Worker’s Day 2026 was no ordinary day for me. It was the first time I stepped out of the country. I have always travelled through books, so finally being able to use my adult money to travel to another country was so exciting. I am still reeling from that excitement.
Travel through the eyes of a first-time traveler. Me!
At 6:20am the time I woke up on the first of May. Late but with excitement. You can guess the time I slept.
I rushed through my dress up process, good thing I had already picked out the clothes I was going to wear two hours earlier.
This was a road trip through to our neighboring country; Benin Republic.
I met up with my friends who had agreed to take the trip alongside me- did I mention I spearheaded the trip? Well clock it- thanks to TiCPod Commons for making plans and reservations.
Note: When outside Nigeria, try as hard as you can not to compare things you know in your country to other countries especially if you are from Nigeria. I did it, so you don’t have to do it. Trust me it does not help at all.
Now let’s get into the gist of it.
The Departing Journey and the mathematics involved
The trip from Mile 2 to the border was a beautiful one, we had gotten a vehicle that fit all 6 of us. The driver was a pleasant man and he made the journey better.
We each paid Ten thousand eight hundred naira (after much negotiation) to get to the border. Note that the fare is over that price but because we filled the vehicle the driver agreed to take us for that price. It’s advised to go as a group.
We alighted at the Seme border then took bikes through to the immigration office where we stamped our passport for six thousand naira each.
The fare from the seme border through the immigration and to the other side where we changed money and got a cab cost us three thousand five hundred for two people on a bike.
Things I saw in the journey that stood out to me.
At the Nigerian border we experienced over 10 check points all of them within walking distance of each other. I also noticed that drivers were taxed from 500 naira and above at each point, this doesn’t paint our beautiful nation in a good light. It’s giving begi begi vibes and corruption on a different level.
It was quite exhausting.
After we crossed the border and stamped our passports we left Nigeria behind.
From there till we got to where we needed to change money, there was not one checkpoint. This begs the question; what exactly are the use of all these checkpoints on our roads? An avenue to fight crime or to extort?
In my opinion, 9 out of 10 of those check points were totally unnecessary.
Culture shock 1; Money
Benin Republic uses Cfa. Imagine my shock when I realized that they had 2,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 20,000 Cfa each as one note. Meaning you could hold 100,000 Cfa and it would just be 5 notes of 20’s I was surprised.
We changed our naira, a thousand naira for 385 Cfa. I almost wept. My friend Nwaamaka had changed 60,000 naira and was given only two notes and some coins. In her words ‘my 60k is now two money’.
As a group we changed 250 thousand Naira and we got 90,000 Cfa and some coins. Well for one our naira really needs to do a lot better. We didn’t use cash; we made transfers. At this point we needed to get sim cards; one network really tries to be everywhere we go. The Sim cards cost less than 2,500 Cfa
Culture shock 2; Language
I need to learn French and better my Yoruba.
Benin Republic is a French or in my opinion broken French speaking country but in a lot of areas your Yoruba would take you by.
It didn’t exactly feel like I had left Nigeria at the location we changed money. There were several people speaking Igbo and Yoruba.
The money changer we met spoke little to no Yoruba like myself, but he spoke French, and pidgin, one thing is for sure the guy understood money.
My other companion Folake and her husband had it better than the rest of us as they were fluent in Yoruba.
The Journey inside
After the money part had been sorted, we found a cab that took us to town. My friend Funmi Richards who was in charge of the planning and organizing had a friend Donan who was Beninios meet us at the Dantokpa Market area. After meeting up with Donan, we got a cab.
In Benin they use two major ride hailing apps, Yango and Gozam, it is advised to download and set it up with your Benin Sim card. We ordered two Yango’s and split ourselves to each cab.
Our destination was the Amazonian Statue; to get there, we had to pass the longest graffiti wall. The longest graffiti wall is one of the major tourist site in Benin it is over 940 meters long and driving at a speed of 30km/h it was more than 5 minute.
We paid 6,000 Cfa for the journey, it cost this much because the drivers waited for us and also took us to our accommodation.
Culture shock 3; Movements and Tourist Location
While we waited on Donan, several things stood out to me at the Dontakpa Market area; first every single person on a bike had a helmet on and no single police in sight enforcing this.
