This is a brief summary and guide for someone looking out for a family trip in Benin Republic. We tried to achieve this trip with a very lean budget and I must say we did achieve it.

We took advantage of the 2 days public holiday declared by the federal government and added the weekend to make it a four days trip.

I did a lot of research on nairaland to aid the planned trip and guide my family. On this journey is myself, my husband, my 9 years old son and my 5 years old daughter.

We set out from home at about 8am on Saturday 30th of April 2022 and headed to Iyana ipaja which was just 20 mins drive from our home.

Getting to iyana ipaja, we took a bus going to igbo-elerin and occupied the back sit which was to contain 4 people. We paid N1,600 (#400 per sit).

We got to igbo elerin in 50 mins. We boarded another bus from there to Badagry and paid N300 per sit. The journey from igbo elerin to badagry was about 1hours 10 mins.

From Badary, we boarded a cab to Seme boarder and paid N300 per sit. That was about 45 mins drive also because there were so many road blocks and check points on the road (32check points)

When we got to seme boarder, we chilled at the conoil station to pee and re-strategise. We picked two bike men who told us initially that they were going to collect 1k per bike but on our way at the immigration gate, they said because we don't have covid-19 card, yellow card and our passport is a virgin passport, they collected 4k per bike eventually. We were asked to drop from the bike half way and walk in through the aid of an immigration officer.

The bike men took us to the exchange guy who was just some meters away from the seme border and he changed N1 = 1 cfa. We then proceeded to negotiate with a cab man who initially told us from seme to our destination (Hotel de la diaspora, Quidou) is 35,000cfa. We negotiated and he eventually took us to our destination for 19,000cfa which took over 2 hours to get there.

Following

We got to hotel de la diaspora at about 3.30pm. We did an online reservations a week before but I had to change the reservations to the beach view rooms which was the highest package they had. The manager told us a day stay was 35,000cfa but we were able to negotiate it down to 28,000cfa (this was because there was no wifi connection in the room). We paid 84,000cfa for the three night stay.

On our way to the resort, we met one of the staff of Benin ministry of tourism who had to be assigned to look out for visitors and ensure they get to their destination safe. He accompanied us to the resort and also served as an interpreter because Benin is a francophone country.

We settled down into our room and I must say it was impressive..

We got to hotel de la diaspora at about 3.30pm. We did an online reservations a week before but I had to change the reservations to the beach view rooms which was the highest package they had. The manager told us a day stay was 35,000cfa but we were able to negotiate it down to 28,000cfa (this was because there was no wifi connection in the room). We paid 84,000cfa for the three night stay.

On our way to the resort, we met one of the staff of Benin ministry of tourism who had been assigned to look out for visitors and ensure they get to their destination safe. He accompanied us to the resort and also served as an interpreter because Benin is a francophone country.

We settled down into our room and I must say it was impressive..

Before leaving lagos, we actually took some items because we had kids with us and didn't want story that touch . We took along A pack of Milo, a pack of Milk, Garri, Sugar, Bread, Sardine, groundnut, cake, chinchin, biscuits, sweet, etc.

I will advice that when at Seme, please buy a pack of water (Big one) and a pack of soft drink before getting into Benin because this things are expensive e.g A pack of coke at he boarder is #1,800 while in Benin is #3,800, A bottle of water at the resort is N1,000 while a pack of 6 at the boarder is #1,800.

We had lunch at the resort restaurant. Bought a plate of Rice, Plantain and chicken for 5,000cfa (not our regular rice and chicken was so small but yummy) and a plate of spaghetti to complement for 1,500cfa. Bottled water was bought also at 1,000cfa per bottle.

After meal, we took a stroll to the beach to get a feel of it and it was really a very beautiful view. Clean water, the beach was very neat and we had enough privacy.

The next day, we went for breakfast at the resort restaurant which was free for the three days. The breakfast time was within 8am to 10am. We had Omellete, Bread, Chocolate drink and fresh pineapple juice for breakfast.

While having the breakfast, the tourist guy that lead us to the resort came and told us he will be taking us round to some interesting places mostly visited by tourist. He said for us to visit the temple of python and 6 different slave trade venue, we should pay him 30,000cfa. My husband told him we cannot afford such and he should work around a budget of 10,000cfa for the tour.

At 12pm, he came to pick us with two bikes. We first visited the temple of pythons where they had an iron tree, An ogun shrine, and a hut housing the python. He told us a brief history of the pythons and allowed us put them on our neck and take some pictures.

From there, we went to about three different slave history location (slave market, burial place of slaves and house where slaves were kept) before hunger came calling.

The next day, we went for breakfast at the resort resturant which was free for the three days. The breakfast time was within 8am to 10am. We had Omellete, Bread, Chocolate drink and fresh pineapple juice for breakfast and they gave us food for only 2 based in the room we paid for.

