This weekend twelve of us headed by boat to a village called Ganvie. What makes this village so interesting is that it sits about six feet above Lake Nokoue – entirely on stilts. 
Ganvie is home to roughly 25,000 Africans of the Tofinu tribe. The stilt village was built to escape enslavement from a neighboring tribe called the Fon. The Fon people believed the water was cursed so they wouldn’t fight over it. Therefore, the Tofinu people lived safely thanks to the water below them. In Tofinu, Ganvie translates to “those who finally found peace.”
Ganvie is home to roughly 25,000 Africans of the Tofinu tribe. The stilt village was built to escape enslavement from a neighboring tribe called the Fon. The Fon people believed the water was cursed so they wouldn’t fight over it. Therefore, the Tofinu people lived safely thanks to the water below them. In Tofinu, Ganvie translates to “those who finally found peace.”Given the large prevalence of water-borne disease here in Africa, I find this whole “safety by water” history slightly ironic. Example in point: this highly technological toilet where you relieve yourself into your own personal water plot. 
Good thing no one fell in.
In Ganvie, everyone travels by handmade canoe to the various homes, school, medical clinic, hotels, bars, beauty shops, and even the local post office. Each family has its own plot of water on which to fish. At one point the government tried to tax the Ganvie citizens for the water plots, but the people refused, claiming that their ancestors had the rights to the water and so should they. Eventually the government gave up.
Fishing drives the economy as evidenced by the many fishermen casting their nets on the hour long boat ride north out of Cotonou. The people of Ganvie plant branches on the lagoon bottom. As the branch leaves decompose, the fish come and the fisherman cast their nets.
Tourism also thrives. The African children here understand economics all too well as they readily beg to exchange anything - a photo op or a pretty African flower for a shiny new coin.
Tours to this small retreat of African life are a daily occurrence, so the citizens of Ganvie were less than thrilled to have their picture taken (unless of course some form of payment was involved.) Most of my pictures are still shots, as I didn’t want to exacerbate the tourism tendencies. Click here to check out my photos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33470&id=1038415965&l=3e90c4f7c0
Other highlights: The Challenge of Driving
Being that Cotonou is a major port access for the rest of the country, many cargo trucks sit for hours on end waiting to get onto the dock. Since we didn’t want to wait endlessly with these trucks that were blocking the entire road, we just went over the median and drove on the wrong side of the street. Conclusion: land rovers are a most definite necessity here in Africa.
Good thing no one fell in.In Ganvie, everyone travels by handmade canoe to the various homes, school, medical clinic, hotels, bars, beauty shops, and even the local post office. Each family has its own plot of water on which to fish. At one point the government tried to tax the Ganvie citizens for the water plots, but the people refused, claiming that their ancestors had the rights to the water and so should they. Eventually the government gave up.
Fishing drives the economy as evidenced by the many fishermen casting their nets on the hour long boat ride north out of Cotonou. The people of Ganvie plant branches on the lagoon bottom. As the branch leaves decompose, the fish come and the fisherman cast their nets.Tourism also thrives. The African children here understand economics all too well as they readily beg to exchange anything - a photo op or a pretty African flower for a shiny new coin.
Tours to this small retreat of African life are a daily occurrence, so the citizens of Ganvie were less than thrilled to have their picture taken (unless of course some form of payment was involved.) Most of my pictures are still shots, as I didn’t want to exacerbate the tourism tendencies. Click here to check out my photos:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=33470&id=1038415965&l=3e90c4f7c0
Other highlights: The Challenge of Driving
Being that Cotonou is a major port access for the rest of the country, many cargo trucks sit for hours on end waiting to get onto the dock. Since we didn’t want to wait endlessly with these trucks that were blocking the entire road, we just went over the median and drove on the wrong side of the street. Conclusion: land rovers are a most definite necessity here in Africa. 
I visited the hospitality center this weekend. This is the equivalent of an out-patient clinic just down the way from the Africa Mercy dock. It houses the pre and post-op patients as the Africa Mercy hospital beds are at a premium. A mattress sits underneath each patient bed so a 
