A Few Slow Days on Lac Ahémé

After weeks of feeling unwell over the holidays, I wanted to find my bearing somewhere slow, easy, and beautiful. Lac Ahémé in Benin, some 60km from the boisterous city of Cotonou, was just that. I spent a few days at Bel Ami sur Pilotis, a lakeside lodge in the tiny village of Tokpa Dôme, where the days felt long in the best way.

Mornings started with fresh baguettes and coffee, beer, feet dangling over the water and Australian Open. Afternoons were for hammocks, good books, and watching Ami—the lodge’s friendly dog—nap in the shade. Fishermen drifted by in wooden pirogues, their nets slicing through the stillness. Evenings? Local Beninoise food, more cold beer, Sodabi, and the kind of sunset that reminds you to slow down.

No rush, no checklist—just the lake, the breeze, and the beauty of being still.