Benin and Togo Voodoo Discovery

Arrive in Lome, the lively capital of Togo. For those arriving on time our tour leader plans to meet you in the hotel reception at 6pm for the welcome meeting and for those that wish, there is the chance to go out for dinner.

There are no other activities planned today, so you are free to arrive in Lome at any time. If you would like to receive a airport transfer today, you'll need to arrive into Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport (LFW), which is about 15 minutes' drive from the airport. Should you miss the welcome meeting, your Leader will inform you of any essential information as soon as you catch up.

If you have free time on arrival then you may choose to walk through the bustling streets, relax or visit the Museum of the Arts 'Palais de Lome'. Dating back over 100 years, the building has been used as the French governors residence, the seat of Togolese presidency and also the residence of the Prime Minister before being abandoned. The 11 hectare park surrounding the palace is now home to a number of gardens and sculptures. We would suggest speaking to the hotel reception if you would like to visit so that they can assist with arranging a taxi.

After breakfast and our welcome meeting, we will kick off our West African adventure with a guided tour of the capital city of Togo. Once an important landmark within West Africa's notorious slave trade, Togo was colonised in the 15th century and this can still be seen today in the faded European architecture and tree-lined boulevards. We'll visit the colourful market and Togo's famed fetish market where locals and voodoo priests alike can source anything from good luck charms to animal skulls to aid their pursuit of bringing themselves good fortune and health. The market can be extremely busy, on most departures we visit on a Sunday so its a little quieter. Time permitting we will also make a stop at one of Lome's craft markets and its imposing gothic cathedral building.

Bidding the capital farewell, we will drive north to Kpalime, Togo's fourth largest city which is surrounded by tropical forest. This area is Togo's biggest producer of artisanal items including pottery, weaved items and wood sculpture, and we'll visit the Centre of Artisans to see their work (if the day is running late we can visit the Centre of Artisans the following day).

Tonight we stay in a simple guesthouse thirty minutes from Kpalime. The guesthouse has en-suite bathrooms (cold water only) and fans but no air conditioning. It has a terrace with great views over the forest. Our friendly hosts generally offer a choice of two options for dinner, the food is locally sourced its often possible to drop into the kitchen to see what is being prepared. Drift off to sleep with the sounds of the forest around you.

Set off after breakfast for a guided hike through the countryside. Following well-marked tracks we will hike for around two hours guided by a butterfly expert. Along the trails we will learn about the important and delicate eco-system in the surrounding adjacent forest, where over 500 species of butterfly can be found. The walk is mainly flat terrain but will be humid and warm, so insect repellent and sun protection is recommended.

This afternoon we drive north to Sokode for approximately five hours. As we travel we get a good insight into the country's culture as we stop to visit local villages, experiencing the smells and sounds of the colourful markets; one such market is found at Atakpame, a cross roads town and our lunch stop. The settlement has a lively market where we can usually stumble on elaborate weaving demonstrations.

In the evening we witness a traditional Fire Dance. Dancing to the hypnotic beat of the drum, the dancers eventually leap into the glowing embers. They then pick up burning coals and pass them over their body and mouth without showing any pain or injury. Whether it is a matter of courage or magic, witnessing these rituals is a real privilege and a truly interesting experience.

Today we travel towards Kara. Along the way we'll stop to meet the Bassar people. The Bassar live in traditional large clay houses with conical roofs and are known for their production of iron. Strict rules have to be followed, only old women should provide the coal needed, which they collect from the mountains surrounding the villages. According to their belief, the iron would only melt under particular circumstances and if a strict code of conduct is observed.

Our tour leader will see if it's possible to meet a traditional Chief who will talk to us about their role in the society and leading their village, it is traditional for the chief to welcome new guest to the village and give a blessing however it should be noted this is not a touristic activity and the chief may not be available on the day of our visit.

We'll arrive in Kara in the early evening. Our hotel is an old government building, we stay in the bungalows in the gardens. The hotel features a swimming pool and has a good restaurant, although there are also several dining options in Kara as well.

This morning we will continue our journey north, entering a more mountainous arid region. Leaving the main road, we enter the land of the proud Tamberma people that live in fortified dwellings. Similar in form to medieval castles, they are one of the most beautiful examples of ancient African architecture, built by hand, layer by layer, by placing round balls of mud and shaping them according to the design and flair of the owner.

