BENIN: Cotonou, Porto Novo & the Ride to Nigeria (Final Stretch of my West Africa Overland Journey)

In this video, I finish my eight-week long West African overland journey from Morocco to Nigeria, beginning with a full day of exploring Cotonou, the largest city of the Republic of Benin. Here, I check out some of the city's historic churches, a massive feminist warrior monument, and hunt down some of the city's best coffee while learning more about its Marxist communist past. From Cotonou, I journey 35 km north to the capital city of Porto Novo. This small town is a bit off the beaten path, but is loaded with historic Brazilian-Portuguese architecture, including one of the most incredible mosques in Africa, along with voodoo temples and historic palaces of the Kingdom of Dahomey (Benin's pre-colonial powers). After exploring Porto Novo, I head east for the final leg of this West Africa overland adventure, and catch a motorbike for a ride to the Nigeria border, where I end this incredible 7000+ km journey across West Africa. Would you ever take a trip like this? Let me know in the comments below, and feel free to ask anything you might be wondering about travelling solo through this challenging but rewarding part of the world! 00:00 Intro 01:07 Cathedral of Notre Dame (Cotonou) 03:26 Downtown Cotonou 04:13 Port Autonome Graffiti Wall 04:28 Amazonia Statue / Independence Square 08:05 Red Star Square 08:36 Cappuccino @ Cafe Etoile 09:33 Hotel Mavilla (Review) 10:40 Cotonou to Porto Novo 12:34 Grand Mosque of Porto Novo 14:10 Porto Novo Market 15:11 Royal Palace & Colonial Architecture 17:22 Porto Novo to Nigeria Border 17:53 Nigeria Border Post 18:31 My Journey Across West Africa (Trip Montage) 20:25 Outro Episode 239 | #Africa #WestAfrica #Benin | #Cotonou #PortoNovo | Filmed April 2024 SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel to stay up to date with my travels (click the bell for notifications!) and be sure to hit that LIKE button if you enjoyed this video! SIGN UP FOR A CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP to get access to exclusive perks & behind-the scenes content!:    / @drifterdave   GET A FREE TRIAL OF EPIDEMIC SOUND! https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra... Tracks featured in this episode: Future Vibes by Qeeo Shog by Ebo Krdum Spirit of Cape Town by Sahara Skylight Last of Our Rides by Sight of Wonders SUPPORT MY CONTENT ON PATREON!   / drifterdave   JOIN MY 50,000+ FOLLOWERS ON TIKTOK!   / drifter.dave   FOLLOW MY REAL-TIME STORIES ON INSTAGRAM:   / drifter.dave   LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK!   / drifterdavetravels   Please SUBSCRIBE & join me as I explore the world's lesser-known destinations that deserve to be discovered! Thanks for watching! #africanstories #Africa #DiscoverAfrica #bucketlist #WestAfricaTravel #traveltips #overlanding #solotravel #westafrican #ExploreTheWorld #westafrica #WestAfrica #Benin #Africatravel #explore #travelblogger #AfricanAdventures #offthebeatenpath #WanderMore #africancountry #TravelGoals #VibrantAfrica #TravelAfrica #portonovo #cotonoubenin #Cotonou #cotonoucity #cotonoubenin #cotonouvibes #nigeria