14-Day Benin Cultural Tour with Voodoo Heritage and Pendjari Safari

• Pick up from the airport and transfer to the hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

• Depart for Dassa, the town of 41 hills.

• Have lunch and stop at OKUTA, a natural granite site offering a wonderful setting where artists from Africa and beyond express themselves on the local rock.

• Transfer to CPN (Nature Study and Protection Centre) 'Les Papillons'. Created in 1995, this association aims to educate the public about the environment, with particular reference to ecotourism.

Have dinner and stay overnight at CPN.

• Depart for Natitingou, which in the local language means 'The village of Nanto'.

• Have lunch along the way.

• Visit the regional museum of Natitingou and the village of the local artists.

Have dinner and an overnight stay at the hotel.

• Depart for Tanguiéta.

• Discover the local fauna and spot many species of antelopes, elephants, buffaloes, lions, and cheetahs.

• Have lunch in the park.

Stay overnight at the hotel in the park.

• Transfer to Tanongou and visit the waterfalls for a refreshing bathe.

• Have lunch prepared by one of the TINFI restorers.

• Proceed to Koussoukoingou.

• Visit the small fortified huts called 'Tata', the ingenious habitat of the Bètammaribè tribe.

Stay overnight at the Otammari lodge.

• Hike to discover the hidden beauties in the valley near Koussou, the river where women come to fetch water. The hike lasts about 3 hours.

• Have lunch made from local ingredients by the caterers of the local association 'Pearl of Atacora'.

Afternoon at leisure.

Enjoy dinner and an overnight stay at the Otammari lodge or in the Tata.

• Depart for Abomey, the city of kings and a hotspot of voodoo culture.

• Have lunch along the way.

• Visit Abomey's historical museum in the former royal palace, listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

• Return to Bohicon and stay at the hotel.

• Transfer by car and canoe to the marshlands of Sô Ava and Ganvié, the 'Venice of Africa'.

• Discover the local birdlife.

• Have lunch and depart for Possotomè.

Enjoy dinner and an overnight stay at the hotel.

• 'Way of the water'. Have breakfast and go on a boat trip.

• Learn about the different fishing techniques used by the villagers and the kinds of fish they catch with them.

• Get to know the voodoo water spirits and the function of the protected places that are consecrated.

• Listen to the history of the lonely hippo of the lake.

• Take a swim.

• Have lunch at Prefet's place.

Afternoon at leisure.

Enjoy dinner at Prefet's place and stay overnight at the guesthouse.

• Discover the use of medicinal plants in community life during the hike.

• Have lunch in the afternoon.

• Go on a 'tradition and culture' walk through Possotomè and the villages of Okomè and Séhomi.

• Learn about the voodoo deities and their shrines, the role of the Tolegba, the rituals and ceremonies, and the importance of the sacred forest.

• See the bartering market of Séhomi, where women meet at the end of the afternoon to exchange their products.

Have dinner at Prefet's place.

Sleep at the eco-guesthouse.

• Have breakfast and transfer to Kpétou.

• Spend the morning in the sacred forest to find the colony of Mona monkeys.

• Enjoy lunch in a village house.

• Return to Possotomè.

• Dance around the fire or enjoy a dance party at the bar 'laBoussole'.

Stay overnight at the guesthouse.

• Have breakfast and go to Avlo Beach.

• Enjoy lunch and take a 1-hour walk to discover the village, its history, traditions, cultures, and the characteristic voodoo cult of the Plah and Pédah people.

Have dinner and an overnight stay at the Avlo Beach ecolodge.

• Depart for 'La bouche du Roy', the place where the river meets the ocean.

• Have lunch under the sunshades of the ecolodge.

Spend the afternoon at leisure on the beach.

Have dinner and an overnight stay at the Avlo ecolodge.

• Depart for Ouidah, which was one of the main slave trade centres during the 18th century.

• Visit the museum in the old Portuguese fort and walk the Slave Road to the Gate of No Return, a monument on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list.

• Have lunch and return to Cotonou.

• Visit the Zinsou Foundation of contemporary African art or the Centre of Artisan Promotion to buy souvenirs.

• Have dinner and transfer to the airport.