If you are planning to visit the Republic of Benin from Nigeria, this post is for you. It will cover everything you need to know about crossing one of the busiest borders in West Africa.
Requirements For visiting Benin Republic from Nigeria
For Nigerians planning on visiting Benin Republic, the following are the requirements:
Nigerian Passport: Nigerians visiting Benin Republic will have to present their International Passport at the border.
The Yellow Fever Card: The second requirement is the yellow Fever card. This yellow card is proof that you have received a dose of the yellow fever vaccine.
Vaccines To Take Before Visiting Benin Republic
Ensure you take these two vaccines before you visit Benin republic. If you do not, you will have issues with the Port health at the border. When you go for the yellow fever vaccine, ensure you ask them for Meningitis too. They will probably fix another date for that. These are the two basic vaccines you need to take before visiting Benin Republic.
Vaccine Requirement
Yellow fever vaccine: This vaccine is to protect you against yellow fever
Meningitis Vaccines:
The Language
French is the official language. The other languages include Yoruba, Fon and a Gbe languages.
The Currency
The official currency of the Republic of Benin is Cefa, it is also known as the West African CFA Franc.
How to Get To the Republic of Benin Through Seme Border
There are different ways to get into Benin from Nigeria
Idi Iroko Border
The Seme Border
The Different Options To get into Benin Republic
1. Flight - Getting a flight to Republic of Benin is often difficult, flights are only available on specific days
2. Boat - This is another option to cross into the country, however this is not well-structured
3. Road - This is the most popular option. more than 90 per cent of the people that travel to Benin use this option. This is why we will only focus on road transportation.
Different Options for Road Transportation
1. International Transportation companies : These are structured transportation companies that move from Lagos to Benin. They are well structured. The transportation cost from Lagos To Benin ranges from 20,000 to 45,000.
2. Charter a car: You can decide to charter a vehicle from Lagos to Benin. The cost ranges from between 70,000 to 150,000 per day. This depends on your location, the type of vehicle etc.
3. Drive all the way: You may decide to drive all the way. Ensure you have the necessary documents like international drivers license and permit.
4. Use public transportation system: this is one of the cheapest form of transportation. You can decide to take public transportation to Badagry, From Badagry to Seme , from Seme border to Cotonou etc.
Cost for Crossing Seme Border
To be sincere I do not know why they do this, but you will be made to pay before your passport is stamped. You pay about 1,000 for already passport passport and between 3,000 to 7,000 for virgin passports. Note: You wont get a receipt for these payment, this means it is definitely not going into the Govt pocket.
Tips when visiting Benin
1. Understand the exchange rate
2. Change Naira to cefa at the border
3. Get a translator app
4. Get a Benin SIM card at the border
5. Get a universal adapter
6. Learn basic vocabulary
Cost of Hotels in Benin
Getting a hotel in Benin is somehow not easy. There are very few hotels in Benin compared to Nigeria. An average 10,000 hotel in Nigeria will be going for between 20,000 to 30,000 in Benin. Hotels are generally expensive - Good hotels starts from between 10,000 to 75,000
Accommodation Options in Benin
1. Hotels
2. Air BnB
3. Short lets
4. Resorts
5. Rent a house (if you plan to stay more than a month.)
Things to Do in Benin
There are so many things to do at Benin Republic
1. Enjoy the diverse street foods
2. Visit the python temple
3. Visit the Benin slave route
4. Visit the Casa Del Papa Resort
5. Visit the National Park
6. Visit Genvie
7. Attend the Benin Republic cultural festival
8. Visit the beach
9. Do a city Tour
10. Visit the historical buildings in Benin
PHOTOS BENIN
Source: Travelwaka
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