Ganvié

The smell was less than flattering as we descended the van and found ourselves on the "dock" area facing Ganvié. I attempted to be lenient with my evaluation of the place as it was after all a lakeside market, specializing in smelly, if tasty, creepy crawlers. Also, it was nice to again smell fresh water and fish in the air. My leniency began to dissipate, however, as the locals began to pester us for "cadeaus". "S'il vous plait, monsieur. Donne-moi de l'argent." It was somewhat amusing to brush these folks off by asking for my "cadeau" first but after the hundredth request my response had turned to English so as to allow me to better express my annoyance, to the utter incomprehension of the beggers.
It isn't fair to portray Ganvié as a collection of people just asking for money. After all, it isn't there fault that white people line up to be boated through their city to a few souvenir shops and then leave. I would probably be annoyed by this common intrusion as well. And many people were quite open in their contempt for our presence, by twisting their faces up when they saw us or by hiding their faces, thereby making it impossible for the savy photographer to document their life. I found myself more admiring these people than the children openly asking me for pens or candy or money or whatever I would throw at them. Don't worry, I didn't give in, no "cadeaus" were given on my part, except my presence in this water town.
To be fair, Ganvié was a very beautiful community. The lake made me think of Michigan and my erstwhile watering holes and that reminiscence was well worth the trip. While it is a longstretch to compare the village to Venice (for one there are no pigeons or opera houses) the simple beauty in how people live was quite humbling. There is just something about being apart of a tourist racket that leaves an acrid taste in my mouth, especially one so far removed, seemingly, from the people it profits off of.
It is my hope that Ganvié (I'm not one hundred percent sure on the spelling) will find a better way to cooperate with the tourist industry, one that is conducive to encouraging dialogue between people rather that operating like a zoo. If not, then it might be better if the rest of the world left Ganvié alone.