While having the breakfast, the tourist guy that lead us to the resort came and told us he will be taking us round to some interesting places mostly visited by tourist. He said for us to visit the temple of python and 6 different slave trade venue, we should pay him 30,000cfa. My husband told him we cannot afford such and he should work around a budget of 10,000cfa for the tour although we had to add extra 4,000cfa for transportation to and fro.

At 12pm, he came to pick us at the resort with two bikes. We first visited the temple of pythons where they had an iroko tree, An ogun shrine, and a hut housing the pythons. He told us a brief history of the pythons and allowed us put one on our neck and took some pictures.

From there, we went to about three different slave history location (slave market, burial place of slaves and house where slaves were kept) before hunger came calling.

The tourist guy took us to a joint (they call the place "John K") where we bought amala, ewedu and better goat meat. A plate was 1,000cfa. We bought 3 plates of food and also had to pay extra 300cfa for the takeaway plate. They had supplus of mango around, so I bought about 12 big ones for 200cfa. Bought half pack of water and coke while hubby bought an alcoholic wine (5,000cfa) for ginger effect.

We got back to our hotel, changed to our swimming wear and dashed to the pool. The resort has a standard swimming pool with a different section for kids which was commendable. We had about 2 hours swimming time and it was so much fun.

After swimming, we devoured our Amala and headed to the reception area for an hour browsing time with the kids. The network was fair but we sha managed it like that.

We later moved to our room to rest cause we really had a lot for the day.

Towards the evening time, we strolled to the beach area to have some family time before we took a final rest for the day.

Next time, put pictures.

Nice one,buy pictures will spicy up the thread..all the same thanks

fummylolah:
We picked two bike men who told us initially that they were going to collect 1k per bike but on our way at the immigration gate, they said because we don't have covid-19 card, yellow card and our passport is a virgin passport, they collected 4k per bike eventually. We were asked to drop from the bike half way and walk in through the aid of an immigration officer.

Who collected this money? The bike men or Immigration?

The Bike Guy.

aieromon:


Who collected this money? The bike men or Immigration?

Sorry, I will post some pics now....

The resort...

I was.more scared than my son.. couldn't even put my foot on the floor..

Pool area

Slave market : This was where slaves were chained and traded in exchange for mirrors to the white men.

Slave burial ground: The slaves were buried in mass here in a big pit (can't remember the dimension). If a Slave shows sign of weakness or sickness, they are also thrown into the pit to die.

On the third day, we had breakfast at about 9am (The same thing for breakfast for the three days)

After breakfast, we moved to the reception area for an hour to browse and I used that opportunity to chat with the reception guyz ( only one understood English fairly). They were really pleasant and he told me how he was paid 45,000cfa monthly as the supervisor and the others 40,000cfa monthly. He said no job opportunity in Benin and they are just managing.

He said even if you have diploma, you still will find it hard to get a job. I told him also how we have most of Benin Republic citizens has chefs , Tailors, Househelps for expatriats in Nigeria and they are earning fairly well (I know this because I am an HR personnel).

At about 12pm, we took two bikes (500cfa each) to the town.

Please note that they have about 70% of motorbike as means of transportation and 30% of vehicles. I guess this is because of the high cost of fuel and low standard of living. Black Market fuel, smuggled from Nigeria sells for 300cfa per liter while fuel from their fuel station sells for 600cfa per liter (Their fuelling stations are empty because of this).

I didn't forget the taste of the yummy amala and told the bike men to stop at "John K" but unfortunately, the place was closed.

Now we were faced with how to get another place to eat Nigerian food. We walked forward and saw a food vendor but all they had was Benin food (Pap, pepper with fresh onions and fried meat, red eba with watery stew, one black mixture of assorted meat that smells like pepper soup). We couldn't just eat all.

A guy working there directed us to a continental restaurant beside an art gallery. Entering the restaurant, I knew this was the typical Lagos island restaurant where a plate of rice will go for N4,000. The attendant told us a plate of Pasta was 3,500cfa which was obviously the only food we could eat there. I told my husband to let us resort to bread and sardine.

Luckily, on our way out of the restaurant,
we saw another food vendor.

We approached the food vendor and tried to have a converse with her but we couldn't just communicate because all they understand was French and their native language. I asked her if she understood yoruba and she said I should hold on that she was going to call someone.
She called a man on phone who could communicate in Yoruba. That was relieving �. I spoke with the man and explained our dilemma of food scouting.

He said the food vendor can prepare Pasta and sardine for us at 1,000cfa per plate. We bought three plates of pasta which was within 3,000cfa. It was a big save although food wasn't so delicious but does a begger have to choose?

Just to digress a little. Light, water supply is on 24 hours bases but sure it comes at a price. The major road are without pot holes but their inner streets are not tied.