The streets had cars passing but it was not loud, no agbero shouting, no conductor straining his voice to invite passenger to enter rickety broken-down vehicles. It was all calm.
We had waited by a trash area for the plaza we waited in front of and we didn’t even realize it was trash; it had no death threatening stench. That’s all I am going to say about that.
As we passed by the beautiful and awe-inspiring graffiti wall, I noticed how well maintained it was. The paintings all told stories. You could see other African tribes celebrated. It felt very welcoming and as an art lover I really wanted to grab the wall, frame it and put in my room. It really was breathe taking.
When we got to the statue the first thing that stood out to me, the whole place was clean and had no gate. There were people at the statue and even a group of students there for excursion, Tik Tokers dancing, lovers walking and holding hands. It was a beautiful and free site and sight.
We went straight to our apartment after this.
Our apartment roomed 4 people and the second, 2 people, and cost 60,000 Cfa. We booked online a day before.
Culture shock 4; Night Life and Beaches
Night time in Benin Republic hit different. Due to it being a coastal area, the breeze was to be compared to none. The quiet quaint shops, the street light that lit the street enough to see what you needed to see without competing with the night light, the properly oiled vehicles making their way to different destinations, the street swept and void of litter. It was so serene. I felt like I had walked into a passage from one of my books.
Side note: there was not one catcall. No one shouting ‘hey fine girl’, ‘my color’, ‘my type’ or any profanities. No speakers outside either.
We walked to the beach from our apartment; it was a long but beautiful and rewarding trek.
We got to the beach and to our utmost surprise it was FREE. Yes, free. I sighed at that moment recalling all the time I had to pay unreasonable amounts to see nature.
The areas that looked private had gate fees but the fee was like a ticket to purchase whatever you wanted within that area. The amount was a flat rate of 5,000 Cfa.
The beach was clean, I mean it was not polluted. There was no area within eye sight where water had gathered plastics or items that didn’t belong in it. Our walk around the beach gave us a short peak to the night life in Benin.
Children drumming to entertain people and getting a little Cfa as appreciation, bike men chilling atop their bikes, coconut sellers with their wares. I had the pleasure of trying out their grilled ram in baguette, this is a little like Nigerian Suya with a bit of Mishai, except it is called Shashiga and the ram was intensely seasoned. Confession; I sucked on the bone for a long time. It was difficult to throw it away. This delicacy cost 1,100Cfa and the whole of it could serve as dinner for two ladies.
The Journey From and sights of Ouidah
Ouidah is one of the most popular locations for tourists. It is home to the sacred forest, the Python temple, the First Basilica, the location of slave trade and slave tagging and also the Door of no return. All these places we visited on our final day at Benin.
Beniniose take their sacred forest very seriously, we each paid 1,000Cfa to enter and tour and take pictures of the entrance to the sacred forest. We were told the history of Vudum or Voodo.
Right after that we visited the Python Temple. Home to Over 40 Pythons Worshipped by the Benin People. We also paid 1,000Cfa each. And yes I did put the Python on my neck.
Opposite the Temple sat the Basilica on a land given to the church by the Python worshippers. This was free.
Our next stop was the site where slaves were shared, bought, sold and tagged by the colonizers. It was a free stop but it reminded us of what our forefathers went through.
The last stop for our trip was the door of no return. Here I believe is where I got really emotional. It was free and so was the beach. We had our second visit to the beach here.
We got food at this point although we were not sure what to expect.
Coconut cost 25 Cfa each it was so refreshing I had 4.
The fish cost 100 Cfa each and our plate of Rice, spaghetti and stew cost less than 400 Cfa. The food was not terrible and we didn’t have any belly aches.
Right after this we made our way back to the border. Gladness in our bellies. The whole trip from our apartment to Ouidah and back to the border cost 30,000 Cfa.
Trip tips
Make reservation beforehand.
If you are not very adventurous with food and you are staying a for short period pack what you can cook. Our apartment had a kitchen. Or pack snack you can munch on.
Go for immersive experience. Travel as a local and not tourist.
Go as a group or join me.
Till the next time I travel. Catch you soon.
