Djougou, Benin stopover - December 2016

Baobab Express: "Move and win together - it's good."

As mentioned in our post on northern Benin (as with most west African countries, the share of Muslims in the population rises as you head north towards the Sahel), some Beninois were unimpressed by the relative religiosity of the residents of Djougou.

Former cinema, Djougou.

Our driver and front-seat passengers (a total of four people up front if you count the toddler, but nobody does when considering occupancy) remarked that the people of Djougou were too strict - they looked askance at drinking alcohol or incorporating traditional practices into Islam. To be fair, our taxi's occupants also criticized exclusive fidelity to Christianity too. There was indeed a marked difference between Djougou and other parts of Benin both to the north and south. More women wore hijabs and in some cases also covered their faces and feet and even hands, and buvettes (bars) were harder to find.

"The drum of modern times in the Donga."

In addition to what our fellow travelers had to say, Djougou is also known for a vibrant handicraft trade. We inquired about jewelry and ended up walking a winding route to the blacksmiths' section of town, where Blair picked up a couple of large bracelets made from camions casses - broken trucks.

On the way to the metalworkers' district.

Next we went to Espace Tissage, where apprentices learn to weave fabric out of cotton. The pieces are up to 16 meters long; the cotton slowly makes its way across the floor to the loom. Apprentices (all of whom were female the day we went) work at the center three days a week, and are at home the other days. Our taxi driver, Manaf, noted that many of the apprentices are from outlying areas where they may have limited opportunities (and would likely be working a lot around the household when at home).

Considering the relative conservatism and roaming many dusty roads to visit blacksmiths and weavers, Djougou definitely seemed more like The Gambia than anywhere else we've visited in central Africa.

Cheese in stew with igname pilee at right. The cheese was so delicious.
Below: cheese for sale.

Manaf's car died a couple of kms from our hotel. While I shopped for flip flops and we prepared to walk the final stretch a relief car arrived. It was a sea green Peugeot 505 station wagon, of the kind that have delivered francophone west African passengers to their destinations for decades. This may have been among the first post-independence transports - the gentleman who brought it said it was fifty years old, and the interior looked original (and about that age). Said Peugeot holds nine passengers in Benin (it was built for six), but Manaf and the procurer were shocked when I told them that in Guinea they squeeze in a 10th (not to mention the roof occupants - scroll to Part IV).

"Who am I?" Transport

A statue of Ahossou Soha, the first king of Savalou,
greeted us as we passed through the town.

Natitingou, Atakora Region, Benin

[Also from our December 2016 visit to Benin.]

Riding the bus north we saw lots of cotton coming the opposite way.

After a few days in Cotonou and Ouidah, we took a bus to Natitingou, one of northern Benin’s largest towns. A tour of the surrounding area allowed us to see traditional dwellings, and we learned about the blend of Islamic belief and local culture too.

Statue of Mathieu Kerekou, longtime president of Benin, on Natitingou's main street. He was from a nearby town. Nicknamed "the Chameleon" (see below), Kerekou's motto was "The branch will not break in the hands of the chameleon," implying that without his rule Benin would be faced with chaos.

Compared to other countries we have visited, Beninois are quite open about the blending of traditional beliefs with those adopted from Christianity and/or Islam. Their syncretism is very accommodating to a range of practices – well, mostly. Leaving Natitingou for points south, the other occupants in our taxi engaged in a one-sided diatribe against people who believed in strict observance of religious practices. The residents of Djougou came in for particular criticism, as a town where most Muslims followed Islam without incorporating local practices.

Exterior and ground floor of a tata somba (house/compound). Animals are kept inside on the ground floor overnight. Tata sombas are surrounded by talismans and altars to traditional deities.

An example of how Beninois combine religious and cultural practices to their liking was shared by a Peace Corps volunteer we met in Natitingou who was based near Boukoumbe. After observing Ramadan, the residents celebrated Eid al Fitr with an all-day binge on tchoukoutou (millet beer).

View of granary on the upper floor of the compound.

Our walking tour in the around Boukoumbe and Koussoukoingou allowed us to see tata sombas, traditional fortified housing of the area. The compounds were constructed with living quarters and grain storage on the higher floor, while the ground floor was reserved for livestock and cooking. Pulling ladders up helped keep the homestead secure. There were also holes in the compound head’s room to observe what’s happening outside (arrows could also be shot out of the holes).

Second floor (first European) of a tata somba: granary (left) with ladder, bedroom (right).

The second tata somba we visited was Tata Osiri (our guide Prosper’s ethnic group). There was one level above the ground floor. The roof had four granaries – including one for guests and one for the very old or infirm. The host offered a benediction in Osiri for Blair’s broken arm.

The Nere tree was pointed out to us. The seed pods contain yellow powder used in pate/sauce and drinks. The seeds are pounded to make a type of mustard (that smells bad but tastes good). The seed pod is boiled then used to reinforce the mud of the tata sombas.

Natitingou's main street at dusk.

Hints of “Things Fall Apart”: An interesting note from Prosper (our Nati based guide) and Jean (the local guide) was how the introduction of western education led to a changing of the guard in northern Benin. The French would ask families to send their children to the Roman Catholic boarding schools. Since most people looked askance at the Catholic schools opened in the region, only marginalized residents ended up sending any of their children for schooling. An example Prosper and Jean cited would be the child of a deceased co-wife. The families expected the children to be mistreated and didn’t want to send theirs to the schools. The guides wryly noted that these students ended up becoming the civil servants, ministers and leaders of independent Benin. They said, The orphans became Big Men; now there is nothing for orphans.

