Ganvie

saturday we went to Ganvie which has to be one of the most incredible places i have ever been. this is a village of approximately 30,000 people who live in the middle of a lake. yep. right in the middle. their houses, schools, everything is all on stilts above the water. everyone travels around in canoes b/c that is the only way to get from one building to another.
why are these ppl in the middle of a lake, you may ask? the town was actually established in the 1700s during the time of slave raids. the stronger african tribes would capture the weaker tribes and sell them to the europeans. the ancestors of these ppl were trying to escape and were looking for somewhere to flee. since we are talking about benin, voodoo, of course, plays a role in the story. both sides had their own type of magic to assist them, but the magic (voodoo) of the aggressors did not work if it came in contact with water. so this tribe fled to the middle of the lake and there the other tribe was not able to reach them b/c their magic no longer worked over the water.
the ppl are mainly fisherman and farm the fish in the lake by planting reeds to entice the fish in only they can't escape afterwards. they even have a floating market with women in canoes selling their merchandise, mostly vegetables from nearby villages.