Lomé, Togo

April 4, 2008

Lomé is a city where traditional and modern life overlaps. Of the last few cities that we have built we have seen almost no...if any! high-rise buildings. Lomé is different in that regard...we saw several including a so-called “five-star” hotel that soared to some 20something floors.

Like the rest of the cities of western Africa, there is trash and debris everywhere while thousands and thousands of people stroll the streets with their small vending carts, tables, and “head-shops”...women carrying all manner of things for sell on their heads.

We visited the National Museum which is in dire need of some help from larger museums on how to display their meager collection. At the inevitable Independence Square we were concerned that there seems to be a total lack on interest in maintaining the gardens that surround this most important monument. I guess what money is available must go to areas other than landscape.

We paid the mandatory visit to the local arts and crafts market, which was much less colorful than other such stops in other cities.

There is no question that the most impressive and memorable visit was to the fetish market and later to an actual voodoo ceremony. At the market all manner of goods associated with the voodoo cult could be bought for a modest price. There were heads, and skins, and fetish dolls and tails of nameless animals made into “swats”. You name it, it was here. I hate to think of the endangered species that were represented in this unusual collection. Our guide explained that this market was the “drug store” of the local community....apparently the public (70% of whom are voodoo worshipers!!!) comes here to purchase all the various things needed to create the potions and cures that the voodoo priests prescribe.

Following the market I visited the Village of Sanguera and a voodoo ceremony. As the brochure said, “this tour was not for the faint of heart”! Going to this small village, some 45 minutes away from Lomé, gave us a chance to grasp the many and varied purposes and rituals of voodoo – an ancient blend of witch craft, folklore and religion that can be puzzling to those who don’t practice it, and sometimes even to those who do! We saw up close and personal manifestations of voodoo deities, ritual dances, offerings, and even the gods in action as participants were whipped into a trance.

The head priest greeted us with a blessing and pouring of some spirit on the ground as drums and chants pierced the air behind him. Soon we were in the midst of any number of dancing, whirling, spinning, falling, fainting “worshippers”....many of whom had to be carried off to recover. The extreme heat combined with the rhythm of the drums plus the effect of some snuff-like substance that I saw an occasional participants ingest all contributed to the frenzy. It was mesmerizing. They buried a chicken alive and after about thirty minutes dug the poor creature up to run free again....a sign, to the priest....that the “magic” of the voodoo was working. They cooked some concoction on an open fire that when done was 10 times the size of the original materials...another sign.

We were warned to “check our inhibitions at the door and bring our spirit of adventure “ for a very real and very raw experience.” It was that...an hour that I will never forget.

Most memorable were the children of the village. They were everywhere...all ages....tons of them. I was especially impressed with the hairstyles....clumps of hair tied with colored ribbons all over their heads...so cute! They all loved for us to photograph them and then show them the images in our digital cameras....what a special day!

Now we have several days at sea to recover from the last three days in these exotic ports. We are on our way to Namibia....I can’t wait! Stay tuned!