We are at last home in Pèdè after all our travels. Someone out here told us that a missionary family is always on the move, and our experience seems to back that up!
This time we needed to get our residency cards renewed, which involves a blood test (done in Parakou) and medical, and then a trip to the government office in Cotonou. We made the most of our days in Parakou (waiting for the blood test results) to get some work done on our car, and then the mechanic came down to Cotonou with us to replace our wheels with stronger ones. Given the state of the roads during rainy season, this seemed a good idea!
Benjy was a bit hit in the government immigration office. One woman came in with her meal of traditional Beninese food (akassa) and Benjy started smiling at her and pointing at the food. “Does he like this?” she said, doubtfully. “Probably, “ I replied, and she tried giving him some. Soon he was gobbling it down, with much lip-smacking and appeals for more. The previously stony-faced officials were laughing incredulously and saying he must think he is African! (Children are always good at making friends in high places!)
The Parakou-Cotonou journey is a long day of driving, and we wouldn't choose to do it unless really necessary. But once we were there we enjoyed the opportunity to do some shopping in Cotonou, and to introduce our boys to the hypermarket (they'd been there before but didn't remember). Not that they were very impressed with the idea of shopping - it took the “Baguette d'Or” café-restaurant to reconcile them to big city life! Here's Simon with his dessert – he was disappointed when I said he had to choose just one of the many on offer!
This time we needed to get our residency cards renewed, which involves a blood test (done in Parakou) and medical, and then a trip to the government office in Cotonou. We made the most of our days in Parakou (waiting for the blood test results) to get some work done on our car, and then the mechanic came down to Cotonou with us to replace our wheels with stronger ones. Given the state of the roads during rainy season, this seemed a good idea!
Benjy was a bit hit in the government immigration office. One woman came in with her meal of traditional Beninese food (akassa) and Benjy started smiling at her and pointing at the food. “Does he like this?” she said, doubtfully. “Probably, “ I replied, and she tried giving him some. Soon he was gobbling it down, with much lip-smacking and appeals for more. The previously stony-faced officials were laughing incredulously and saying he must think he is African! (Children are always good at making friends in high places!)
The Parakou-Cotonou journey is a long day of driving, and we wouldn't choose to do it unless really necessary. But once we were there we enjoyed the opportunity to do some shopping in Cotonou, and to introduce our boys to the hypermarket (they'd been there before but didn't remember). Not that they were very impressed with the idea of shopping - it took the “Baguette d'Or” café-restaurant to reconcile them to big city life! Here's Simon with his dessert – he was disappointed when I said he had to choose just one of the many on offer!
The road between Parakou and Pèdè is worse than the road further south. Here are a few photos taken on my mobile phone. First, the supposedly tarmac-covered road! In this case, the tarmac is still there, it's just covered with mud!
The rain coming down, and the water flowing along the side of the road:
A lorry we saw which was lacking its back right-hand wheel!
