Well im back in Cotonou after a relaxing couple of days by the beach at Grand Popo. I don't really have much to update from there, the main thing worth mentioning was a photo exhibition I saw at the Finnish/African Cultural Centre where they had old photos and postcards on display that a Finnish photographer had taken over 100 years ago in West and Central Africa, they were so amazing, the photography was excellent and the photos were of traditional chiefs and tribespeople, there were also postcards of colonial people being paddled up the Niger River by Africans, and arriving on the steam ships, really amazing photos!The beach at Grand Popo was the same as it has been all along the coast, very dangerous, with a steep drop off and strong undertow.Also worth mentioning, I actually met some other English speaking tourists, from England!!Last night they were staying at my hotel so I chatted with them over dinner, it was the first time in ages that I have been able to have a proper conversation in English with other native English speakers without having to speak slowly or in half French/half English.They had just arrived from Nigeria where they spent a few days in Lagos, that sounds like one crazy city!They had some pretty interesting stories from there!!Anyway, I thought I would write an entry to give you all more of an idea of what it is like here rather than my usual update of where I've been and what I did there since I don't have much to do this afternoon. Obviously there is so much amazing history here and in each country you go to there is just so much to learn about, but I want to write about what it is actually like being in West Africa and travelling here, because that is something you cant read about in books or on the internet, you have to actually come here to find out about it. Every time I come into an internet café, its like going to a different world, reading emails about what everyone is doing and writing emails and thinking and typing all in English, then when my time runs out and I get up to pay I always have to remind myself to speak to the person in French, then I walk out the door and every time I think 'wow, that's right, im really in the thick of Africa now'. The heat is like walking into an oven, and there is noise everywhere, there is music blaring from somewhere, cars and motos beeping on the road, people yelling and hissing at each other, police blowing whistles, there will always be at least one person trying to get my attention whether to just say bonjour or to try and sell me mens trousers or an extension cord or something I don't need. Then I set off walking down the street which is a dangerous activity here, there are no sidewalks, instead you have to dodge the cars and motos which sometimes seem to appear out of nowhere, and the open sewer which is sometimes completely open so you can see all the rubbish that has been thrown in there amongst the green slime and sometimes it is partly covered up by concrete slabs with gaps in them that are always uneven so you have to look exactly where you put your feet so as not to trip over or twist your ankle, I would never wear heels here that would just be an accident waiting to happen! On the other side of the sewer are the street side vendors selling all sorts of things, or people just sitting around doing nothing, or moto drivers taking a break, or cars backing out of car parks, there is always something happening and you really have to be on the ball when you are walking down the street, and even more so if you try to cross it which sometimes seems nearly impossible and while you wait endlessly for a gap in the traffic you get approached by street vendors trying to sell you things which becomes a real distraction from the road, it is utter chaos compared to what it is like where we all live. There are no speed limits on the roads and the only road rules that people seem to obey are when you have to stop at a red traffic light. In Grand Popo I walked 1km down the main highway alongside all the school children who had just finished school for the day and cars were speeding along at well over 100kph and overtaking within meters of the kids, and this is in a town where the speed limit is supposedly 50kph, there wasn't any sidewalk so you either walked on the edge of the road or in the long grass, its little things like that that I notice and think how different it is here compared to NZ or any other developed countries. Everywhere you look you see cases of extreme poverty, you see kids working rather than at school, or spending the day on the side of the street at their mothers street stall, in most parts of West Africa in each country around 80% of people are illiterate. Despite the hard life that most people live here, people are so friendly and so helpful, when you walk down the street, especially outside the major cities, everyone will greet you, kids will want to shake your hand and they always yell out to you (in Togo and Benin the word for 'white person' is Yovo, in Ghana is was Obroni and in Burkina Faso it was L'blanche, I've forgotton what it was in Mali), people are really curious about you and want to know where you're from and what you're doing here. Some people know where New Zealand is, other times I just have to say im from Australia, and they always want to know if I like it here and of course why is my husband not with me? Does he not want to come to Togo/Benin or whichever country im in?Getting around can actually be quite easy because people will tell you what to do and where to go. For example, whenever I go to a Gare Routiere to get a bush taxi somewhere (or in the northern countries, a bus) before you have even entered the place someone will approach you and want to know where you're going, when you tell them they take you to whoever is