CotonouPersonal travel impressions in stories and pictures from Cotonou, Benin. Click on the pictures to enlarge, send as a free e-card, or download for personal use. You can locate Cotonou and navigate the world using Google Earth Show on map
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In a period in my life in which I visited Eastern Europe in its pre-1989 period, it was very interesting to see Benin. After all, at that time Benin was also a socialist country, adopting ideologies from the East. The interesting part for me was to see how an African country would incorporate these strange ideas - as it is sometimes interesting to see how for instance western beliefs are imported into these countries.
Actually, for a visitor there was not so much shockingly different from other countries. Fortunately, mostly the African spirit and dynamism prevailed. But it was still a kind of shock to encounter a monument in the most serious Marxist tradition somewhere in the dusty streets of Cotonou. As if transplanted from Eastern Europe.
At the same time a visit to a village on poles was very African indeed - people living like they also live in many other parts in this vibrant part of Africa.
