Before we Socks left Casa del Papa Plage near Ouidah, Benin, we happened upon some pygmy goats, who were poking around the  beach,

…and a pirogue perched on the sand, waiting for its people.

Unusual occurrences are the norm (is that a contradiction?) in West Africa.

Finally, we made it to the Fort St. Bautista, a Portuguese fort that served as a slave-trading post in centuries past.

From within the fort’s walls, we could see the town covered in the red dust that is ubiquitous in West Africa.

We viewed the antiquities that were scattered about the courtyard. Look at us on Stacy Lyn’s feet – we match the dirt! Très cool!

And then we posed on the stairway of the governor’s mansion, right between two pots of Purple Hearts, one of Stacy Lyn’s favorite flowers because they remind her of New Orleans.

From there we toured the Cathedral of Ouidah, where the parishoners attend Mass on Sunday mornings, all decked out in their matching family finery…

…and many of whom attend the animist Python Temple across the street on Sunday evenings, we’re guessing to cover their bases. We’re just a pair of Socks, so ours is not to reason why.

Later the blackness that is an African night descended upon us, and another day was done.