Day 1: Arrive Cotonou — Ganvie Stilt Village
Arrive Cotonou. Afternoon excursion to Ganvie: pirogue through the stilt village, the floating market, and the remarkable story of the Tofinu people. Evening welcome dinner. Overnight Cotonou.
Day 2: Ouidah — Voodoo Capital
Full day Ouidah: Sacred Forest, Python Temple, History Museum, and the Slave Route to the Point of No Return. Late afternoon return to Cotonou. Overnight Cotonou.
Day 3: Abomey — Dahomey Kingdom
Drive to Abomey. Full exploration of the UNESCO Royal Palaces — 12 kings’ palaces, the bas-relief narratives, and the Throne Room. Afternoon: Agongointo Underground Village. Overnight Abomey.
Day 4: Abomey to Parakou — Into the North
Drive north (5 hours) through changing landscapes — the tropical south gives way to savannah. Stop at Savalou and Dassa-Zoumé (sacred hills and voodoo shrines). Arrive Parakou, Benin’s third-largest city and gateway to the north. Overnight Parakou.
Day 5: Pendjari National Park — West Africa’s Wildlife Heartland
Early departure for Pendjari National Park (3 hours), part of the W-Arly-Pendjari UNESCO World Heritage complex — one of West Africa’s last great wilderness areas. Afternoon game drive: Pendjari is famous for its elephant population, lions, and the rare West African cheetah (fewer than 250 remain in the wild). Buffalo, roan antelope, and warthogs are common. Birdlife includes Abyssinian ground hornbill and the magnificent martial eagle. Overnight Pendjari lodge.
Day 6: Pendjari — Full Safari Day
Dawn and afternoon game drives with a rest during the midday heat. Morning: track the lion pride that hunts near the Pendjari River. The park’s waterholes attract elephants, hippos, and an astonishing diversity of antelope. Afternoon: drive to the park’s northern sector for different habitats and wildlife. The sunset over the savannah, with elephants silhouetted against the orange sky, is pure Africa. Overnight Pendjari.
Day 7: Taneka Mountains — Traditional Villages
Morning game drive, then exit Pendjari. Drive east to the Taneka Mountains. The Taneka people maintain some of West Africa’s most traditional lifestyles — their villages are clusters of circular mud-brick houses with conical thatched roofs, and their spiritual practices predate both voodoo and formal religion. The Taneka are famous for their initiation ceremonies and distinctive body scarification. Visit Koko and other Taneka villages, with a local guide from the community. Overnight Natitingou.
Day 8: Boukoumbe — The Somba Tata Houses
Morning drive to Boukoumbe, in the Atakora Mountains. The Somba people (also called Tammari) build extraordinary two-story fortified houses called Tata Somba — the ground floor for livestock, the upper floor for the family, with a flat roof for grain drying. These castle-like mud structures are unique to this corner of Benin and neighboring Togo. The UNESCO-listed Koutammakou landscape extends across the border. Visit several Tata compounds, learning about Somba cosmology and architecture. Afternoon: return to Cotonou via flight from Natitingou or long drive. Overnight Cotonou.
Day 9: Departure
Morning at leisure. Transfer to airport for departure.
