When we planned our trip, Benin was never part of the intinerary. After our first day here I was ready to get on a bus and head for Ghana before our 48-hour Visa expired. After Ouidah and our 2 day African Safari to Pendjari National Park, I am glad we changed our itinerary - and that Heather's cool head kept us in Benin...
The jump off town for Pendjari Park is Natitingou, where we found our two guides (by far the best and most honest guides we have had so far), and from where we left at 530am to head to the park. Immediately aftering entering the park we spotted several antelope species, then a family of baboons. Definitely a good omen, and one that proved to be fruitful. During the course of the two days we saw: uncountable numbers of antelope and African deer; numerous families of baboons (which turned out to be my favourite animal on the Safari); jackals (that one's for you Graham); crocodiles (with their mouths open, waiting for birds to clean their teeth); warthogs (which are quite regal-looking animals: they trot in a princely manner, with their tails straight up in the air and their noses slightly turned up); hippos (and this time they were out of the water and moving around); beautiful birds of enormous dimensions and vibrant colours, and; elephants. Heather was most excited by the prospect of seeing elephants before we left for our adventure, and she was not disappointed as we were able to see 4 adults and 3 young drinking together from one of the watering holes. Our guides proved adept at spotting animals that were invisible to our untrained eyes, picking out baboons that looked like rocks from nearly 500m away. Thanks to the binoculars I received from Santa for Christmas (thanks mom), we were spoiled with up-close and personal viewings of the animals.
We spent the night camped in our tents within the park, protected by fire and big clubs (we're not stupid - we knew the clubs wouldn't stop an attacking lion - I just figured I could beat Matt unconscious and feed him to whatever wanted to eat us). Luckily, it didn't come to that. The next morning we visited another watering hole where we witnessed the harmony of nature. Around the small watering hole there were several crocodiles, hippos, numerous birds, and antelope and deer. All the animals realized the need for each other to drink, and none of the animals disturbed one another during their morning ritual.
Around noon we left the park and headed to some beautiful waterfalls nearby. Tha falls were spectacular, with blue/green water falling from a height of about 35 meters into a calm pool below, where we were able to swim and wash off the dust and dirt from our Safari. Afterwards, we were scammed by the guide who walked us up (the town with the waterfalls has their own guides, of course). When our guides found out they were not impressed. Yelling and arguing with the man who oversees the guides ensued, and although we do not particulalry like alienating entire villages, it was nice to finally have a guide stand up for us, rather than scam us. Shortly thereafter we headed back to Natitingou (for the better), where we treated our guides to dinner at a Tata Somba house/restaurant. The Somba are a group of people who live in norther Benin and Northern Togo, but this was unfortunately our only experience with their culture. It was a great end to the trip, and a nice way to thank our guides.
All in all, Pendjari Park and Natitingou was one of the best all-around experiences I have had in Africa.
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