BENIN – Grand Popo to Cotonou – Sunday 29th Nov

Lay in after heavy night. Omelette and chips for breakfast and a final swim in the pool. We set off for Cotonou around 2pm after trying to repack the car a little and swapping the slightly broken tent for a nice traditional pot. The drive to the capital involved a beautiful section of off-road alongside the sandy beach shaded by large palms. The weather had been perfect for pretty much the whole of the trip and today was no exception with blue skies and temperatures around 40 degrees. Most of the teams visited a lovely restaurant in the mango groves but unfortunately we had no time to stop as we needed to properly pack the car and still find a bank that would give us money! Upon arrival in Cotonou we headed into the centre in search of a suitcase to help us take as much as we could home. We fortunately stumbled onto 'Suitcase Street' and had much fun negotiating a good price between the many traders. With the car full to busting already, the only place for our new purchase was on the front seat. Eleanor was therefore forced to ride back to the hotel sitting fully inside the suitcase which was as hilarious to see as it sounds! The taxi came at midnight for the two minute drive to the airport so we parked up Cookie in the hotel car park, ready for the organizers to load him onto a container ship in the coming days. Soon we were saying a reluctant goodbye to Benin as we jetted away in the plane bound for Libya then Gatwick.