So there aren't exactly a lot of travel guide books out there on Benin. One, in fact, and it's written by some journalist-surfer dude and published by some obscure British book company. I bought it.
Upon my initial perusing, the book pretty much read like any other travel guide I've picked up. And then I happened upon page 74, wherein resides a section entitled "Africa is Hell."
I'm not sure if surfer dude gets his comdedic kicks from couching such a disclaimer in the middle of guide book (which the average reader would have probably already purchased at this point), or if this fine piece of paternalistic prose really does reflect some Brit's convictions about an entire continent. Brilliant. Either way, I'll probably leave the official Guide Book to Hades at home and look into what Lonely Planet has to say about West Africa.