when i go travelin' in the north country, fair

just spent 5 days in northern benin. i brought marcellin, a 16 yr old, the oldest at the orphanage, as i was worried that solo travel might not work as well here. wonderful would be a weird word to use, but it was fascinating and definitely a CLASSIC african travel adventure, including all the family favorites...

working backwards:
-this afternoon, 9 people and 2 goats stuffed in a compact 5-seater station wagon with a sum total of 0 working doors, when 1 back tire EXPLODED;
-this morning, a tour of the ancient city of abomey with a elephantitis-afflicted vodoun priest (i am not making this shit up);
-yesterday, we were en route southward from natitingou when the bus came to a halt -- in response to the local government's unfulfilled promise to pave a local road, an entire arrondissement (large town) had blocked the road with logs and tires and was holding a political protest rally. we were held up in penessoulou for about 2.5 hours, but coincidentally, the pick-up truck next to us was driven by one of the many (4) guatemalans in benin, so i had a lovely opportunity to make a new friend and practice my spanish;
-the day before yesterday, hours upon hours on a motorcycle through the real-deal-rainy-season rain out to boukoumbe, home of the betamaribe people, who live in incredible houses called tata sombas, castellated mud homes, built so that the animals and animist idols (sculptures imbued with vodoun-esque power) live on the first floor, and the people live in pits dug into the roof. we were accompanied by a slightly irritating, chatty guide named georges, who has nothing to qualify him as a guide other than a friend with a motorcycle which he borrows to take us around to sorghum beer houses at 10am and to ditch us at roadside buvettes (little tin-shack restaurants) for hours as he visits friends in the neighborhood;
-and the day before that, a visit to some beautiful waterfalls and to pop in and say hi to the regional King, who sits on a throne but is otherwise, as far as i can tell, just another old guy who speaks a dialect of Bariba even our local guide doesn't understand.

So goes travel in Benin.