Day 56… Saturday 27th May
Very intense storms this morning. Watched the sky darken, the winds pick up and sand blown around before thunder/lighting hit and heavy rains fell. Sat under a thatched pergola eating mangos until it became impossible, and we moved indoors. The dance group continued their rehearsals and simply brushed all the water collected out of the open-sided studio. There were several power cuts. Visited museum of the Zinsou and had a tour around by a young chap learning English. Learnt about the voodoo tradition and the architecture of the building built in 1922. The town of Ouidah had narrow streets and trying to navigate the road system and mud after the storm was interesting. A local chap on a moped took pity on us and showed us the route out of the town. A new road is being constructed by the Chinese and the area where we were staying next to is earmarked for development. A large Chinese site compound displayed the plans for the extensive area on the hoarding. The local beer tonight was ‘La Beninois’. One of the dancers was from Nigeria and we had a brief chat to him during the rehearsals about the route through, road conditions and the police.
Allen’s perspective…
We’re still slightly ahead of the main rainy season for West Africa, but it is quite something to see, the intensity of rain, thunder and lighting, and how limiting it is for people to work or travel during the rain. From our research it seems that besides the border crossing into Cameroon we are lucky that most / all of our route is via the main arterial roads which are tarred so we should be spared being stuck in countless mud… hopefully.
