Ganvié stilt village, Lac Nokoué Photo Gallery by Brian McMorrow at pbase.com

Ganvié stilt village, Lac Nokoué

Ganvie is a village of small huts built in the middle of the shallow lake Lac Nokoué. While quite interesting and a highlight of Benin, the unfriendly attitudes most of the inhabitants display towards tourists makes me think perhaps people should take their $£€ elsewhere.

Allada, Benin, is building a giant new church	St. Mary atop the dome, Allada, Benin	New church, Allada, Benin	New church, Allada, Benin
PTT Benin Bureau de Poste Abomey-Calavi	Sign for the turn for the Ganvié boat landing	Cité Lacustre de Ganvié - Lake City of Ganvie	Table of official fares for tourist visits to Ganvié
Lakeside depot for tourist boats to Ganvié	Fish market at the Ganvié boat landing	Fish market at the Ganvié boat landing	Fish market at the Ganvié boat landing
Ganvié boat landing	Ganvié boat landing	Boy at the Ganvié boat landing	Ganvié boat landing
Ganvié boat landing	Young boy paddling a canoe, Ganvié	Ganvié woman in a big hat paddling a canoe	Canoe headed out onto Lac Nakoué
Fisherman casting a net for cadeau, Lac Nakoué, Benin	Woman padding a canoe to shore, Lac Nakoué	Lac Nakoué, Benin	Fisherman's mid-lake shelter, Lac Nakoué, Benin
Boatman, Lac Nakoué, Benin	Man poling a canue, Lac Nakoué, Benin	The lake seems to be overrun with this stuff	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Many of the locals don't seem to appreciate tourism...	Tourist boat, Ganvie	Hotel Chez Raphael, Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Hotel Chez Raphael, Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Hotel Chez Raphael, Ganvié, Bénin	Plumbing, Chez Raphael	Bronze castings, Chez Raphael
Paddlers, Ganvié stilt village, Bénin	Old boat overgrown with lake weeds	View from Hotel Chez Raphael, Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ose Oluwa - Mecanicien - outboard motor repair	Typical Ganvié thatched hut built on stilts, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ahi Dagbe Floating Market constructed by the Royal Green Cross - Togo - funded by his majesty King Francois Ayayi Ayih 2005
Floating market, Ganvié - the whole village had a bit of a southeast Asian feel	Woman in a canoe at the Ganvié floating market	Woman paddling a canoe full of baskets	Woman paddling her canoe through the "streets" of Ganvié
Ganvié floating market	Hotel Carrefour Ganvié, Chez "M", Bénin	Hotel Carrefour Ganvié, Benin	Hotel Carrefour Ganvié, Chez "M", Bénin - site of the most disgusting chicken lunch I've ever had
Hotel Carrefour Ganvié	Voodoo fetishes, Hotel Carrefour Ganvié, Benin	Voodoo fetishes, Hotel Carrefour Ganvié	Voodoo fetishes, Hotel Carrefour Ganvié
After a brief stop here to place our lunch orders, the boat trip continued	Masks for sale, Hotel Carrefour Ganvié	Woodcarvings, Hotel Carrefour Ganvié	Ganvié boy
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Cargo boat, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Cargo boat, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié woman paddling - no smile, no greeting	Cargo boat, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	The boy in the front slaps the water to tell the man steering when to turn	BeninDec06 436.jpg
Ganvié, Benin	Nope, no smile here	Ecole Primaire Publique de Ganvié, the local school built on a sandy island	Tricks for Cadeau near the school
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Market boat, Ganvié, Bénin	Ganvié, "Venice of Africa"	Hey, at least she's looking at us...
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Our third stop, a tourist shop (no sign so I don't know the name...)
Tourist shop, Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Crucifix, Ganvié, Bénin	Crucifix, Ganvié, Bénin
Sample of the paintings of Ganvié available at the shop	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	How long until the weed eats the lake
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	The locals of Ganvié love to hide behind their big hats
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Canoe with an improvised sail, Ganvie	Fisherman drawing in a net
Cargo boat passing Chez Raphael, Ganvie, Benin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Pharmacy on stilts, Ganvié, Bénin	Boatload of kids, Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
So friendly...	Back Chez "M" for our lunch stop...did I mention how disappointing it was?	Hotel Carrefour Chez "M"	One of the beneficiaries of my rubber chicken
Hotel Carrefour Chez "M", Ganvié, Bénin	Hotel Carrefour Chez "M", Ganvié, Bénin	Hotel Carrefour Chez "M", Ganvié, Bénin	Hotel Carrefour Chez "M", Ganvié, Bénin
Hotel Carrefour Chez "M" has a very psychotic looking monkey chained to a tree	He'll surely end up as a voodoo fetish	The monkey got loose during lunch	He really didn't know what to do with his freedom
Staff trying to catch the monkey	Climb, stupid!	Not the smartest monkey I've seen	Soon, the now bleeding monkey is dragged back to his tree
The baby monkey went nuts when the big one escaped	Baby monkey eating my lunch	Here We Sell School Supplies and Sacks of Rice	Shop attached to the Hotel
Ganvié, Bénin	Paddling Peddler, Ganvié, Bénin	A rare smile in Ganvié	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Motorboats are uncommon	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Woman climbing down from her hut	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Donne moi un cadeau!	At least some of the kids seem happy	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin
...perhaps tourists should stop coming here if the locals are so unfriendly and apparently annoyed by tourists...	Ganvié, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Sailboat, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	The guy with the motorboat passing us again
Raggy sail catches the breeze	Recycled "Super Sack"	Fishermen in a canoe, Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Lac Nakoué, Bénin
Lac Nakoué, Bénin	Boy poling the canoe back towards Ganvie	"Venice of Africa"	Remote stilt hut well outside the village
Back at the boat landing	Back on the mainland	The road to Cotonou