going your way, by the time you get there you are usually surrounded by a group of people all trying to get your business and you just have to choose the car that looks the most full (as bush taxis don't leave until they're full) and the one that looks least likely to break down. Sometimes this can be quite intimidating, at first it was for me, because they will grab your arms and pull you to their car and everyone is yelling at you all at the same time and all in French and they try and take your pack and put it in the boot of some car, I always strap my pack tightly to me when I go to the Gare Routiere and don't give it to them until I have made a decision about what car I'm going in, but once you get used to it you realise that's just the way it works here and you expect that each time you want to travel somewhere. When I left Natitingou the other day I went to the Gare Routiere and in the beginning no one approached me, I just stood there for a minute wondering what I should do as that had never happened to me before, but it didn't take long before I had people coming up to me in all directions yelling 'sister, sister, where you going?'. I don't know what 'where you going' is in French, but I know that's what they ask.When I say that people grab you and try and drag you to their car, its not in an aggressive way. People here are very touchy feely and very affectionate with each other. I often see grown men strolling down the street holding hands or with their arms around each other talking and laughing, I noticed this a bit when I was in East Africa, and I have noticed it even more here. Even young guys, teenagers, you will see them holding hands or putting their hand on the shoulder or arm of the person they are talking to. It is really sweet, especially if the men are wearing the traditional clothes, because they look like pajamas.On the other hand, when they have arguments or disagreements then its all hands flying everywhere and full on emotion, no one rises above it and walks off or discusses things quietly in a civil manner - not that I've seen anyway and I've witnessed some pretty spectacular fights. The ones with the men always involve more than the two people involved and it goes from being angry one minute to everyone laughing the next, then angry again, it is really hard to tell what is going on and who is on whose side. These fights always happen in the local language so its really hard to follow, but there is lots of shouting and pointing and people joining and leaving the argument and then they always end abruptly and its over, they are really interesting to watch, I have never seen one that gets violent, its always just yelling, I think there are usually one or two people in the group of spectators that provide light hearted jokes to calm the atmosphere down. When the women fight, that's when it gets scary, I would never want to be in an argument with an African woman, and if I was I would just give up and let her win!! When they get mad, they are a force to be reckoned with. Usually you see them yelling at men, but I have also seen women yelling at each other, they have really high pitched voices and its like an endless stream of words coming out of their mouth, I would love to know what they say. Most of the times I see the women mad are in the bush taxis when they will yell at the driver or his helper who takes the money. One day the money man in a bush taxi tried to give the wrong change to me, the woman next to me and the man on the other side of me, he didn't do it on purpose.But the woman just went off at him, I actually felt nervous sitting next to her, I didn't want to look at her in case she decided to yell at me! Even though the guy had really screwed up in giving us our change, I felt really sorry for him, he looked so upset, he was only young and he was being yelled at in front of everyone in the bush taxi, I think she was telling him that he was stupid, but that's just my guess, again it was all in local language. I have to say I find the public fights really interesting, its just something you never see normally, and it is so interesting to watch how everyone interacts with each other, and I always sit there and try and figure out what has caused it, the main times I see these fights are at bush taxi stations or in bush taxis when picking up or dropping off passengers, so I am usually one of many spectators.Another thing here that you really have to get used to is the hissing, if someone wants to get someone elses attention then they hiss at them, no one says 'excuse me'.That takes a bit of getting used to, because normally if someone hisses at you, well I would consider it the height of rudeness, but here that's just what they do to get someone's attention, its just a cultural difference, there are 2 main things I have struggled with and that is one of them, my natural instinct is to ignore the person hissing at me or to tell them to speak to me like a human being if they want my attention, I haven't said that because I don't know how to say it in French and it would probably be very rude to say it, but I do find the hissing quite easy to ignore unless someone is actually hissing at me for a reason or else I just greet them and keep walking.When you walk down the street here you constantly have motos beeping at you offering you a ride or there is always someone hissing at you or trying to sell you something, so it is something I have got used to, but the hissing, I don't really like it.The other thing that I have found hard to get used to, is really quite stupid, but using bottled water to brush my teeth with.When you go to the sink with your toothbrush it is just your natural instinct to put it under the tap, that has been quite hard to get used to.I think when I get back to London I'll take