The Tamberma people hold strong tradition beliefs, evidenced through the presence of large shrines in phallic form, displayed at the entrance of their homes. Subject to permission, we'll enter their homes to gain an insight into their way of life. Houses are a projection of their anthropology and cosmology beliefs; the first ground, enveloped in darkness, represents the death, it is the place of the ancestors. The second floor, open to the sky, represents life. As well as a home, the house is a place of refuge. All the family, food and animals are kept within in the house for the survival of the family group, in case of attack. For centuries these populations have been seeking refuge in the hard to access Atakora mountain to escape from slave trade.

After a picnic lunch we drive back to Kara, through a mountainous region where the Kabye people reside. The Kabye are excellent blacksmiths who still work with traditional methods that have been lost in the Western world.

This morning will be an early start to be begin our journey into Benin via Ketao. Our destination is the village of Taneka, located in a upland range with the same name. The village is made up of round houses covered with a conical roof protected at the top by a terra cotta pot. The upper part of the village is inhabited by the young, accompanied by fetish priests, who cover themselves with a goat skin and always carry a long pipe. This ethnic group has been living on an archaeological site inhabited since the ninth century. Since then other populations have moved in, the result is a melting-pot of tribes and cultures, where each group has kept its own cults and initiation rites, overlaid by a common religious and political institution.

As we wander around the village we may come across half naked men. The Taneka people believe that in order to "become" a man, it is necessary to combine time, patience and a lot of blood from sacrificed animals. It is a lifetime process, in the sense that life itself becomes a rite of passage. As a consequence, life should not be considered conditioned by a "before" and an "after" but rather as following a continuous path.

Our walk can last between two and three hours, along mainly flat alleys some of which are narrow and have rocky uneven steps. We drive back to Djogou mid afternoon.

Hotel options in northern Benin are very limited. Our simple hotel in Djogou does not offer air conditioning or twin bed rooms, we will therefore offer only a double or single bedded room. If you are a solo traveller booking on a twin share basis (sharing with someone of the same gender) you will be allocated a single room for this night.

Today is a travelling day, with several stops en-route. Departing early, we drive south; with the intention of stopping at a Fulani settlement along the way. The Fulani are mainly shepherds, the men move around with their herds while the women take care of the camp and milk the cows to produce butter to be sold at the local market.

The Fulani are famous for their beauty. „ Fulani„ means „ beauty.„ in the local dialect. Beautiful tattoos on their face send messages to the people who understand the language. Their beauty is proportional to their slowness, they seem to be slower than anybody else and at the same time they cover more ground through their nomadic lifestyle than anybody else. Here is the mystery of a people who learnt how to tame time and space, history and geography.

Just before our arrival in Dassa, we will make a stop at the Dankoli fetish, an important place of Voodoo cult where thousands of little sticks are pushed in the fetish as witnesses of the countless prayers made to the local god to satisfy their everyday needs, a good harvest, a happy wedding, an easy delivery, a success at school. Once their prayers are answered, they come back to sacrifice what they promised to the fetis, this could be a goat, a chicken or a cow, according to the nature of the prayer. Traces of blood, palm alcohol and palm oil on the fetish prove that a lot of pilgrims had their prayers answered.

Please note you may witness the slaughtering of animals as part of your visit to the Dankoli shrines, if you feel uncomfortable about this speak to your tour leader to make alternative arrangements.

We start our day exploring Dassa, which used to be the capital of an ancient kingdom in 1385, by visiting Sacred Hill where funerals for the royal family take place accompanied by Voodoo practices. The town is full of history, our tour leader will share the story of the infamous wooden horse which dates back from the middle ages and is still preserved to this day.

We'll the drive three hours to the town of Abomey, where we'll visit the Royal Palace with our leader to discover the ornate majesty that was once the Dan-Homey dynasty. Now a museum, the Palace walls are still decorated with bas-reliefs representing the symbols of the Dahomey kings and its halls and rooms hold the thrones and altars, statues and arms of a kingdom that lived in a perpetual state of war and built its greatness on the slavery of its neighbours. In the centre of the royal courtyard is the House of Pearls, a temple built by king Glele to honour his father's spirit, the walls made from a mixture of clay and human blood.

This evening we will have a cookery class at the Masse Hotel.

Our hotel for the next two nights does not offer twin bed configuration rooms, we will therefore offer only a double or single bedded room. If you are a solo traveller booking on a twin share basis (sharing with someone of the same gender) you will be allocated a single room.

2024 departures - the Royal Palace is undergoing refurbishment at the time of writing the reopening date has not been set, however there is still plenty to see. Abomey was the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey from the 17th to 19th centuries, well known for its skilled blacksmiths. We will take a tour of the town, seeking permission to visit one of the traditional workshops to learn more about their skills and hear about the history of this once powerful capital. We will still be able to see the Royal Palaces of Abomey from the outside and if some of the artefacts from the museum are on display at another location, we will do our best to try and view them.

