In the mouth of the Monkey River in Benin, where it flows into the rough Atlantic Ocean, stands the skeleton of what once was a charming hotel.

The local people, whose lives are dominated by the Voodoo, believe that the union of the white men with the African people unleashed the wrath of the deities and black magic took over the place. The hotel now lies as an abstract picture of shapes, textures and colors that has converted into a petri dish where millions of microscopic creatures confer a rare beauty to this inert structure.

Conversan los peldaños con el hueco
que deja sin cristal tanta ventana,
sin puerta el vientecillo del placer,
sin baranda la furia del Atlántico.
Tan solo sobrevive la humedad
moteando los muros del silencio
y una magia maldita
en el paso del aire.

Texto de Salvador García Ramírez