A slightly quirky hotel in Benin’s administrative capital
Our first three nights in the West African country Benin, were spent at Hotel La Casa Cielo in Cotonou. Although Benin’s official capital is Porto-Novo, 30km away, Cotonou is the de-facto administrative capital. The hotel had 36 rooms and we were in 303 on the second floor. The large room had a hard king-size bed […]…
Visiting the Venice of West Africa
Whilst staying in the Benin city of Cotonou, we took an excursion to what is known as the Venice of West Africa – Ganvie Stilt Village. Located on Lake Nokoue, it was originally created for the Tofinu people to stay safe from slave hunters, but it has become part of their culture and way of […]…
A hotel surely ripe for closure
When the most positive feature of a hotel is the strength of the WiFi, it’s not a good sign. The Amazone Hotel in Bohican, Benin, was a last-minute replacement for the Sun City Hotel in nearby Abomey which had closed down. The rudimentary check-in provided a key card with masking tape wrapped round it and […]…
Plus Jamais d’Esclavage – No More Slavery
Whilst staying in Togo’s capital, Lome, we visited ‘Maison des Esclaves’ or Slave House, and we sat on a wooden bench whilst a guide gave us the history of the house. Although slavery was officially abolished in 1807, it continued illegally between 1830 and 1852 from the clandestine trading house. Built by Scottish slave trader, […]…
Catholicism meets Voodoo in Togoville
Togoville, is located on the northern shore of Lake Togo, and to avoid a long road trip, we took a large motorised pirogue from the town of Agbodrafo on the southern shore. Fortunately, the captain was able to land on the small beach and we didn’t have to wade out as I’d feared. On nearing […]…
Learning about the Nana Benz, visiting a fetish market and eating cow skin
Togo’s capital Lomé is often referred to as the ‘Pearl of West Africa’ due to its broad boulevards and cosmopolitan atmosphere and our day of sightseeing took in several sights. GRAND MARCHE The market occupies an entire city block, and the majority of vendors were women and children offering a huge variety of goods, which […]…
Excellent French food in a Togolese Hotel
Our first two nights in Togo were spent at the Hotel Sarakawa in the capital, Lomé. The hotel was large with nearly 200 rooms of different types, with ours being a reasonable size but overlooking the road side, rather than beach side. The very hard large bed squeaked terribly when you moved, but there were […]…
Sighseeing in Accra
Whilst staying in Ghana’s capital Accra, we enjoyed a full day’s sightseeing. The city is not particularly walkable and as we drove through the streets, I enjoyed spotting the wonderfully religious themed shop names designed to demonstrate their faith: Believe in God Vulcanising Shop; God’s time is the Best Enterprise; Arise and Shine Beauty Salon; […]…
A quiet place to stay in Accra
We didn’t know what to expect: Bradt’s guide to Ghana suggested Mahogony Lodge was ‘one of the few genuine boutique hotels in Accra’, whilst the Google rating was 2-stars. After a full day of travelling we arrived for our three-night stay at 9.30pm and were pleased that (a) check in was cursory and (b) the […]…
A reasonable experience with BA until . . .
On recent travels we’ve experienced early morning flights requiring expensive overnight stays, lengthy connections in Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, and lost luggage with TAP. A British Airways direct flight to Accra, leaving at a civilised 1.30pm, sounded perfect and allowed us to use our 60+ Oyster card for free travel to Heathrow. Even when travelling […]…
Exploring Tanzania with Jules Verne
From Arusha to the Serengeti, we travelled in the northern area where national parks and reserves offer incredible wildlife and ever-changing scenery….
Amazing holiday
This hotel was one of the best I have ever stayed in. The food was absolutely stunning and the staff were delightful. I would return tomorrow, given half a chance. Wonderful hotel and holiday….
