Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
Citizens from the following countries do not need a visa to enter Benin: Sweden, Denmark, Cuba and China. Contrary what the Swedish consulate in Sweden said.
Alexander Garcia, Sweden (Sep 98)
Germans, Danish and Swedes do not need a visa to enter Benin. Visas at the Benin-Togo border near Paneho are valid for 2 days (CFA4000) . Extensions are available from the Ministry of Interior.
Jutta Langlotz & Chris Baumgardner (May 1998)
Benin no longer issues 3 month visas. One month visa costs now 12000CFA. Applications for Carte de Sejour, valid for 12 month stay, costs 10000CFA: medical examinations, proof of job and of residence and four black and white pictures are required. In our case it took 5 months.
You can buy Burkina visa on the border in Tindangou for 10000CFA, valid for 1 week..
Pavel Novotny (June 1998)
A number of monuments have been erected along the slave road from Ouidah to the sea. First, the "Tree of Forgetting" ("L'arbre d'oubli") circled by the slaves (men, three times and women, seven), in order to lose all memories of their homeland and live in their new surroundings are "beings without independent will". Further on, the Tree of Return ("L'arbre de retour") circled by the slaves (three times), so that the slaves' souls would return to Africa after their death. Finally, at Ouidah beach there is the Gate of No-Return ("La porte de non-retour") a public memorial erected under the auspices of UNESCO and dedicated in 1995 by (now ex-) President Soglo. While none of these sites are as well-known as those of Goree island in Senegal, they are, nevertheless, very moving in their own right and the sculptures located at these monuments are all by Beninois artists.
Laura Schwartz - USA (Mar 98)
On entering the city of Abomey, visitors see an enormous statue of Behanzin, the eleventh king of Abomey and last independent ruler. Behanzin is surrounded by his symbol (the egg) and is depicted with an outstretched hand in a gesture of "half". Behanzin tried, unsuccessfully, to keep Europeans, specifically the French, out of the kingdom of Dahomey. In 1894, Behanzin surrendered to the French and was exiled to the French colonies of Martinique and Algeria (although his remains were buried in Abomey). The Beninois are proud of the fact that neither Behanzin nor any immediate member of his immediate family would sign a treaty granting a protectorate to the French. (Although, ultimately, a more distant relative did so, and in return, was made king by the French).
Laura Schwartz - USA (Mar 98)
Visitors to Porto Novo should know about Songhai, an agricultural station and working farm started by a Nigerian priest to train Africans in modern agricultural methods, animal husbandry, fish farming. All over Western Africa there are farmers and entrepreneurs utilising skills learned at Songhai to achieve self-sufficiency for themselves and their villages. Guided tours of the station are available and there is an excellent and reasonable restaurant serving dishes made with fish, vegetables and fowl farmed raised on the premises. It is maybe more expensive but the meal I had was delicious, salad can be eaten safely and the money goes to an extremely worthy cause.
The general store sells Songhai products, including "bissap" a delicious syrup flavoured with sap (extracted the same way maple syrup is, although, of course from a different tree variety) that can be mixed with mineral water for a delicious beverage.
Laura Schwartz - USA (Mar 98)
BENIN