BENIN

In the art world, Benin might be best known for the striking bronze sculptures produced there during the heyday of the Dahomey empire (in power during the 17th-19th centuries). But elsewhere, it's best known for its other major historical exports:
slaves and voodoo. Benin was once the heart of the slave trade in West Africa, and it was also the birthplace of the animistic religion that was shipped abroad along with its enslaved practitioners.
These days, there's little left of the great Dahomey empire, of which Benin was the center. The royal palace in Abomey, although interesting to visit, is only a remnant of what was once the grandest structure in all of West Africa. But the practice of vodu, as it's known in Benin, is as strong as ever. And these days, it's one of the country's top cultural attractions. You can visit a museum to learn about vodu's past -- or visit a market and buy a fetish from a current practitioner.

Benin has other attractions as well that can work a spell on visitors: the fishing villages on stilts along Lake Nokoue, the beaches of Grand Popo and the fine restaurants in Cotonou.