Let’s Go To Benin: How to travel to Benin Republic on a budget.
Let me lead by giving you a heads up — The Naira is in the mud! Now that I’ve got that out of the way, we may proceed (with managed expectations of course!)…
After the pandemic that caused us to rethink everything in 2020, my 2021 goal was plain and simple — enjoy the life of my head! I decided I would reward myself as much as I could.
One thing I love but never got around to do is travel — but as you can see, I’ve started! (Go Lamlam!)
I played around with the idea of travelling to Benin, so when my friend mentioned it was something we could pull off, I was gingered. We got Alma Asinobi’s book and in no time we were ready to take a road trip with our other friends.
What you’ll need for your trip:
- A valid Nigerian passport
- Yellow Fever Card (ideally, should be done at least 2 weeks before you travel)
- ID card (student or work — trust me, you’d need it when officials start stopping you at checkpoints)
- Sunscreen, Sunglasses and face cap (because Benin is hot!)
- Basic medication — painkillers, and antidiarrheal medicine (just in case your tummy starts acting funny)
Getting to the Border
I hear that there are two land borders you can use; the Idi-Iroko and the Seme border but we used the Seme border as advised by our driver.
In a normal world, getting to the Seme border from Lagos, Nigeria should be easy but with the number of checkpoints we had to pass, I started to feel Carl Johnson of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Our driver, Mr Oyewole picked us up from Illupeju at 10 am then we embarked on a road trip that took about 5 hours.
The trip was pretty much smooth sailing until we got to Badagry. At this point, we had to stop almost every 5 minutes (no kidding) at a checkpoint. We counted about 17 checkpoints from Badagry to the Seme border.
Depending on the officers, some of them would ask that you just slow down, most will stop to check your travel documents, while the others will ask that you come down so that they search your belongings.
But not to worry, just remain calm and answer whatever question they might have.
Pro-Tip
Try to avoid taking your laptop because officers will stress you!!!!
Crossing it
This is is perhaps the biggest hurdle you’d have to overcome. Between getting your passport stamped and officials allowing you to cross the border… Let’s just say you need to be patient and ready to pay some money.
Once we crossed the border it was smooth again. We went ahead to change our money to Cefa. One thousand Naira is about One thousand One hundred Cefa. (*Cries in severe pain*). As a Nigerian, is pretty easy to access ]money as you’d find a lot of guys at the bureau de change who have naira accounts that you can transfer money to.
When we changed our money, we got a cab to take us to our Airbnb which cost 2,000 CFA per person. The ride to our accommodation took another 1.5 hours.
Our Accommodation
Our host — Monsieur Samson was such a delight and super helpful throughout our trip.
Our cab driver from the border had stopped at a supermarket called “U express” at Ganhi and Monsieur Samson came over to pick us from there and showed us to our apartment.
All the stress we had gone through was so worth it as soon as I opened the door to what would be our home for the next two nights.
The apartment is called Le petit PARIS on Airbnb and allows up to 4 guests. It cost $119 per night, with a cleaning and service fee of $23.96 and $37.21 respectively. This brought our total cost to $300.79 (₦145,600) for 2 nights. Of course, we split the cost and each of us ended up paying about ₦36,400 for both nights.
To describe the apartment in four words, it’ll be “home-away-from-home”. It had everything — a stable wi-fi connection, Television, air conditioners, a fully-equipped kitchen, constant light and water, it even had a bathtub!
We made breakfast on Saturday and Sunday (Thanks to some provisions we brought from Lagos and some others we got in Benin).
Getting around in Benin
The major means of transportation are motorcycles so much so that they have designated lanes on the express. They are called Zémidjans (zemi-Johns) or Zems for short. I hear the rides cost between 200–500 CFA (depending on the distance) but then, you can haggle for a price cut.
Because we were a group, we wanted to move together and monsieur Samson was kind enough to get us Monsieur Sunday who took us around all through our stay and doubled as our tour guide. Monsieur Sunday was kind enough to share his hotspot with us during our outings during the day.
It cost us 50,000 CFA to have Monsieur Sunday to ourselves for the weekend. This means each of us had to pay 12,500 CFA (11,363 Naira).
Our Itenary
We were only in town for 2 days. That means we had to squeeze in most of our activities on Saturday. But let me break it down for you…
Friday
We got into our apartment pretty late so we went to take a shower, got dressed up and went to town to get dinner. Monsieur Sunday recommended a nice restaurant at Gantin called Makoomba. The restaurant had a club right above it so if you’re into that, you can stop to check it out.
We got French Fries, Chicken Alfredo Pasta, Spaghetti bolognese, and Rice with Shrimp sauce. It cost us a total of about 35,000 CFA. But then, the portions were generous.
We also got Gelatos that cost 1000 CFA for a scoop and an extra 200 CFA for the cone. Because it was late already, we took our food to go and had our dinner in our apartment.
Saturday
Saturday was an event-filled day. We had mapped out our movement for the day before and shared it with Monsieur Sunday. We woke up to have our bath and make breakfast of noodles and leftover sauce from the previous night.
