Similar warning to my post in Togo – if you are sensitive to harm to animals, I recommend caution. There are less graphic photos here compared to what I saw in Togo but there will be a few photos and references to animal sacrifice here as well.
Benin was an incredible finale to this trip. Even after nine other countries and several weeks in the region, Benin felt fresh and exciting, with unique rituals and dancing that we were lucky enough to experience. We started off with a voodoo ritual that involved a chicken sacrifice.
I saw a lot of chickens sacrificed in Togo and Benin. The first one did bother me, but most of the time, they died fairly quickly – I only had to look away in the few rituals where the chickens seemed to know and feel distress about their impending death. While there were parallels, the rituals themselves all felt pretty distinct, with different preparations and manners of death for the chickens.
We also saw a lot of different dances, which were very cool. I loved the elaborate costumes. Some of those looked challenging to dance in. Here were some of my favorites:
This whole performance was so cool! This one, along with many of the other dances we saw across West Africa, were always so high energy. The level of cardio you would need to learn and perform these would be intense. One of the other ones we saw reminded me a lot of capoeira, the Brazilian dance fighting, but they had blunted knives that they used in the dance as well.
What I loved about the dances and the rituals is that we saw a huge diversity of different practices. Sometimes, when you’re in a particular region for a long time, things start to blur together, and you don’t appreciate the new things as much because they feel too similar to what you’ve already seen. But in this case, Benin felt totally new and even within the country, there were a ton of cool types of dances that all felt unique.
Going to all of these dances and rituals got us out of the main population centers in Benin and out into the smaller towns and villages.
One of the rituals that’s unique to this region is the Zangbeto. They are voodoo guardians. In some of the rituals, they are overturned and there are other protectors underneath, like statues or snakes.
The one that shocked me the most was when they flipped over one of the Zangbeto and there was a baby crocodile underneath!
We also spent some time seeing the historic sites of Benin, like their UNESCO site in Abomey.
One of the other historic sites we visited was Benin’s Door of No Return monument in Ouidah, which was a bit different than the versions I had seen in Senegal and Ghana. Instead of a door that was part of a fortress, this one is designed as a memorial to those who were taken away from their homes.
We spent some time in Porto-Novo, the capital, and Cotonou, the seat of government and economic center. Porto-Novo had some beautiful architecture in their old town.
For one of our days in Benin, we headed to Ganvie! Ganvie is a lake village, and was originally a way for people to stay safe from the slave catchers, as they were somewhat “off the grid.” I love the chance to see a place by a boat ride, and Ganvie was definitely worth the visit.
One of the wildest experiences I had in Benin was the Python Temple. This was in Ouidah. The snakes are an important religious symbol, and it’s a huge honor to be one of the priests who cares for them. They even let us hold them and get quite close to the snake pit. This was my first time holding a snake!
All in all, Benin was amazing. One of my favorite parts of the trip! It was such a good way to end the trip across the region, and I would definitely recommend it to people who are interested in traveling to parts of Africa that are a bit more “off the tourist path.” It’s not a safari destination. Or at least, the parts we went weren’t – I think West Africa does have some safari opportunities farther from the coast. But if you want to explore somewhere that is safe, friendly, and has a fascinating culture, Benin should absolutely be on your radar.