Thursday, April 19, 2012

Benin: A Much Needed Vacay

I vacationed to Benin the first week of April.

Although the four-day trip deemed “too short” by other PCVs, it was just what the doctor recommended—a mini-break from the world of Peace Corps Togo.

With who did I travel??

My sitemate Katy Todd. We travel well together. I use her for her good sense of direction and remarkable good luck; and she uses me for my French. Ordinarily I’d put on my defensive gloves and protest, “What?! I have DECENT navigational skills!” But then I remember all the times I’ve pointed to the sky as I described the location of my house in Dapaong. Yes, that’s right, I live in space. [Head shaking.] Idiot.

What was our goal on this wee excursion?

To see wild animals in Africa. Yes, that’s right. Katy wanted to see elephants and I wanted to photograph a cheetah (well, a cheetah sprinting across a field). I know, I know. My desire was a bit of a long shot—and as predicted, it didn’t happen—but it’s on my bucket list so can’t blame a girl for dreaming!

We had an inkling the safari was expensive so we did our best to economize. How did we achieve this? We secured a free ride (aller-retour) on the Lomé-Limo, which is a PC vehicle that travels from south-north-south twice a month. We also spent our first night in Benin at the PC Benin transit house in Natitingou.

But the Beninois adventure didn’t begin there. Oh no. It began in Kémérida with PCV Cameron Hobbs.

Hobbs, a movie trivia guru (and thus a close friend), lives in Kémérida—a village just shy of the border. Now let me tell you a bit about Mr. Hobbs. He, too, is a CHAP volunteer, although I don’t think that’s how he and I became friends. I wouldn’t even think our friendship began grace à proximity in that we lived close to one another during stage. Nope. If I may be so bold, I’d pin it on a walk home when I quoted the movie Six Days Seven Nights.

A conversation between Harrison Ford and Anne Heche:

“Aren’t you one of those guys?”

What guys?

“Those guy guys, you know, those guys with skills?”

Skills?!?!

“Yeah, you send them out in the wilderness with a pocket knife and a cue tip and they build you a shopping mall. You can’t do that?!”

Nooooo, I can’t do that. But I can do this…[places an index finger in his mouth and pulls it out making a popping sound]…does that help?

Yeah, I’m fairly certain it was then. It surely didn’t hurt that he had William Wallace’s speech from Braveheart on his iPod.

Needless to say, Katy and I had a fantastic time in Kémérida. Hobbs lived up to the stereotype of great southern hospitality as a man from South Carolina. Known to many PCVs as the deep fryer, the man deep-fries EVERYTHING. Sure, it might be tempting to judge him. But don’t. Dinner started with deep-fried chicken with a homemade barbeque sauce, a family recipe. No joke, that chicken pulled me out of Togo for a solid 30 minutes. Then we ate deep-fried ravioli. Ha! I know! Just try it.

The next morning, even after the epic failure of cooking an apple crisp in his Dutch oven, Katy and I told Hobbs we’d treat him like a king when he visits us in Dapaong. So Hobbs, if you’re reading this, get up here! What are you waiting for?!

No doubt, we could’ve stayed Chez Hobbs the entire vacation but that wouldn’t really have been fun for him so we left before breakfast.

Thanks to Katy’s luck, we didn’t have any difficulty finding motos and taxis, negotiating prices, etc while in Benin. And the roads! Oh my goodness. If Togo had roads like Benin, life would be so much better—not just for PCVs.

Now, I’m not one to go on-and-on and detail my vacation from start to finish so I’ll answers some likely questions.

Was the food different from Togo? Beverages?

Yes and no. There are different names for similar staple dishes like fufu. I enjoyed the tomato sauce in Benin more but only because I never tasted fish. In my opinion, bread is softer and tastes better in Benin. Youki beverages are sold in plastic containers whereas Togo sells them in bottles. I prefer the latter because the company is really good about recycling the bottles.

Where did we go?

We went to Pendjari’s National Park and spent two nights at Hotel Baobab in Tanguieta.

How much did the safari cost?

It cost 50,000CFA, which included gas, guide, entrance fee to reserve and vehicle.

See anything good?

Crocodiles. Hippos. Elephants. Baboons. Other monkeys. Tropical birds. Boars. Antelope. Buffalo. Etc.

Alas, we didn’t see any African cats. Yeah, I was bummed.

What else?

We sat on the roof of a 4-Runner and it was amazing. We got really dirty. People at the hotel couldn’t help but laugh once they saw our “safari tan.

Katy and I made enchiladas for some Benin PCVs at their transit house. I also made mango cobbler. Both were delicious.

We had problems breaking larger bills. It was quite annoying actually.

Would I go back?

No, but I enjoyed my vacation.

Thanks for reading! Until next time… J

1 comment:

  1. Sam, this was a wonderful read. How fantastic that you got to see a place most Americans never experience, and see real live elephants! You still have nearly a year to find a cheetah, I'm sure it's doable!

    P.S. Any man named "Cameron" who deep-fries everything and knows that William Wallance shoots lightning bolts out of his arse is a good friend to have

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