Discovering Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso

Best period to travel: October, November, December

Short description:
Benin is the size of Portugal; therefore it is quite a small African country. This fact allows the traveller to visit all the country comfortably in a period of 3 weeks. The most outstanding aspects of Benini and what makes this African country unique is its religion and its history. Voodoo is one of the official religions together with Christianity and Islamic is the only country in the world where a traditional Animistic religion is recognized by the government. 

DAY 1: EUROPE – COTONOU
Flight from Europe to Benin. Arrival in Cotonou and transfer to the hotel. Meeting with the guide and transfer to the hotel.
Accommodation in: Hotel Benin Horizon.

DAY 2: COTONOU – GANVIE- PORTO-NOVO
Breakfast. Comment the tour with the guide. Introduction to the Beninese life pick a public ‘river bus’ and drive out of Cotonou, arrive and transfer in big canoe and visit the Ganvie In this Animistic village you will meet the Voodoo priest and will explain some aspects of the religious life. The village’s protecting fetish is quite stunning. Visit the village and meet the Tofi people, the African Venice, short visit and go to Porto Novo.
Accommodation in: Centre Songhay Hotel. BB

DAY 3: PORTO NOVO (45min)
Breakfast. Benin’s historical capital: Porto Novo, founded by the Portuguese in the XVth Century. Visit the city center with great examples of Afro-Brazilian architecture. This city seems stopped in time…it’s just great walking around the streets of the city center., the Ethnographique Museum, the Local Market.
Accommodation in: Centre Songhay Hotel. BB

DAY 4: PORTO NOVO – KETOU (1h30)
Breakfast. Visit the local market with a lot of colorful African traditional medicine, transfer to the bus and continue to Ketou, stop in a typical village and visit local people. Visit villages behind the cement factory –really impressive raphia architecture, unique in Africa!                                                                                                          Accommodation in: New Hotel.

DAY 5: KETOU- ABOMEY (2h30)
Breakfast. Visit the oldest Yoruba town in Benin and seat of the Yoruba monarchy in Benin. Introduction to the world of Fa (divination and future-seeing). There is a ancient school regarding these practices. Meet His Majesty, visit the town and continue for Abomey, a colonial town in the middle of the Agonlin Mountains.
Accommodation in: Hotel TG. BB or Similar

DAY 6: ABOMEY
Breakfast. Visit the underground system defense use during the French colonization. Visit the King Museum and Amazon temple, the place where the woman soldier was buried, of cause that warrior woman was strong during the French entrance in Benin around 17c very interesting to learn about this history. Visit some Prince house if possible meets some also and try to get them family history. 
Accommodation in hotel TB. BB or Similar

DAY 7: ABOMEY-BASSILA (4h30)
Breakfast and drive out of Abomey Kingdom’s and take a way to north of Benin, stop in Dassa Zoumé for lunch time and may be visit the sacred rock where the local Yoruba tribe hid during the slave raids. Arrive Bassila and transfer to the Hotel la Romance.
Accommodation in: Hotel la Romance. BB

DAY 8: BASSILA-TOGO BORDER-TCHAMBA-SOKODE
Breakfast. Today will be very important because we live Benin and then stop to Police immigration and get Benin Exit visa and entrance Togolese visa, after all that formalities who can take 40 minute or more we inter in Togo and our first meeting is to great one of the important King of Kparato Ethnic who life around Benin, Togo and Ghana. After meet the King, drive to Sokodé one of the biggest cities in Togo transfer to catholic mission.

DAY 9: SOKODE- ALEDJO  ROCK- KARA
Breakfast. Drive to one of the important town in Togo, the village of the actual President, Fore Gnyasimbé that the father was also President and his father built big cities that became very important town in the North of Togo. Stop to Aledjo just to visit the failed and continue, arrive to Kara for a lunch time, and swimming pool after and relax afternoon. Accommodation in hotel Kara. BB

DAY 10: KARA
Breakfast and drive to the way of Ketao and visit the local village, and market, the blacksmith, and tisserand if possible, and local handicraft, pique nique on the way, and return to Kara, and relax afternoon to the swimming pool.                  BB

DAY 11: KARA-KANDE-ALADOBA-BOUKOUMBE                                                                                                Early breakfast and long way to kande, town where we will get Togolese exit visa and start to enter in the Tamberna house, we will get a local guide who will splend about that house who is Unesco Heritage (small ethnic group living in fortified houses that remind us of the Tata Somba) cross the border depart to the north of Benin and visit villages of ethnic Somba. The Sombas live in a mountainous region (Atakora) and live on farms fortresses (Tata Sombas) characterized by their very architecture (3 types). Accommodation in Hotel Tata Somba at Boukoumbé FB

DAY 12: BOUKOUMBE                                                                                                                                  Early breakfast and long way to kande, town where we will get Togolese exit visa and start to enter in the Tamberna house.                                                                                                                                        Accommodation in Hotel HB

DAY 13: BOUKOUMBE-NATITTINGOU
Breakfast and last visits around the Somba country. Drive to Natitingou and past around the ATAKORA mountain’s, and beautiful landscape from this mountains where you can see Togo border, and continue to Natitingou, the most popular town in the north of Benin, with a big market, transfer to hotel.                                                          Accommodation in Catholic Mission

DAY 14: NATITTINGOU-PENDJARI NATIONAL PARC
Breakfast and drive to one of the best park in West Africa, the Pendjari Park, stop to waterfalls in entrance of the park and continue. Exploration of the Park (Unesco site). What this excellent national park lacks in animal numbers, it makes up for in spades with the diversity of its wildlife. Antelopes, buffalos, elephants, hippos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, baboons, Nile crocodiles, hyenas, jackals, warthogs and over 300 species of migratory bird call this unique environment home.          The park surface area is 266000 ha whit the border between Burkina-Faso and Niger.                                Accommodation in: Safari Camp. BB.

DAY 15: PENDJARI NATIONAL PARC
Breakfast and Safari all the journey and Dinner to Safari camp. BB.

DAY 16: PENDJARI NATIONAL PARC- FADA-GOURMA
After breakfast departure for Burkina-Faso, formalities in the border and who can take one hour and stop to some small village for lunch and continue, along away we will see a very traditional Burkana Faso village with colorful people along the way with bicycle arrive to Fada N’Gourma and transfer to Panache hotel, visit the local market, and the town. Acommodation in Panache hotel. BB.

DAY 17: FADA-GOURMA-OUAGADOUGOU
Breakfast drive to Ouagadougou the capital of Burkina Faso (219 km), Koupéla Crossing, then stop LAONGO site where you can enjoy a real open air museum where artists from all countries came to express their talent out of the granite. Arrival and installation at the Pacific Hotel or similar. BB.

DAY 18: OUAGADOUGOU                                                                                                                        Breakfast and visit, district bronze, the artisan center, village handicraft .Lunch in town, transfert to the airport and bye bye Africa!