BENIN – THE BRADT TRAVEL GUIDE

Africa has always been our favourite place for a surf trip as the numerous surf tales from that continent in the Stories section of this website will prove, but a surf trip, as we all know, involves much more than just waves and it’s the day to day encounters with local people that really stick in the memory. A year and a half ago Oceansurf set off on a surf trip to the West African country of Benin, the results of which can be seen in the story, ‘The King and I’.

We knew that Benin was the homeland of that much maligned religion, Voodoo, and we knew that the slave trade had been one of the defining elements of Benin’s history, but what we didn’t know is just how magical a country Benin really was – literally! Everyday we seemed to have some surreal encounter that anyone outside the confines of Benin would find impossible to believe – there were ghosts, magic dwarfs, Holy snakes, witches and dancing lions in abundance and we were left totally enchanted by a land that can make Harry Potter’s life seem dull. In fact we were so enthralled by Benin that we have just finished writting a guide book to the country for Bradt Travel Guides, but this new book is more than just a standard travel guide, after all how can you write a standard travel guide to a land where people turn into trees and birds into Kings? So, with this book we have aimed to do something a little different and we are proud of the results, and believe we have produced the definitive guide to Voodoo and African magic.

And if spirits and magic weren’t reason enough to head too Benin then, for a surfer, there are the added bonuses of empty, consistent, warm water beach breaks!

You can find out more information on our new book and buy it online direct from Bradt, so what are you waiting for? Get out there, get some sandy barrels and as a plus, learn how to turn your mates into newts!