This fisherman is sailing back to his house on Lake Nokoué in Benin. The whole village is raised on wooden stilts. According to legend the Fon warriors kidnapped people from other tribes in the 18th century to sell them as slaves to the Portuguese. In order to escape, the king of the Tofinu tribe decided to leave the shore of the lake and settle in the middle of it. The Fon people believed there were evil spirits in the water and never came after the tribe again. Since then, the village has thrived and its people are at peace. It has schools, churches and restaurants. Their main income comes from the fish that they sell in the villages on the shore. Solar panels and generators produce electricity, so the village is almost entirely self-sufficient. Nokoué’s water is currently under threat due to the lack of a sewage system and pollution coming from the capital nearby. But forces are coming together to protect its biodiversity. It is not a coincidence that “Ganvié” means “We survived”.