this area, almost all of whom were sent to Brazil as slaves, left as animists and returned as Christians. In the meantime, the area had been conquered by a tribe, which introduced Islam. A mosque was built for the returning slaves in the Afro-Brazilian style, like the churches in Bahia.
We leave Benin behind us. It’s been our favourite country so far. The people are friendly and good-humoured; it’s well-organised, relatively clean and has decent roads. It has a rich history and a unique, somewhat mysterious culture. And the traditional dress is stunning.
Chapters:
00:00:37:47 Grand Popo
00:02:21:30 Grand Popo - Turtles
00:03:52:32 PossotomÉ
00:04:37:46 Ouidah
00:04:54:29 Python Temple
00:06:46:26 Calavi-Ganvië
00:07:58:01 Ganvié market
00:08:22:21 Songhai
00:08:49:42 Porto-Novo
We visited Benin on our overland trip by car (a Toyota LandCruiser 4WD campervan) from West-Africa; see our channel youtube.com/user/JanvanBekkum for hundreds of clips. More clips of Benin can be found here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMYlw_C7EP8KqyTKPnPCZ38MjsZxf_bkB.
Music and/or sound effects:
- 'Afrobeat Background Music' created by Khomich Raman, distributed by Pixabay ((https://pixabay.com);
- 'Midsummer Sky' by Kevin MacLeod. Link: www.incompetech.com. License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/;
- 'Corridor' performed by Purple Planet Music (purple-planet.com/);
- 'African Son' created by Hennie Bekker, distributed by freeSFX (freesfx.co.uk/);
- 'Where the sun is born' created by Ruslan Sikunov, distributed by Pixabay ((https://pixabay.com);
- 'Fantasie Impromptu' performed by Ahmad Mousavipour, downloaded from Pixabay (pixabay.com/);
- 'Symphony of the Streets. Hip-Hop Background Music for video 60 second' created by Maksim Dudchyk and uploadexd from Pixbay (pixabay.com/nl/music/orkestraal-symphony-of-the-streets-hip-hop-background-music-for-video-60-second. License pixabay.com/nl/users/maksym_dudchyk-34570439/;
- 'Calm inspiring technology logo short version' created by Alex Zavesa, distributed by Pixabay (pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-calm-inspiring-technology-logo-short-version-518993/).
The first place we visit in Benin is Grand Popo, on the coast. In Grand Popo, fishing is carried out using enormous nets. It seems as though the whole village is involved when one of these nets is hauled in.
Volunteers at the turtle sanctuary in Grand Popo, set up by the NGO Nature Tropicale, collect eggs laid by turtles at night and allow them to hatch in a protected area. The baby turtles then stay in an indoor pool for another four or five days before being released. After a guided tour, in exchange for a donation, we are allowed to release about ten baby turtles onto the beach and watch as they crawl towards the sea, only to be swallowed up by the water.
We drive on further between a lagoon and the sea, stopping off at Possotomé on Lake Ahémé. We see various sacred voodoo sites.
The lake plays an important spiritual role. According to traditional beliefs, it is home to various water gods and spirits. One of these is Avlékété, a vodun associated with water. Certain parts of the lake are therefore protected.
We then drive back to the coast, to Ouidah, a lovely little town featuring, amongst other things, the Python Temple. There are sacred pythons there. This species has no venom glands and is therefore not dangerous. It’s a bit of a tourist trap, but still quite amusing.
The clothing in Benin is really lovely. Not only do many women wear dresses or trouser suits in bright colours (mainly blue, yellow and green) with vibrant geometric patterns, but men also wear such outfits made of thin fabric. Everywhere we see workshops with treadle sewing machines (which are still sold new) where the outfits are made.
Ganvié is a town with a population of around 40,000. The houses are built on stilts in the water.
There are no walkways between the houses, so everything is done by boat. Shopping is done at the floating market, where women paddle around selling tomatoes or soft drinks. Many men are out fishing. They are alone in small boats, constantly casting a net and hauling it back in. In many places.
We drive on to Porto Novo, the capital of Benin.
In the old town centre of Porto Novo, amongst crumbling colonial buildings, stands a huge, hideous mosque, next to an old, closed building that resembles a church. It is also a mosque. The people from this area, almost all of whom were sent to Brazil as slaves, left as animists and returned as Christians. In the meantime, the area had been conquered by a tribe, which introduced Islam. A mosque was built for the returning slaves in the Afro-Brazilian style, like the churches in Bahia.
We leave Benin behind us. It’s been our favourite country so far. The people are friendly and good-humoured; it’s well-organised, relatively clean and has decent roads. It has a rich history and a unique, somewhat mysterious culture. And the traditional dress is stunning.
Chapters:
00:00:37:47 Grand Popo
00:02:21:30 Grand Popo - Turtles
00:03:52:32 PossotomÉ
00:04:37:46 Ouidah
00:04:54:29 Python Temple
00:06:46:26 Calavi-Ganvië
00:07:58:01 Ganvié market
00:08:22:21 Songhai
00:08:49:42 Porto-Novo
We visited Benin on our overland trip by car (a Toyota LandCruiser 4WD campervan) from West-Africa; see our channel youtube.com/user/JanvanBekkum for hundreds of clips. More clips of Benin can be found here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMYlw_C7EP8KqyTKPnPCZ38MjsZxf_bkB.
Music and/or sound effects:
- 'Afrobeat Background Music' created by Khomich Raman, distributed by Pixabay ((https://pixabay.com);
- 'Midsummer Sky' by Kevin MacLeod. Link: www.incompetech.com. License: creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/;
- 'Corridor' performed by Purple Planet Music (purple-planet.com/);
- 'African Son' created by Hennie Bekker, distributed by freeSFX (freesfx.co.uk/);
- 'Where the sun is born' created by Ruslan Sikunov, distributed by Pixabay ((https://pixabay.com);
- 'Fantasie Impromptu' performed by Ahmad Mousavipour, downloaded from Pixabay (pixabay.com/);
- 'Symphony of the Streets. Hip-Hop Background Music for video 60 second' created by Maksim Dudchyk and uploadexd from Pixbay (pixabay.com/nl/music/orkestraal-symphony-of-the-streets-hip-hop-background-music-for-video-60-second. License pixabay.com/nl/users/maksym_dudchyk-34570439/;
- 'Calm inspiring technology logo short version' created by Alex Zavesa, distributed by Pixabay (pixabay.com/sound-effects/film-special-effects-calm-inspiring-technology-logo-short-version-518993/).