comment |

sac		13-Oct-2013 17:32
I visited Cotonou in the early 60s and bought a beautiful painting of a village on stilts. Unfortunately I cannot read the name of the painter

Guest		27-Mar-2011 22:29
Apologies for the mistaken double post. To make things clearer in my original post I should have pointed out that West Africa is the home of voodoo which was "exported" with the unfortunate slaves. It is known in West Africa as juju and at the time I lived there was strongly believed in by many, hence my remark about a photograph capturing part of their soul.

Guest		27-Mar-2011 18:32
I lived in neighbouring Nigeria for many years and visited Ganvie in the nineties. In those days the people did not want to be photographed as they believed a photograph could capture part of their soul. This most particularly applied to the ladies and is why they used their large straw hats to great effect to hide their faces. This was prevalent over many parts of West Africa and was not confined to one religion or tribal group. Money was never the issue. Enjoyed the shots - brought back happy memories. Thank you!

Mia Thacker		26-Sep-2008 15:57
I visited this village last December (2007) and you have totally captured its beauty and essence. I did not however see a monkey chained to a tree. I would love to return someday, I just need to make sure I have enough money to take photos of the locals.

chioma		06-Jun-2008 10:45
wonderful pictures.

Susan Jackson		15-Apr-2008 17:28
This is a lovely collection of photos. I recently returned from a trip to Cotonou, Benin and visited Ganvie. We too took many photos, but were asked by our guide not to give the children money. Our guide is a school teacher from Ganvie and they are trying to teach the children to earn their money through getting an education and hard work. I asked before I took photos and if they turned away, I did not take their picture. One thing that they do need are pens. The children approached us and asked for pens. They were thrilled when I produced 3. I know very little history of this place, our guide didn't tell us a whole lot. My understanding is that Ganvie was populated by people escaping the main land to find saftey from the slave traders. Through a tour of the Portuguese fort we learned that in the history of slave trading in Africa, 60 million people were taken as slaves. 10 million of those came from the small country of Benin. There is a very moving tribute to those people in the city of Ouidah. In 1995 "The Port of No Return" was dedicated to the memory of these people. It is in such a remote part of the world, and I would guess that very few people have been there or even heard of it. Anyone that would like to research the history of slavery should visit Ouidah, Benin. Thank you for sharing your pictures. I treasure mine as a wonderful memory of my trip to Benin.

Brian McMorrow		23-Aug-2007 19:56
Dear guest, how much did you pay to look at these photos? That's what I thought...I did donate a shot of the village (not of a person) to the Empire and Commonwealth Museum in Bristol, UK, for an exhibition on slavery in Africa, Breaking the Chains. I feel that tourism in communities like this give benefits to the community as a whole, ie our locally chartered boat, guides, meals in the village (crappy though they were) etc, and a friendly smile is not too much to ask for.

Guest		23-Aug-2007 13:40
Do you pay these people for taking their photos and making money off of their images? It appears that many are unwilling to be photographed--and since you do it anyway, I think it's only fair that you pay them for intruding on their privacy. So typical of your Western mentality. Go read a book on colonialism and you'll see yourself in the pages.

Robin Warner		21-May-2007 21:19
...one of your best, Brian. Congratulations.

Guest		15-Dec-2006 16:22
lovely galery,v.

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