Monsieur Sunday got to our apartment at 10.00 am sharp (He really keeps to time). Our first stop was the Python temple in Ouidah but an interesting site caught my eye on our way and we begged monsieur Sunday to stop.
- Place du Souvenir
Place du Souvenir, formerly called Place des Martyrs, is a square in the city centre of Cotonou, located in the Haie Vive district.
The statue shows Three people including two men and a woman holding arms and the flag of Benin. The marked expression of the faces and the movement of the statues of these three people express the fine blend of an antique style and evoke a feeling of revolution.
The monument was given in honour of the seven Beninese including six soldiers and a civilian who perished during the mercenary aggression against Benin, led by the French Bob Denard on January 16, 1977.
There’s a small gallery just beside this site where photos and works of certain artists are exhibited.
- Temple des Pythons
We made our way to Ouidah and soon arrived at the Temple des Pythons also known as the Temple of Pythons.
The Temple of Python is a site of historical and modern symbolism and spiritual practice in Ouidah, Benin. The temple is facing the Ouidah’s basilica and houses the royal pythons that serve as a major totem for followers of the Vodun religion. We hear that about 60 pythons make this temple their home even though they aren’t fed but left to go out about once a week to prey upon chickens and mice.
Sometimes, they make their way into local homes, when this happens, the homeowners treat these pythons as guests before returning them to the temple.
Legend has it that King Kpassè, the ruler of the kingdom of Ouidah, fled the town and took refuge in a big forest to avoid being captured by the notorious Ghézo warriors in the 1700s. When he was in hiding, the pythons emerged from the forest and protected him from his enemies. To commemorate their role in his protection, he built 3 huts in that forests that will be used as monuments to commemorate the pythons.
Not to worry, these snakes are harmless and visitors are allowed to hold them. It cost us 2000 CFA (per person) to get into the temple.
The temple also has a craft market where you can purchase lovely artifacts.
- Jardin du Fort français (Fort français Garden)
This was another fortunate accident as this wasn’t part of our plan. I just saw what looked like a park and begged Monsieur Sunday to wait a bit. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get any information about the space other than its name.
- La Porte du Non-Retour
The three-kilometre dusty road that leads to the Door of No Return (La Porte du Non-Retour) in Ouidah, serves as some sort of pilgrimage site for tourists who come to uncover a painful experience of its slave-trading past.
The Slave Route stretches from the market square, where slaves were once sold, to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, it was being renovated when we visited so there was only so much we could see.
- Bab’s Dock
We went ahead to Bab’s Dock — a private lake restaurant owned by a Belgian couple. From what we gathered, you’d have a take a canoe to the actual restaurant.
We didn’t have enough time so we couldn’t go. It’d cost you 2500 CFA to and from the restaurant. (This does not cover the food you’d buy at the restaurant.
- Centre Artisanal
We headed back to Cotonou and this time, we went to the Artisanal Center where a myriad of stalls sell traditional handicrafts.
The market is set in traditional-styled houses with thatched roofs and pastel walls. You can see almost anything artsy here from handmade puppets, to voodoo dolls, carved wooden masks, trinkets and batiks.
The place also has a theatre where I met a group of Igbo highlife musicians. I got carried away by the wonderful music and in no time, I was dancing with them. This was perhaps the highlight of my visit.
- Club des rois fidjrosse
We ended the day at Club des Rois Fidjrossè a private beach located east of Fidjrosse-Kpota.
I ordered rice and Gizzard-kebab. The meal was disappointing as it was bland and served with raw pepper.
Sunday
In all the weekends I’ve had, Sunday had never come as fast as this one did! One day we are arriving this beautiful city, the next thing we know, we had to leave.
We said our goodbye to Monsieur Samson and hopped into Monsieur Sunday’s car for our last 2 stops before heading to the border.
- Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Miséricorde de Cotonou
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Miséricorde de Cotonou popularly known as Notre-Dame Cathedral in Cotonou, is a Roman Catholic cathedral, located near the Ancien Pont Bridge. You really can’t miss the building with its distinct candy-cane look. Its burgundy and white striped tile architecture will cause you to pause and stare.
The cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cotonou. It was created on 26 June 1883 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Dahomey from the Apostolic Vicariate of Benin Coast in Nigeria.
- Dankopta Market
The Dantokpa Market, or simply “Tokpa” like the locals call it, is a large open-air market in Cotonou. Just think Idumota in Lagos island and you’d get the picture.
I ended up buying a couple of lovely dresses at the market.
Coming Back
Our trip back to Nigeria was uneventful, to be honest… Oh wait, there was the stress yet again) at the border. But other than that, I was left with the thought of going back to Lagos hustle and bustle.
The checkpoints were also pretty easy to cross as we didn’t get stopped often.
Cost Breakdown
Accommodation: 145,600
Transportation from Lagos to Seme border and back: 26,000
Transportation to our Airbnb: 7200
Transportation within Benin: 45,454
Border Protocols(to and fro):15,000
(individual cost came to about 60,000 NGN (nearest round figure) — this does not include the cost for feeding and tickets to certain places)