Traffic light everywhere and everyone obeys but sure you will still see some mad few ones that disobeyed like we have in Lagos. No traffic at all because they use less vehicles on the road.

After the meal of Pasta, we trekked down to a beautiful art gallery where we admired very unique art works.

The attendant was pleasant and he allowed my kids to play with some items they couldn't resist (u know how kids won't sit in one place). We spent about 30 mins at the gallery and luckily for us the owner understood English perfectly.

We told him, we wanted to visit the famous Casa de papa resort for a boat ride and he explained to us how we will get there.

Nice one...

If person get money na to go hide for these small countries till naija settle.

I really enjoy your trip to Benin and the story behind the scene.

What was the total cost (transport and accommodation) in Naira?

We boarded two bikes to casa de papa from the town at 1,000cfa per bike.

Omo, the journey long small o. I taught it will take just 10mins. At some point, I almost told the bike man to turn back cause it was like an unending journey. Atlast, we got to the famous Casa de papa.

It was a place obviously dominated by a lot of white foreign tourist. We walked up to the reception area just to make enquiry about their services. We wanted to have a boat ride and was told a ride per person is 10,000 cfa.... omo, we lock up straight. That was way too much for a 30 mins boat hike bearing in mind we had to take two boat. My Nigerian calculating brain snapped into reality that we were about using N20k for boat ride only, I lied to the kids that the water had crabs (it truly had a lot of crabs) and wasn't too good for kids cause they were really looking forward to the ride.

We kuku resorted to enjoying the beautiful view of the environment and strolled through their facility.

We walked through the pool area to the beach front houses. Note that casa de papa rooms don't come cheap. The least of their room is 45,000cfa and the highest is about 85,000cfa per night.

We strolled through the whole facility and tried to enjoy the peaceful and beautiful view. We walked through the lake area and later relaxed by the lake side. One of the workers of the facility came up to us and offered to give us coconut drink for free (cause they have coconut trees everywhere). He said we can give him anything we like. We got 4 coconut drinks from him and gave him 500cfa. We had some family time together and left after about 2 hours.

We took a bike tonour resort which was about 7km from casa de papa.

We relaxed at our resort for about an hour before proceeding to the pool for a very relaxing swimming session after a really stressful day (the major stress was the bike trip). After swimming, we took a long walk at the beach area before returning to our room.

We later had dinner and spent about an hour browsing before calling it a day.

The next day (Tuesday) was our last day at the resort. The check out time at the resort was 2pm and we planned to use the most of it.

We went for the usual breakfast at 9:00am, went to the reception area to browse for an hr and at about 12pm, we went for our last swim for about an hr and half. At about 1:30 pm, we prepared to leave the resort and left at exactly 2:30pm for Nigeria.

We boarded two bikes to the major road at 1,000cfa per person. We met an elderly agbero man at the junction who we explained our movement to and asked for proper direction (luckly, he understood Yoruba). He explained that we need to board a cab to Cotonu and from their board another cab to Seme boarder. We tipped him 300cfa and he helped us with a cab that took us to cotonuo.

We paid 2,400cfa for the journey to contonu. From Cotonuo we boarded another cab to Seme and paid 3,000cfa. The journey from the junction to Seme boarder took about 2hrs 30 mins.

At Seme boarder, we chilled to eat Lunch before crossing the boarder and I also changed the cfa I had left to naira. We negotiated with the bike men who told us we will have to pay N3,500 per bike to cross. They later settled for N2,000 per bike and we were driven tru a small town to get to the other side of the boarder.

At the other side of Seme (Nigeria), we took a cab to Badagry, paid N2,000 for the cab. This took about 40mins and we experienced the same immigration frequent stop and checks.

From Badagry, we took another cab to Igbo-Elerin, paid N3,000 for the 1hours 30mins trip. It was around 9pm by the time we got to igbo-elerin because the traffic and pot hole experienced reminded us that we were in Lagos.

From Igbo-elerin, we booked an uber home. Got home few minutes after 10pm. We were exhausted and tired after the long journey.

We relaxed at our resort for about an hour before proceeding to the pool for a very relaxing swimming session after a really stressful day (the major stress was the bike trip). After swimming, we took a long walk at the beach area before returning to our room.

We later had dinner and spent about an hour browsing before calling it a day.

The next day (Tuesday) was our last day at the resort. The check out time at the resort was 2pm and we planned to use the most of it.

We went for the usual breakfast at 9:00am, went to the reception area to browse for an hr and at about 12pm, we went for our last swim for about an hr and half. At about 1:30 pm, we prepared to leave the resort and left at exactly 2:30pm for Nigeria.

