This is a guest post by Anne and Hadrien, the Veloptimistes.
Reason #1
People are so kind: we meet great people who help us to discover Black Africa. They are joyful, smiling all the time, very interested in bikes (especially recumbents) and can cycle with you during 5 or 10 minutes simply to talk.
Reason # 2
The western coast of Benin near the beach of Grand Popo: A great place to relax after good cycling. The beach is deserted, you’ll only see the fishermen living there with their families, you can help them pull in their fishing nets.
Reason #3
The stilt village of Ganvié where all the houses are built above water and people use their dugout canoes to move from a place to another. A very interesting place, it’s amazing to see how people cope with this situation!
Reason # 4
Cycling in The Somba Country: a dusty road in the middle of nowhere, a great experience of the virgin black Africa. The housing is typical of this tribe, go and visit the Tata Somba– you can even sleep on the roof!
Reason #5
The ZEM tour in Cotonou: Leave your bikes once and take a taxi-moto (called zem) to have a “urban high speed” visit of this polluted and dirty but so charming town.
About the Veloptimistes:
Anne and Hadrien left Paris six months ago. They ride recumbents and have planned to discover the world during more than one year. So far, they have cycled through France, Spain, Morocco, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. Currently, they are in South America, enjoying their bicycle tour.
They like chance meetings and pleasant encounters, great scenery, and good people! They also like good food (they are French after all!).
You can follow their bicycle adventures on www.veloptimistes.com.
