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Monday, October 26, 2009

Benin Sights

Shopping in Benin can be a headache or could be very easy, depending on what you need. It's amazing what you can find on the side of the road. On the plus side it saves you having to find a parking space and in some cases you could even just wind down your window and grab what you want. I suppose you could call this a drive-thru, African style. We thought we'd share with you some of the things you could buy if you wanted to!
One of the main forms of transport in Benin is the Zemidjan.
Zemidjan means "get me there fast" in the Fon language. These motorcycle taxi's are everywhere, they are cheap, convenient and very fast, but are unreliable and dangerous. There are about 40,000 of them in the city of Cotonou alone and the drivers are identified by their yellow shirts. You can often tell if somebody has been on a Zemidjan by the burns on their legs from the exhaust pipe. During our time here we often see many unusual sights, but this week beat them all when we saw a lady breastfeeding her baby on the back of a bike. See below to see other sights spotted by our crew.

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