We boarded two bikes to the major road at 1,000cfa per person. We met an elderly agbero man at the junction who we explained our movement to and asked for proper direction (luckly, he understood Yoruba). He explained that we need to board a cab to Cotonu and from their board another cab to Seme boarder. We tipped him 300cfa and he helped us with a cab that took us to cotonuo.

We paid 2,400cfa for the journey to contonu. From Cotonuo we boarded another cab to Seme and paid 3,000cfa. The journey from the junction to Seme boarder took about 2hrs 30 mins.

At Seme boarder, we chilled to eat Lunch before crossing the boarder and I also changed the cfa I had left to naira. We negotiated with the bike men who told us we will have to pay N3,500 per bike to cross. They later settled for N2,000 per bike and we were driven tru a small town to get to the other side of the boarder.

At the other side of Seme (Nigeria), we took a cab to Badagry, paid N2,000 for the cab. This took about 40mins and we experienced the same immigration frequent stop and checks.

From Badagry, we took another cab to Igbo-Elerin, paid N3,000 for the 1hours 30mins trip. It was around 9pm by the time we got to igbo-elerin because the traffic and pot hole experienced reminded us that we were in Lagos.

From Igbo-elerin, we booked an uber home. Got home few minutes after 10pm. We were exhausted and tired after the long journey. �

In summary, we spent in total N200,000 for the journey. This includes feeding, transport, accommodation and tour.

It was a bit stressful because of our effort to reduce cost but it was worth it.

At Casa de papa, I met some Nigerians who were there in groups and they told me they paid 175k each for the three nights/four day trip (Sat -Tuesday).

Benin Republic is a very peaceful country with limited resources. Very friendly people who are willing to help but the language barrier is a major problem.

Met a lot of Nigerians settled there and not willing to come home although standard of living and social life is nothing compared to Lagos but you see that constant light, water, good road and calm environment is gold. Its a place to cool off from the noisy and stressful life of Lagos.

I was able to live with limited access to phone calls and browsing of the Internet (this is needed attimes) and this allowed us to bond properly as a family and enjoy our own company.

Surely, we will love to go on another trip to Benin Republic but not anytime soon..

Gracia

fummylolah:
In summary, we spent in total N200,000 for the journey. This includes feeding, transport, accommodation and tour.

It was a bit stressful because of our effort to reduce cost but it was worth it.

At Casa de papa, I met some Nigerians who were there in groups and they told me they paid 175k each for the three nights/four day trip (Sat -Tuesday).

Benin Republic is a very peaceful country with limited resources. Very friendly people who are willing to help but the language barrier is a major problem.

Met a lot of Nigerians settled there and not willing to come home although standard of living and social life is nothing compared to Lagos but you see that constant light, water, good road and calm environment is gold. Its a place to cool off from the noisy and stressful life of Lagos.

I was able to live with limited access to phone calls and browsing of the Internet (this is needed attimes) and this allowed us to bond properly as a family and enjoy our own company.

Surely, we will love to go on another trip to Benin Republic but not anytime soon..

Gracia

Nice experience u had and considering the fact that it was a family trip makes it more interesting..my experience there on a 2weeks trip was interesting as well, drinks are expensive and also bottled water , the bottle water I love to buy was fifa and one other brand ..24hrs power supply makes it very interesting but they have alot to do when it comes to their internet service especially their hotel wifi are very slow...when it comes to food , they eat lots of pepper in Benin Republic and ordering food from vendors are very expensive, I started asking locals for where to get Nigerian food, I got to know of iya Emma's food spot... Benin Republic is expensive though but u will love the atmosphere

Nice story and what a wonderful experience for your kids and hubby.

I was wanting to hear you talk about Casa de Papa, if you no go there na heavy miss ooh!

Cotonou is nice, and Benin Republic is a chilling Country. The people like you noted are friendly, but for the language difference, they hate it when they can't communicate effectively with others.

That Alcoholic Wine for your Hubby, you said it was for Ginger That's normal - because even with the way you blanked out your faces, one could tell you're all beautiful, and what's beauty without the "Ginger" trips when on Holiday? I wonder.

I spent some of my years as a teenager heading in Benin Republic visiting friends and family.

I used to live in Okokomaiko, so that Igbo-elerin you have been mentioning is close to home. But my only sadness is how Nigeria is fast losing balance, because I could remember back in '04 before I left Lagos, a trip from Okokomaiko or Afromedia to Badagry was about N70 and the N100 to Ceme Border - it is really painful now that it involves some thousands.

CFAs used to be CFA10,000 for NGN2000, you can all agree with me that Buhari and Emefiele have finished this country.

It is a pity.

All in all, you and your family had maximum fun on a budget trip, and it's a good experience for your kids also.

I have been thinking about visiting my family in Benin for about a week now, and this your experience will further push me to set it in motion.

Welcome back