Huts near Kota Falls. They were used by fighters in the Kaba rebellion against French rule.

Later, Jean and Prosper pointed out that the colonial road had been surrounded by mango trees so that the colonists could find it. It seemed ridiculous but now we have more mangoes. It’s the same as with the schools…

Kota Falls

We also visited Kota Falls, which was also the sight of the Kaba rebellion (named after its leader) against the French from 1915-1917. The area had remnants of huts where the fighters hid. We closed out our stay in Natitingou with some tchoukoutou at a “cabaret” (millet beer bar) next to the Natitingou Regional Museum.

Natitingou Regional Museum and the "cabaret" around the back with calabashes and holders for millet beer.

Ouidah - December 2016

[Belatedly chronicling our visit to Benin...]

Created by the French during the war against the Dahomey (then-rulers of most of Benin), this cemetery was originally for Catholic converts who would no longer bury their dead in their homes/compounds. Soldiers from France and other parts of French West Africa were also buried here.

It had been 17 years since I last visited Benin, with some friends and fellow Vandals from the University of Ghana on a 5 day trip that also took in Togo. In 1999 we visited Lome, Cotonou, Ganvie (a touristy outing to the “Venice Africaine,” given that housing was built on the lagoon), and Ouidah. We were quite impressed with Ouidah and the Porte de Non Retour (Door of No Return), although on account of our short stay we rode zemidjans down rather than walking the Route des Esclaves (Slave Route).

Place Chacha, where slave auctions took place.

Ouidah is a couple of hours west of Cotonou, and was a major slave trading post for centuries. Portuguese slavers traded with the Dahomey kingdom in the interior. We reread “The Viceroy of Ouidah” by Bruce Chatwin which, while rather florid in its prose and fixated on its Brazilian protagonist's fate and suffering, it did describe in detail the extent to which slavery and slave raiding destroyed lives and the political fabric of the region. It's a dramatization of the life of Francisco Felix de Souza (known locally as Chacha), who was installed by the king of the Dahomey in 1818 to manage the slave trade in Ouidah.

The Tree of Forgetting: prisoners were walked around the tree (men nine times, women seven) with the goal that they would forget their past, their origins and their cultural identity in order to become people without the will to rebel. The slaves were also branded here.

The Tree of Forgetting was replaced by a statue of the goddess Mami Wata, who is known in various forms throughout western and central Africa.

Wall of Lamentations commemorating the many people who died while waiting for days or weeks in the Zomai (meaning "where the light does not go") Hut/Cabin before slaving ships arrived.

 After checking into our hotel, we decided to walk around Ouidah and visit Fortaleza São João Batista (the center of the slave trade in this area). After a delicious wakye breakfast, we bumped into Juste, a tour guide who expressed an interest in taking us along the walk of no return. We agreed to meet him the next day.

The governor/viceroy's residence at Fortaleza São João Batista, Ouidah. Built by the Portuguese in 1721, it remained under their control until the newly-independent Republic of Dahomey annexed it in 1961. Naturally, the Portuguese tried to burn it down before leaving.

At the fort we were given a perfunctory tour that bypassed an   of photographs by Pierre Verger, who had chronicled cultural practices in Benin and the African diaspora. The images juxtaposed Beninois ceremonies with those carried out in Bahia, Brazil. The similarities were striking, and contemporary practitioners of Afro-Brazilian religious groups called candombles proclaim the connection to their ancestral roots in southern Togo, Benin and Nigeria. We learned more about the Afro-Brasileiros who returned to the Gulf of Benin at the Casa do Brasil and in our subsequent visit to Porto Novo.

The Tree of Return: signifying that slaves' souls would return after their deaths. 

We walked with Juste down to the Porte de Non Retour (“door of no return”), passing numerous interesting trees, a cemetery, and an old train station that linked Ouidah with nearby Togo. Juste has been working as a guide on the route d’esclaves since 2008, keeping fairly busy as he described most seasons aside from September to November as busy.

Salt collection in the mangrove on the Route des Esclaves.

Compared to 1999, the area around the Porte de Non Retour was much more developed, featuring numerous restaurants and vendors. There’s also a new museum – Porte de Retour – aimed at celebrating the accomplishments of people in the diaspora. It wasn’t very well done, though, only featuring some posters, a few artifacts, and books turned to a relevant page that then had pieces of glass placed on top of them.

La Porte de Non Retour.

While in Ouidah, the Vodoun capital of Benin, we made the obligatory visit to the Python Temple (across the street from the cathedral). The snakes were suitably sleepy, and nobody considered the two religious sites (the temple and the church) to be in competition with one another.

We also visited Fondation Zinsou's museum in an Afro-Brazilian villa built in the 1920s. The museum included historical artifacts, artwork and a beautiful cafe. It was a nice complement to Fondation Zinsou's main gallery in Cotonou.

Mami Wata in the Fondation Zinsou's garden, Ouidah.

At Fondation Zinsou, Ouidah. Letter to chief of security of Bukavu? (in the then Belgian Congo): "Sir, I have the honour of sharing with you photos of Bendelu Mukwalu and Sumaili Bulangi, who are monitors [practitioners?] of indigenous magic. You can see their tattoos, found on their chests and near their left hands. Both can be found in prison."

Casa do Brasil - former residence of the Brazilian Governor.

We visited Casa do Brasil / Maison de Bresil and got a tour of a large warehouse featuring artwork depicting elements of vodoun beliefs. As the caretaker helpfully pointed out, “This God stays in the home to protect it from evil. That’s his penis.”