BENIN and Natitingou

18 April 2011
BENIN – Country number 8 – BENIN
Natitingou

Auberge le Vieux Cavalier has no water this morning, but on asking they start the pump and all is ok. Today I want to contact ‘LondonRoads’ who responded to my LP forum post looking for others to join up to visit Pendjari National Park – I can only hope to be more successful than I was in Mole, Ghana at seeing animals here in West Africa. I leave a message at his hotel to meet for lunch and head off to the market to find a box for posting and the requisite wide scotch tape to bind the whole thing together. Back at the post office a lovely Beninoise woman helps me through the process of posting yet another parcel home – albeit without scales that work and no forms?? I do hope that package makes it home. When I was at the market, there were trays of something I had never seen before – CHEESE! It’s homemade cow’s milk cheese known as wagassi and coated in a red (pimento?) powder. When I had a meal in Natitingou I was offered fromage with my riz and sauce – I thought I misheard what she was offering and declined but after seeing so much for sale at the market I gather it could be a ‘northern’ specialty.
I call into the restaurant for lunch and get chatting with a couple of american girls who have been in Ghana for a conference on autism and now making quick travel through Togo & Benin. They were impressed with the conference and I relate my tales of the orphanage and Codhani visits. Soon enough Mark turns up, but won’t join us for lunch because he eats at the bus stands to save money. The americans leave and Mark & I talk about what our expectations may be. He wants seats on the roof of the car for the better view and I want a day trip with a side trip to Porga for my entry stamp. With this in mind we try Eco Benin, who are based at a flash hotel where a woman assures us that all is possible and she will ring the guide to come and meet us in one hour. We head to the bar and chat over a beer before waking the woman to ensure the guide will meet with us. Eventually he turns up and is the guide who Mark has been warned against. We head to Hotel Tata Somba and they refer another guide to us – Joseph. Now Joseph strikes me as honest – no he is sure a side trip to Porga would not be possible in one day. His pricing is ok and we take our leave to think about it. Over Mark’s dinner we chat again and ring Joseph to confirm that I will make a trip to Porga tomorrow to continue on to Relais Du Tanangou to sleep, where Joseph & Mark will pick me up early Wednesday to continue on to the park for the day. Later that night I meet up with three swiss who are also travelling to the falls and onto Pendjari the next day. I am welcome to join them, thank you but they also give me a name of Le Hotel Crillon in Cotonou.

FACT: Hunting is big business around Pendjari – known as cynegetic tourism. There is a hunting lodge just outside the park and we meet 4 frenchies who are going to stay 2 weeks hunting there! Heavens knows what they are hunting. I am afraid that this is a sport that I struggle to understand, unless hunting for food which I am sure was not their plan. According to the park figures, said cynegetic tourism contributes 66% revenue compared to 34% from wildlife observation tourism! hmmm