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Unlike the UK, Benin is not well-endowed with fun places for young children to play. Until NOW that is…
A few months back ‘MAGIC LAND’ opened just opposite the airport in Cotonou. Our first visit (back in December) was a little disappointing. However, since then they have got their act together somewhat, and it really is a fun day out for parents and kids alike (well, let’s say a fun half-day). Here’s a brief low-down of its attractions: Merry-go-round, dodgems, flume ride, up-and-down-froggy ride, large bouncy castle, trampolines, mini roller-coaster, mini-helicopters, rodeo bull, ball pool and various electronic games. In fact, when we went today, our kids had their first experience of playing tennis using wii technology. Wow - clever stuff! As I’m going through a ‘multi-photo collage’ phase at the moment (in case you hadn’t noticed) here’s another one showing what Magic Land has to offer:
There’s also a small café which does fairly edible pizzas and the like. There is a strict notice as you go into the park, saying: “For the well-being and education of our children, no smoking or alcoholic drinks are allowed in the park.” Good idea, but we did laugh when we noticed that the café in the park actually sells beer!! It’s 500cfa for kids to get in and 1000cfa for adults (about 50p and £1 respectively). Then rides are 500cfa each, but the dodgems are 1,000cfa per car. Not bad value for money! Health and safety standards are reasonable, though not like back home. The park even has litter bins and decent toilets (is this really Africa?!?)
Q: Who are the following British stars: (i) Reginald Dwight Answer to last week’s question: A googol is a 1 followed by 100 zeros and was made up by Edward Kasner’s nephew. The three-wheeler taxi, also known as the auto-rickshaw or tuk-tuk is a fairly common sight around Cotonou, particularly from Dantokpa Market eastwards…
There are no bus services in Cotonou, so apart from driving one’s own vehicle (which is do-able if somewhat hair-raising) there are only THREE other viable options for getting around town: OPTION ONE: The taxi
Safe, reasonably comfortable but hot, stuffy and sometimes slow. .
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Still fairly cheap (I pay 2,000cfa for an hour = £2), well ventilated, reasonably comfortable and loads of FUN! Why doesn’t everyone use them?!? These Indian babies can seat three moderately-sized adults and are much safer than a zemidjan. You can always find them near the market, but if you’re elsewhere in town and need one, then call my mate Etienne on: 97 16 16 86 and say ‘Robert’ (French pronunciation of) gave you his number. (NB I’m taking a risk here, because if all 250 daily visitors call him, he could be rather inundated!!) Even if he’s not available, he’ll always send a mate instead. Oh, and I always buy him a can of Sprite if he takes me somewhere to eat! The best thing about these three-wheelers is that they can easily weave through busy traffic like…erm…this:
. If you’d like to try one of these FAB vehicles yourself, then go to BRIGHTON, where they’ve started using the very same 3-wheelers to ease congestion!! No, seriously - have a look here and here. Happy travels! Q: A googol is the number 1 followed by how many zeros? Answer to last week’s question: (i) Snickers = Marathon …and the winner was Phil … somebody! Rob flew out of Bamako last night, after an 11 day trip there. Here are my final ‘musings’ on Bamako/Mali, with four things which sum up my trip in many ways…
Above are two things I liked and two which I did not: (i) I LOVED the Mercedes Benz 190 D’s which comprise about half of the taxis in the city. Comfortable to travel in and easy to find! Here’s a climate chart for Mali (sorry it’s in Fahrenheit - unless you’re American, in which case, great!) and here’s one for Benin. It’s interesting to note that there is a greater range of temperature in Mali - the lowest temps being lower than here in Benin, but topping out at around 40C is a bit much! Thanks for reading. More Benin news in a while… (NB Rob is in Mali at the moment). Sounds like a normal enough question, but ask any Malian the same question and they’re likely to burst out laughing and/or deny ever eating them… This is part of the joking relationships which exist between different people groups and family names in Mali. The most common