Shopping in Cotonou Benin Republic

Among the many things the city of Cotonou, Benin Republic has to offer the shopping is by far one of the best. Benin is a shopping paradise of everything from fabrics to food. I travel for clothes. Five years ago I moved to Byron Bay, Australia because of a pair of leopard print bell bottoms, that spoke to my soul.

Motherhood didn’t change my desire for fashion-centric travel, two years ago I dragged my family to Montreal for a mud cloth bathing suit from Nanawax and to worship at the altar of its globe-trotting founder Maureen. Maureen is from Cotonou, Benin Republic and I knew that if a powerhouse like her was born there, that fashion in Cotonou, Benin’s unofficial capital city, would be divine. I packed accordingly.

Then I disembarked from the plane at the airport and died a million deaths. I was not prepared. Mind you I’ve disembarked in Paris, New York, and Milan on several occasions.  I’ve never felt so underdressed in my life and this is coming from a girl who has no problem wearing sequins to the grocery store. The doors open in Cadjehoun Airport you’re greeted with the heat, the smell of petrol heavy in the air and a group of the most well-dressed people you’ve ever seen IN YOUR LIFE waiting to embrace their loved ones.  Everyone is dressed to the nines, you will feel immediately underdressed. You are, there is nothing you can do about it. You don’t have a three-piece suit with matching shoes made out of breathable cotton, tailored to perfection, so… give up. This was my first foray into the fashion scene of Cotonou, Benin and I was immediately smitten.

Shopping in Cotonou Benin

Cash is king. I’ve actually seen women unwrap the satchels from their head to reveal it’s filled with straight up CFA’s (the local currency) like if you want to buy things no matter how expensive you need to have cash on you. I recommend bringing dollars or Euros in higher denominations for the best exchange rate.

Dantokpa

Bordered by a river, Dantokpa is The largest open-air market in West Africa, you get an idea of its 20-hectare size when approaching over the bridge from the opposite bank. There’s no way to truly capture the energy and sights of an African market without being there. It’s alive. A complete assault on the senses everywhere you turn there’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen juxtaposed with the grime, only a city can produce. There is a chaotic order to it all, the men pushing wheelbarrows through the far too narrow alleyways, the women hawking wares perched precariously atop their heads and the patrons sauntering gracefully through it all observing the wares for sale.

The market is divided into areas like grouped like with like. I had the pleasure of entering through the butchers’ portion and was met with the sights and sounds of animals I’ve never seen piled high. My irrational (totally rational) fear of flies stopped me from taking a proper look. Emerging from the covered walkways barely tall enough for me to stand I was greeted with the full might of the African sun. Fruits and vegetables so lush and plentiful that their sheer volume

Ganhi Market

An exponentially smaller market than Dangtokpa with a fresh selection of fruits I went here a few times a week to pick up passion fruits and mangoes, for good prices in a rather touristy place. The slightly hidden fruit market is surrounded by pharmacies and patisseries (EAT). They also carry beans and foreign foods, for exorbitant prices, but if you miss the taste of home this is the place to pick up your red beans. I stopped here every week for a month to pick up passion fruits as it was the only place I found that had them, as well as mangoes larger than my head

Tchi Tchi

Tchi Tchi Africa is so cool it’s an eyeglass store is housed in a converted shipping container and lined in plywood the likes of any hipster haunt in Williamsburg. I got tortoise cat eye glasses and they were done in 15 minutes prescriptions and all. There are so many styles for every one so it took me about an hour to pick the frames.

Nana Wax

this, not sold on the internet brand, hosts global pop up shops in French-speaking cities around the world boasts boutiques in major francophile African cities. I found the flagship location one in Cotonou Benin Republic divine, stocked with pieces I hadn’t seen on her epic Instagram. I bought a swim set from her in Montreal I often wear the pieces during non-swim occasions like here where I wore a vest as a skirt. Nana Wax sells high-quality clothing in exclusive prints and just started selling pieces online to a global market.

Get clothing made

Handmade and made to order by expert tailors. Don’t bring home all that fabric home without transforming it into a bespoke suit! You literally can’t walk out of the house, in Cotonou Benin without stumbling on a good tailor, what they can do for you is limited only by your imagination. What these artisans can do with cotton fibers is nothing short of magic. Sorcerers with needles I’ve never been so well put together in all my days.

• Share
• Tweet
• Pin