More voodoo; on to Ouidah

 Monday, February 24  Ouidah, Benin

 We began the day with a talk on the slave trade which started in the 16^th century.  It lasted 300 years as the slave traders, beginning with the Portuguese but involving the British, the Germans and the French, took advantage of tribal wars, buying the prisoners of war as well as captive women and children from kings and chiefs along the coast to be transported to the New World as slaves.  Colonization reached its peak with the 1884-85 Conference of Berlin, at which Africa was divided up.  There were no Africans at the Conference.

On the road we stopped at a small village named Okola to see the farming and harvest of casava.  The Dahomey scarification is unique:

 

The casava is literally pulled out of the ground and gathered and sold; some is used by the villagers: 

There is corn (maize) in a granary for when there is no casava available:

We went to the Abomey Royal Palace, which is being renovated as a museum to receive treasures which are being returned from museums in Europe.  It was a palace of the kings of Dahomey, a tribe which was prominent in this part of southern Benin and lent its name to the country after independence.  The Dahomey were one of the most important local people involved in the Slave trade, and there were apparently frequent wars with the Yoruba who were mostly in what is now Nigeria.  The name of the country was later changed from Dahomey to Benin.  The palace is a UNESCO World Heritage site; we could only tour the outside which has an impressive carved door showing the abuse of prisoners including this beheading:

In one courtyard we did have access to, there were fetish sticks at the entrance to the palace which are still maintained today.  Their purpose is to guard the spirits of the dead kings which periodically return:

 

There are weavers and a blacksmith there.  How this man is able to work at a fire in the 100 degree heat and 90+ percent humidity is beyond understanding: 

There was shopping, and some purchases were made:

 

We learned more about the Dahomey, including the use of human sacrifice (only women) which was stopped by the Portuguese when they colonized and began slavery.  The sacrifices were primarily of the king’s wives after his death, so that he would be accompanied in the world beyond.  The king had many wives, the number was special, with 41 being the most common.  The women were excluded from the palace during menstruation and needed to be purified with water before returning, with the oldest woman supervising the process.  The temple for the spirit of the king, within the palace, is made of clay and human blood.

 Our next stop was at the Private Palace of the Amazons, in front of which is this spirit of fertility: 

We were entertained by the current Amazon women with about 30 minutes of drumming, song and dance (again in remarkable heat and humidity):

We then drove to the city of Oudah, the spiritual capital of voodoo.  The city was conquered by the Dahomey and became the main slave port on the African coast.  Here, the local king was supported by pythons—the local oracle told the kings that the pythons are ancestors coming to help them defeat their enemies.  

The pythons:

 

And they come out:

Directly across the street is a Catholic church, and supposedly two popes have visited the church and the python house. 

The day ended with checking into our beach hotel and a long dinner.  More tomorrow.