This morning we are lucky enough to witness an Egun mask performance in nearby Cove. According to the local tradition, people perform the rituals not only to represent but also to embody the spirits of the ancestors. Dressed in bright, colourful costumes, they emerge from the forest and form a procession through the village streets. We'll have lunch in Cove.

This afternoon we also have the opportunity to visit a Gelede mask ceremony back in Abomey. A cult to the great divinity Oudua, the earth mother, Gelede is a cult, a secret society and a type of mask all at the same time. The brightly coloured masks represent the bridge between the society and the ordinary villagers and are comprised of a head with large eyes and sensual lips over which are an animated collection of characters and objects that tell stories, to the accompaniment of a choir and an excited audience.

This is a really special day as we encounter contrasting ceremonies, both very different and yet equally memorable, please note that the exact timings of the day may be amended and some flexibility is required, we may see the second mask ceremony on the morning of day ten.

Our departure time will depend on mask ceremony the day before. We spend this morning travelling by bus and boat to Ganvie, the largest stilt village in Africa. Settled by the Tofinou people, fleeing the slave traders of the 16th century, the village today is an atmospheric setting of thatched huts, balanced on stilts of teak, where daily life is still very much conducted on the waters of the lake.

Fishing is still the principal activity for the inhabitants and every day the men go about their business, whilst women deliver their goods to the floating market and children go to school and play from the backs of open pirogues. But even amidst this tranquil aquatic idyll voodoo plays its part; after a relaxing afternoon we'll meet a local Bokono oracle, a village soothsayer, this evening. We'll learn how these traditional people are guided through life by the drums and dancing of voodoos haunting rhythm.

Tonight, we stay in a very basic stilt house which we get to by sailing across the lake. It's the most basic accommodation of the trip, with no air conditioning and only limited running water; the experience provides a great insight into how the community of Ganvie live their daily lives.

We'll depart Ganvie after breakfast, and travel by boat and bus on to the town of Ouidah, considered to be the spiritual home of voodoo. Once an infamous part of the old slave route, Ouidah was the site of one of the largest trading posts, supplying slaves to Europe and its outlying colonies. The echoes and ghosts of those infamous days still reverberate today, in its Afro-Portuguese architecture.

We aim to spend some of our time here visiting the museum at the Old Portuguese Fort and taking a walk along the slave route to the beach, where the unfortunate victims were loaded aboard the slave ships. We will also visit the remarkable Python Temple, where Ouidah's ancient snake cult is still very much in evidence. Snakes are still an important feature of many voodoo rituals, believed to be able to imbue vitality and protection. Later we head east for two more hours towards the Gulf of Benin where we'll stay in Grand Popo.

Discover the Mono river estuary in a small motorboat, passing tiny villages where the old way of extracting salt is still practiced. Our journey leads us along the river to where it meets the ocean, we cross the lagoon through forests of mangroves.

Later we head to a small village where we will see our last mask ceremony, the Zangbeto. The masks for this ceremony are full body, straw decorations and the wearers of these masks keep their identity hidden as part of a secret society of traditional Voodoo guardians.

Lunch will be in Grand Popo, the rest of the day is free. There is plenty to do in Grand Popo, there is an expansive which stretches all the way to the border with Togo, it is possible to hire a local guide to walk along the beach dotted with traditional vishing villages. Along the main coastal road there are a number of local bars and studio's, it is possible to take part in a dancing or drumming lesson should you wish.

Later this morning we'll cross the border back into Togo, where we'll continue for a short while before stopping in the town of Aneho, a region with many lakes and villages with shrines and fetishes, and there may be an opportunity to watch a Voodoo ceremony. During such a ritual we will see traditional dancers falling into a deep trance at the hypnotic rhythm of drums. After the ceremony we meet a traditional healer who treat the patients with voodoo rites and herbs. Later this afternoon we continue to the capital, Lome where we spend our last night.

The trip ends after breakfast at our hotel in Lome.

There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Lome at any time. If your flight is departing early in the morning, breakfast will be served very early. If your flight is departing later in the day, luggage storage facilities are available at our hotel. There may be the option to pay for a day room at €30, which is subject to availability at the hotel.

If you would like to receive an airport transfer today, you need to depart from Lome Tokoim International Airport (LFW), which is about 15 minutes' drive from the airport.