Benin Part 2: Voodoo Festival

We made our 16 hour trek down to Lome where we were forced to rely on the advice of motorcycle taxis to find out hotel. They agreed on a price and we went. The ride was long and took as far from the centre of town. As it turned out they had some agreement with another hotel to bring them customers and brought us there instead of the hotel where we had reservations. It got ugly.

Once we calmed down, rested and woke up we made our way to Ouida where the festival was to be held. We stopped for food and our worn out 50 piece was refuse for the second time by a street food vendor (something that doesn't happen in Burkina). As we ate a zombie came by. Not the American horror movie variety, but the returned from the dead spirit with colorful cloths and horns type. He had an entourage who requested money. We gave them the 50 piece and even the zombie refused it.

The ride out to the beach was beautiful. The whole place was covered in palm trees and out hotel was built on the white sand. We had an olympic sized pool and there was the monument "The Door of No Return" on the beach withing sight of the hotel. The monument was beautiful and moving. It has depictions of slaves from behind chained and forced onto a boat. When you cross the door and look up you can see the pain and horror in their faces as they are forced to leave their home.

We later learned that many captives would eat dirt to kill themselves. I had heard of people jumping ship, but not the dirt eating. The museum had artifacts like chains examples of voodoo implements. There were also a lot of maps and sketches of historical events. At the gift shop I bought a guide to Gris-gris, which are essentially spells or talismans.

The festival itself wasn't as awesome as I had thought it would be, but it was still cool. I guess I wanted to see more vodu practices. I suppose I should have known that such a public event wouldn't be sharing intimate religious beliefs. There was dancing, the undead (which were masked and covered in long sticks or grass) and there was bamboo dancing where people did acrobats at the top of a timber bamboo trunk. Much of the ceremony consisted of speeches by various people, the king of vodu, a pop musician and an American representative of the African diaspora. The general message was to hold on to traditional identities and beliefs.

Outside of the festival people sold many different artisinal items. A lot of it I have seen before. Some of the items is saw that I haven't seen in Burkina were brightly colored masks, vodu idols, gay sex statues (I know, odd) and lots of phalluses carved out of wood.

After the festival we relaxed on the beach and swam. I am glad we went. I think that it is really important to recognize traditional beliefs and how they influence our lives today even an ocean away from their source. African diasporic cultures in the Americas are heavily influenced by West Africa. It is astounding to see the abundant influences on their home turf.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Airtel Burkina Faso.