bottled water with me to the sink because I would have got so used to it.It is not recommended to drink tap water here and I wouldn't risk it, I don't even want to think of what the pipes would be like! When you tell most people you are going to West Africa they automatically think that it is really dangerous here, but I think if you actually asked anyone why they think its dangerous here, they wouldn't really be able to answer.Africa only gets 5% of the worlds tourists and most of them go to Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa (in that order).Egypt has had a state of emergency in the country for the last 26 years and had those bombings recently where people were killed, Morocco and Tunisia both have North Africa branches of terrorist groups and South Africa has the highest murder rate in the world, those of you in the Bay of Plenty (in NZ) would have read about the couple who went to South Africa on holiday and got mugged on their last day, they put a big article in the local paper trying to warn people of the dangers of travelling in South Africa.But how often do you hear anything in the news about West Africa, or about anyone that's been there? There are so few tourists here in West Africa!The main foreigners that come here are expats, volunteers or middle aged French couples that stay at expensive hotels.In the majority of hotels I have stayed at since I arrived here, which have been budget ones, I have either been the only person at the hotel, or the only foreigner (Ghana is an exception, lots of volunteers travel around that country) and in most towns I have visited other hotels apart from the one im staying in to arrange a tour or have a drink or some lunch/dinner and there are no tourists.The man at the hotel in Grand Popo told me I was the first New Zealander to stay there this year.Apart from the fact that life is so extremely different here and it is the poorest part of the world, it is not as dangerous as it is perceived to be (there are some countries that are an exception to this: Nigeria, Cote D'Ivoire and Liberia) but apart from them, there is no reason why anyone can't come here and learn all about the amazing history and cultures and music and meet the friendly people and see a part of the world that is so different from our own.And that is one thing these countries need more of - tourists - and their foreign cash.There is so much to see here, they even have wildlife parks which have all the same animals as in East Africa.Obviously you have to use your common sense and not get yourself into any tricky situations, but people here generally want to make sure you're ok and help you.Since I got my burn I have been wearing big white bandages to cover it up and keep it clean, so many people stare at it as they walk past me and everyone wants to know what happened, I pretend to be revving a moto with my hands and say 'le zemi, in Cotonou' and they look all sympathetic and go 'ohhhh', and usually ask if ive been to the doctor.There have been a couple of times when ive been walking along the street and stubbed my toe on the uneven concrete slabs that cover the sewer and stumbled and both times people have gone 'oh, im sorry' and wanted to know if im alright, of course I say yes and thank them for their concern, but stubbing your toe on those things really really hurts!The place im staying at here in Cotonou is the Hotel Concorde, today is the 3rd time ive checked in there, I stayed there for the first time about 2 weeks ago before I went up north, then I stayed there again earlier this week before I went to Grand Popo and now im back.It is one of the friendliest places ive stayed at in West Africa, the shop owners on both sides of the hotel entrance recognise me and want to chat every time I come and go from the hotel, as do the the security guards, they are so helpful and have pointed me in the right direction for all sorts of places many times, they don't really do much except sit around outside the hotel and doze off and chat to people.Actually that's just made me remember what I think the main difference here is, life is very public.People eat, sleep, conduct business, breast feed, go to the toilet, everything, in the street.There are goats and chickens and roosters everywhere almost getting hit by passing bush taxis and motos (not so much in the big cities) living alongside people.No one here sleeps in, everyone is up with the sun going about their daily routine, then most people nap in the shade around midday when it's the hottest, it can be quite amazing to see some of the positions and places that some people can sleep in, there have been many times that I've wished I could have taken a photo!!Early in the mornings women set up breakfast stands on the side of the street where you can get a cooked breakfast, and there are street food stands all through the day where people buy their food, most of the time they can be found in and around the town market or the Gare Routiere.If you arrive in a bus or bush taxi you don't have to leave the vehicle as the women will come to you will all sorts of food from grilled fish or meat to baggettes, boiled eggs, deep fried sweet bread, seasame seed biscuits, bananas, and a million other things, some things they offer you I don't even know what they are or how you would eat it!This all gets shoved through the window right in your face, which is good if you want to buy it, otherwise it can be a bit claustrophobic.Well that's about all I can think of for now, there is probably a lot more I could write about but it hasn't come to me as ive been sitting here.Im staying in Cotonou until Monday when I fly to Douala in Cameroon.Cameroon is part of the region of Central Africa, so the next couple of days will be my last in West Africa.Next update will be from Cameroon…