25000 people live in the water paradise of Ganvié in a lagoon a bit north of Cotonou, the capital of Benin, not far from the fringes of the Sahel. Africa, aridness, drought..I gaze out of the window of my modest hospice and unbelievably watch the hustle and bustle on the floating market below me. Men and women dressed in immaculate white weekend gown ride in boats to church, kids paddle to their Sunday schools.

Ganvié has entirely been built as a village on stilts and is reachable by boat only. Slave catchers from the then Kingdom of Dahomey were notorious. It is estimated that more than 1 million locals were shipped overseas from the close port of Quidah as slaves. Luckily for the residents of Ganvié the slave traders were not allowed to enter water. Therefore it was built as a safe haven to prevent slave catchers from entering. A rather sad explaniation for a beautiful place.