Baskets and tools
Wooden crafts on the pavements.
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Dantokpa Market, or simply Tokpa, is a huge open-air market in Cotonou, described as the largest open-air market in West Africa. It is one of the country's main wholesale and retail trading centres, on the lagoon shore about 12 km in a straight line from the stilt village of Ganvié. Its name in the Fon language means «on the banks of the lagoon of Dan». It was first built in 1963 on 12 hectares and had grown to about 18.7 hectares by 2010. It replaced the old Tokpa market near the Old Bridge. Its main building is about 66 by 44 metres on three levels, designed for some 1,100 rental stalls. The market is divided into specialised zones: food wholesalers alongside sellers of local crafts, textiles and building materials, plus repair workshops and carpenters. Goods arrive by wooden boat across the lagoon, baskets, wooden utensils, spices and kola nuts pile up on the pavements, and from the footbridges the stalls look like a sea of coloured umbrellas. The market is extremely busy, so keep valuables close, ask before photographing traders and bargain politely. Morning, before the heat builds, is best.
Wooden crafts on the pavements.
Arriving across the lagoon.
Seen from the footbridges.
4th arrondissement, Cotonou, Benin
«On the banks of the lagoon of Dan» in Fon.
In the morning before the heat; mind your belongings.
