NO PREREQS

On our way to Lokossa, we stopped by Comè to visit a friend of my host father who works for the government. Although he was not home, his wife let us in and I felt surprisingly reminded by my visits to aunts or uncles houses: being seated, brought drinks and snacks by the daughter, chatting with the mom, and saying hi to the son who awkwardly steps through the door and tries to get away as soon as possible. Their house was magnificent: I learned that it belonged to the government and their family moved cities every couple of years based on where the government positioned the father.

After this short and pleasant detour, we continued on our way to Lokossa. It is a small city of about 50,000, 2 hours northwest or so of Ouidah. It was by far the cleanest town that I have visited in Benin, outdoing even the capital Porto Novo that has a reputation for being well kept. We went to Lokossa to visit my host dad’s niece who is studying at the U of Abomey-Calavi campus there. She offered us a tour of the campus. Although much smaller than the main campus, the campus of was very pleasant. We got a tour of the dormitories, some classrooms, the cafeteria, and study room. All in all it was interesting taking in the similarities and differences between university life in Canada and Benin. Once out of the campus we drove around a bit of Lokossa and visited the city centre. Lokossa is built on a region with rolling hills and so some of the views from the town are quite gorgeous. The name of the city means “place around the giant tree”, but since it is hundreds of years old, no one quite knows which tree. It has probably been my favourite town in Benin so far.

On our way out of Lokossa, we saw a sign for Possotomè, and my host dad decided it would be nice to visit before heading back. Possotomè is the most famous lake in Benin because of the never ending hot water geyser that is the source of Benin’s most popular brand of bottled water, also called Possotomè. The company that bottles the water has made a fountain from the same source for the local people, and it was nice to see people using the water for showers or filling drinking water nearby. The lake itself is quite small, and surrounded by thick foliage on all sides, except for a small hotel restaurant that juts out on to the lake. The restaurant structure, which rests on the water, was made entirely from wood. We rested there for a bit and took in the lake (and of course drank Possotomè water). It was serene.

So that was last weekend! All in all, it was great. Just reinforces that sometimes the best days are unplanned and spontaneously happen as long as you are ready to get up and go for it!