at the port to Ganvie

Lac Nokoué is a prominent feature of the map of Cotonou (at least in my phone when I wanted to know where we were). I wanted to see it but wasn't sure if we had the time to visit. Somehow, Val was able to fit it into our schedule one afternoon (despite my school project and his journal articles). With his cousin's family, we went to the port... it was also the kids' first time to see the lake. 

And I've got to say that it is one very busy port. There were a lot of dugout boats conveying people and produce from Cotonou to the stilt village of Ganvie, a potential UNESCO Heritage Site. Val explained to me that Ganvie is dubbed as the "Venice of Africa", which made me even more curious about the place. 

However, on this trip, we were just there to see the flurry of activity on the Cotonou side of the lake. Aside from the passenger boats, there were boats that sold food to the passengers on the boats... very enterprising for the traders, I thought. 

Business must be good because there was no shortage for passengers. Each time a long boat arrived, it got filled by people in less than 10 minutes. 

Note that not one of the passengers wore life vests. In contrast, when we went to Les Rives de Toho last year, we wore life vests for a short boat ride. Anyway, the boats reminded me of pictures of Venice's gondolas, with the gondolier standing on the rear side of the boat. 

The floating stores, on the other hand, typically had one or two people in them. One person propelled the boat while the other handled transactions. Their wares (e.g., hats, fruit, bread) were laid out in the centre of the boat, easily reachable when a sale had been made.

There were some boats I couldn't imagine riding, like the tiny dugout canoes (and me not wearing a life vest).

And those canoes that have makeshift sails on them. For these hardy people of the Ganvie, however, this is everyday life. They are descendants of a hardy group of people who live off the bounty of the lake. 

As we headed back to the car, I noticed two empty dugout boats parked near the grassy banks set against the harmattan skies. Lac Nokoué is huge! As far as my eyes could see, I only saw the lake. I didn't see a glimpse of the village.

And here I was, thinking that this trip to the lake would just be like my visit to the definitely more idyllic Los Baños side of Laguna de Bay.