Cotonou – Absolute Chaos!

And it didn’t take me long to figure that out!  Cotonou is not only the largest town in Benin with a population of more than a million but it is also its economic center. Even though it is not the official capital of Benin (that honour goes to Port Novo) this is where the Government presides. Bear in mind this is a French speaking country and I got my first taste of that when I had to negotiate a motor bike taxi to my hotel, complete with large case perched precariously on the front.

And this is basically what the traffic looks like in Cotonou. Absolute chaos!

It seems a bit unfair to say it and maybe I didn’t give the town much of a chance but apart from a walk around the market there is not an awful lot to recommend this town, although the street vendors were fascinating.  

There are no museums and even the hotel could not offer much in the way of activities. Talking about the hotel, that was another very strange experience – coming next!