Mosquitos: Aahhh they are the first reason you will probably won’t want to go in Benin. It’s true that malaria is well spread in this country because of the climate. Not all mosquitoes give malaria. Those ones like humid area and stagnant water. You doctor will probably give you a treatment to protect you, and it is you right to take it, but I personally don’t recommend it. This treatments are strong and if you stay a long time it is not great for your body. They have a lot of side effects and you still might have malaria taking them. I took a medication called Doxipalu, then add skin problems and extreme fatigue. When I suspected the treatment to be responsible I stopped it and I felt better. On 2 months I was without treatment for a month and a half and never had malaria.
Mosquitoes love this kind humid area
What I recommend on an other hand is to act smartly. Don’t go out after sunset (that’s when the bas mosquitoes go out), sleep with a mosquito net use repulsive spray. But mainly, don’t go out by night!
Remember also that malaria can be cured, you can go the hospital and there is no so many risk to die. Most of death of malaria are children because they have a less immunity and because often Beninese people don’t have access to health care or hospital.
Bargain: Yes, if you go to Benin you will learn how to bargain. Everybody bargains even local between each others, but as a white and tourist you have to bargain if you don’t want to pay double a triple of the original price. At the start I was not really good and I felt bad but my local friends told me that the white price is too insane. They gave me the good prices for food, for fabrics and-really important- for transports. It is good to know a local that will give you an idea of a correct price. Do not bargain too much, that is not polite!
Vaudou: I will try to explain it with my words and my level of understanding; but it is quite a dense subject so if you are interested and want more details, you can consult a site dedicated to it.
The vaudou is a belief, an animist religion, a philosophy, a way of life which gives a soul to natural elements, but generally to every things that surround us. There are divinities and spirits(they also call them vaudou) which control these elements and are an intermediary between people and the supreme god. They also control human lives and people follow the signs that the divinities give. For example, an epidemic sickness will be the symptom of a bad behaviour or bad decision in the village. To establish a link with the divinities they have ceremonies. They dance, sing, give offering (it can be animals).
A statue that represent a vaudou on the Slave path in Ouidah.
I remember when I was in Benin, a morning I saw people dancing and one looks like a haystack. The “haystack” came to me and start to talk, and there was a interpret (my friend told me he was a vaudou master) translating me.They asked for a gift. I was a bit lost and my beninese friend told me to give some money, what I did. And they left. People were dancing crazily behind the “haystack”. I learnt later that it was a vaudou, a divinity, more exactly a Zangbéto which is a night guardian. My friend told me it is forbidden to see a Zangbéto during the night, especially for women, and if you met him at night he could even kill you. I heard that when they go out at night the are the one who punish thieves, miscreant etc … and even the police go away when they see them.
Zem: That’s the name for a moto-taxi. It comes from Zemidjan, and we call Zemidjan man the drivers. Scooters and small bikes are the main transport in Benin. It is absolutely crazy! If you go to Cotonou, the capital you will be surprised by the traffic, and more surprised to finish your ride alive! Of course there is no helmet, everybody take the bike with flip flop and shorts! It is actually quite funny but dangerous that’s also sure.
Zemidjan man waiting for clients
With my friend we used to take one zem for two because it is cheaper, so you are three on the bike, with usually a bag. But I saw bikes with four people (a dad, a child, the mom and here little one on the back), and the maximum I saw was five!
If you feel safer in a car you can take taxis even if there are not so frequent but it is even more crowded! I have been in a car for five and we were nine!
In Benin, everything is possible!
Moquitos ? is that a local beverage ?
Sorry typo ! I changed it. Moquito could be a mojito with mosquitos ...!