family names here include: Diarra, Traoré, Keita and Coulibaly. A Diarra will say that a Traoré eats beans, as a light-hearted put down. The Traoré will deny this and say that it’s the Diarra who are the bean-eaters! It’s like all Smiths saying the Jones’s smell and vice versa! In fact, when you say: “I bε sכ dun!” (You eat beans!) to a rival group, it has - apparently - to do with flatulance. However, when I asked my Malian students about this, no-one would admit it! It’s all done in good spirit, of course, and seems to have existed for eons. Still, don’t take my word for it, read Rachel Jones’s doctoral thesis on the subject (yes, I’m not joking this time, you bean eater, you!) The main ‘bean bit’ starts on page 74. Here’s a quote if you’re too busy to look: “…beans have the annoying property of causing one to bloat and break wind (From: “You Eat Beans!” © Rachel Jones, Anthropology Department, Macalester College, April 30, 2007) I tried it out today at the market, causing much hilarity. Non-Malians also tend to ‘adopt’ a family name for themselves, so I’ve elected to be a Traoré (I know 3 Traoré’s already and they’re all nice people!) So, the conversation (after the inevitable initial “how are you” greetings) would generally go like this: Malian: Are you a Diarra? …and so on. It’s great fun once you get the hang of it. Increadible that this is a national joke based on farting! There you go - I couldn’t resist sharing this wee anthropological gem with you all! Q: On a similar theme to last week, what did the following products use to be called: (i) Snickers Answer to last week’s question: Upper Volta = Burkina Faso, Rhodesia = Zimbabwe, Dahomey = Benin (hope you got that one at least!!) and Abyssinia = Ethiopia. And the winner was (AT LONG LAST!) the incredible, inimitable TIM SLADE. Well done, me ol’ zem shirt-wearing buddy! Rob finally made it into the city centre of Bamako today and enjoyed his visit (apart from the blistering heat…)
I caught a yellow VW Golf taxi over the River Niger and to the Artisan centre, where they had lots of great souvenirs, including plenty musical instruments:
Of course, there was the usual “Venez regarder, mon ami.” or “Ca fait longtemps!” from the sellers, but they were less agressive than in some places. In fact, at one point, one of the salesmen said to the others “Stop bothering the foreigner!” Unheard of! The main streets are well paved and pothole free and there are some dual carriageways. Traffic flows fairly well, except for rush hour, when it’s total mayhem, I’m told. There are even decorative grassy bits inbetween carriageways and lots of nice monuments:
The absence of zemidjans is immediately obvious. Instead of motorbike taxis, Bamako has the only slightly safer “sotrama” minibuses. Here is a gaggle of them:
(”Sotrama” stands for Societé de Transports du Mali, or something similar). The taxis are all yellow, then there are private cars too, of course.
If you want to know more about Mali, click here for a great account of journeys made here by an American lass. Also, here’s an exhaustive information page containing just about everything you’ll ever need to know about living in Mali. If you’ve got an hour to spare, it’s worth a read. More malian musings next week… Rob has made it to Bamako, Mali, for the first time, but is gutted that Timbuktu is too for for a weekend visit! As I only arrived yesterday (Wednesday) I’ve not seen much of the place, but I like what I have seen. Above is the view of the Niger River, taken from where I’m staying. Here’s the same view during the day (surprisingly green for a semi-desert country in dry season):
I’m here teaching an ethnomusicology course to - somewhat bizarrely - a load of Cameroonians! There were a couple of Malians there too, mind. They’re altogether a great bunch of people - I think we’ll have lots of fun together as well as them learning stuff. Walking round the streets of Bamako, my first reactions are as follows: * Hardly anyone calls out to you or pesters you (much more frequent back home). In case you’re interested, here’s my appartment and bedroom here:
…and apart from that, this is about all I’ve seen of Bamako so far:
More news & photos soon, I hope! Q: A four part question this time. Here are the former names of some African countries. What are they called now? (i) Upper Volta Answer to last week’s question: The Nepalese Flag is not rectangular |
