AMAZON Fifteen-Day Benin Sightseeing Tour

DAY 1 | INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT

DAY 2 | ARRIVAL IN COTONOU

Arrival at Cotonou airport in the evening where you will be welcomed by one of our representatives. Dinner at the restaurant and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 3 | COTONOU – OUIDAH

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Ouidah via the Fishing Road. This forty kilometers partially paved trunk road bordered by coconut trees runs along the coast between sea and lagoon. We will stop in the traditional fishing villages, where you will discover the craft boats sometimes painted in bright colors.

2^nd Stage: Lunch at the hotel, on the beach. The afternoon will be free and you can relax on the beach or by the hotel swimming pool.

3^rd Step: Dinner and overnight in an inn.

DAY 4 | OUIDAH – AHÉMÉ LAKE

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the inn and departure for a ride through the Slave Route to visit the No Return Door and the Memorial. Ouidah was indeed a very active shipment port for slaves during the slave trade in the 18th century, and saw between 1 and 2 million captives in transit.

2^nd Stage: Lunch in a maquis (small popular restaurant), in Ouidah and visiting a salt-producing village on the lagoon banks in the afternoon. Traditionally, women are the ones who produce salt in these lakeside villages.

3^rd Stage: Departure, on a canoe, to explore the meanders of the lagoon, along the mangrove.

4^th Stage: Departure for the Ahémé Lake.

5^th Stage: Dinner and overnight at the inn, in traditional huts installed on the heights of the Ahémé Lake.

DAY 5 | AHÉMÉ LAKE – GRAND POPO

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the inn and crossing the Ahémé Lake for a walk on its banks via the Possotomé Water Spring, producer of the mineral water marketed throughout West Africa.

2^nd Stage: Lunch in a restaurant on stilts, then departure for Grand Popo, a town located by the sea around the Benin-Togo border. Once at the hotel, you will have time to have some rest and swim in the sea or in the swimming pool.

3^rd Stage: Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 6 | GRAND POPO – ABOMEY

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for an excursion to La Bouche du Roy, where the Mono river flows into the Atlantic Ocean, on a motorized boat on the lagoon.

2^nd Stage: Lunch by the sea and departure for Abomey with a stop at Sè, a village specialized in manufacturing handcrafted pottery.

3^rd Stage: Site visit in Abomey.

You will visit the historic museum dedicated to the Dahomean kingdoms and Voodoo culture (the whole site of the royal palaces is a UNESCO heritage site). In addition to the thrones and bas-reliefs, the statuettes, fetishes and other objects of voodoo worship are a good illustration of the former religious capital status of Abomey.

4^th Stage: Dinner at the restaurant and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 7 | ABOMEY – NATITINGOU – KOTA FALLS

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Natitingou, in the northwest. Lunch will be taken in a maquis on the way. Besides, there will be some stops to allow you to enjoy the Benin landscapes from the fertile plains in the south to a more rugged terrain in the north, and mainly the succession of waterfalls flowing into a pleasant basin and the Kota falls allowing you to relax and cool off when approaching the Atakora range.

2^nd Stage : Dinner and overnight at the Kota Falls site in an inn.

DAY 8 | NATITINGOU – PAYS SOMBA

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the inn and departure for the Pays Somba, by the track skirting the Atakora mountain range.

2^nd Stage: Visiting Boukoumbé, a town located at the border with Togo. Boukoumbé is characterized by its animist population which traditionally lives in the tata sombas (in Wolof, tata means “surrounding wall”, or “fortin”), two-storey houses, some sorts of typical housing castles of the northwest Benin.

3^rd Stage: Lunch at the Boukoumbé market where you can refresh yourself by tasting the local millet beer (Tchoukoutou), and discover the crafts, especially the clay pipes.

4^th Stage: Stroll on foot in the Atakora foothills allowing you to soak up the local life by visiting mainly the Koussoukouingou village and discovering its traditional way of life, as well as the hollow iroko which can contain up to ten people within it.

5^th Stage: Dinner and overnight in the village, homestay: you will spend the night under the stars, under a mosquito net, on the roof of a tata somba.

DAY 9 | NATITINGOU – TANOUGOU – PENDJARI NATIONAL PARK

1^st Stage: Breakfast in the village and departure for Tanougou. In the Atakora massif, the Tanougou falls soar about twenty meters high. Cooling off in the natural swimming pool formed at the foot of the cliffs decorated with lianas is a real pleasure!

2^nd Stage: Picnic lunch and visiting the Pendjari National Park in the biosphere reserve on the northwest side of the country. Many large carnivores inhabit the park, including cheetahs (the park’s emblem), lions, leopards or wild dogs, which coexist with hippos, antelopes and elephants.

3^rd Stage: Dinner and overnight in the park in the open air in large safari tents on stilts.

DAY 10 | PENDJARI NATIONAL PARK – NATITINGOU

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the lodge and exploration of the park all morning long. Grass, shrub or tree savannahs alternate with open forests over an area of 4,800 km2, crossed by the Pendjari river. This diverse vegetation and the numerous water points provide adequate habitat for a very rich fauna. Over 400 species of birds live in the park.

2^nd Stage: Relaxation and picnic on the Tanougou waterfalls site, then departure for a stroll on foot in the surroundings, a stroll that will make you discover the nearby Fulani villages. Traditionally, the Fulani are herders of cattle or sheep; in West Africa, women make wagashi, a cow cheese that you may have the opportunity to taste.

3^rd Stage: Returning to Natitingou, dinner at the restaurant on the heights of the city, and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 11 | NATITINGOU – DASSA – ZOUMÉ

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Dassa-Zoumé. The city hosts religious pilgrimages all year round and the surrounding mountains are places of strong mystical worship, where relics are stored.

2^nd Stage : Picnic as a lunch break on the way, on the hills of Dassa where cotton and peanuts are grown, among other things.

3^rd Stage: Stroll in the hills, some of which are sacred, with the possibility of hiking up to the famous Split Rock (Physical condition required) which offers magnificent views of the region.

4rd Stage: Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 12 | DASSA-ZOUMÉ – PORTO-NOVO – ADJARRA

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Porto-Novo via the Ouémé valley.

2^nd Stage: Lunch and then visiting the city of Porto-Novo.

Porto-Novo, although less populated and less economically developed than Cotonou, is the official capital of Benin. The city owes its name to the Portuguese who settled there in the 18th century. The architectural heritage of Porto-Novo is marked not only by this colonial period but also by the Afro-Brazilian style, which is explained by the return of the first freedmen from Brazil (the Aguda) in the 19th century. The ethnographic museum, mainly devoted to the Yoruba culture, contains beautiful collections of ethnic art.

2^nd Stage: Dinner and overnight in the village of Adjarra, homestay.

Adjarra is a major percussion manufacturing center in southern Benin. You will spend a pleasant evening in the village, to the sound of djembes.

DAY 13 | ADJARRA – OUIDAH

1^st Stage: Breakfast in the village and departure for a canoe excursion which will take you down the Black River: another way of approaching Benin nature and its lush vegetation.

2^nd Stage: Lunch at the Adjarra market, renowned for its varied and quality goods, its basketwork, its pottery, its musical instruments, etc. Grilled pork kebabs are the specialty of this very lively market.

3^rd Stage: Departure for Ouidah and settling at the hotel by the sea, and relaxation on the beach or at the swimming pool.

4rd Stage: Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

DAY 14 | OUIDAH

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and free day with independent lunch. During this free day, you can either have some rest or visit Ouidah and stroll, as you wish. Among the remarkable sites of the town, the Immaculate Conception Basilica, built by Christian missionaries and completed in 1909, attracts interest with its European neo-Gothic architecture. The most curious ones can go to the Pythons Temple dedicated to the serpent-god Dangbé, the main Vodun deity in Ouidah.

2^nd Stage: Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

NB: Lunch and dinner not included.

DAY 15 | OUIDAH – LAKESIDE CITIES – COTONOU – DEPARTURE

1^st Stage: Breakfast at the hotel and departure for the visit of the region’s lakeside cities, including the “Venice of Africa”, Ganvié (18 km from Cotonou), the largest West African city on stilts. Built on the Nokoué Lake, the village of Ganvié lives mainly from fishing. The inhabitants live to the rhythm of the water and organize themselves during floods in the rainy season. You will meet women selling fruit and vegetables on the canoes of a real floating market.

2^nd Stage: Lunch on stilts.

3^rd Stage: Departure for Cotonou. In Cotonou, you will visit the craft center which brings together not only the Beninese craftsmen’s productions but also those from neighboring countries, such as Mali, Ghana, Burkina-Faso and Togo. You will find fabrics with traditional colorful patterns, pearl necklaces, wood carvings, pottery, hammocks and paintings that you can buy as souvenirs.

4^th Stage: Dinner at the restaurant and returning to your respective countries after being picked to the airport in the evening.