Benin and Togo Voodoo Discovery

Day 1  Lome, Togo        
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. 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 governor’s 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.  

Day 2  Lome to Kpalime
After breakfast and our welcome meeting, will kick off your 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. 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. Time permitting you will also make a stop at one of Lome's craft markets and its imposing gothic cathedral building. Bidding the capital farewell, journey 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 you'll visit the Centre of Artisans to see their work. Tonight you’ll stay in a simple guesthouse thirty minutes from Kpalime. Drift off to sleep with the sounds of the forest around you.

Day 3  Kpalime to Sokode  
Set off after breakfast for a guided hike through the countryside. Following well-marked tracks, 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, drive north to Sokode for approximately five hours and get a good insight into the country's culture as you travel. 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 you may stumble on elaborate weaving demonstrations. In the evening 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.

Day 4  Sokode to Kara
Today travel towards Kara with stops along the way to meet the Bassar people. The Bassar live in traditional large clay houses with conical roofs and produce iron following an old traditional procedure. 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 also see if it's possible to meet a traditional Chief who will talk to you 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. Arrive in Kara in the early evening.  

Day 5  Kara to Djougou, Benin  
This morning will be an early start to be begin our journey into Benin. The first part of our drive is 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. After visiting the communities here, reach the Atakora Mountains, a chain of mountains that starts in south east Ghana and cuts through Togo and Benin and have offered a refuge for the Tamberma people for generations. Join the track through this region, offering opportunities for us to see the fortified dwellings of the Tamberma; their clay castles are revered throughout Africa. With phallic shaped fetishes adorning the entrance to their houses and surrounding wall representing the spirits of their ancestors, these isolated homesteads could feasibly hold out in a siege situation and offer a great base from which to protect themselves against enemies. Stop somewhere close to the border for a lunch break before crossing into Benin around Ketao in the early afternoon. Continuing to Djougou you’ll drive North to Natitingou, from there enter the Somba land, heading to Boukoumbe. The road condition varies, this is one of the most remote parts of the trip. We plan to stop at a Somba village and viewpoints to catch a great photo over the Benin landscape. Our accommodation for the next two nights is basic, reflecting the remote environment we are visiting.  

Day 6  Djougou  
An early start this morning, ahead of a day walking in this remarkable region, discovering some of the villages in the Atakora Mountains. You’ll be walking for around two hours over undulating hills along visible trails with stops along the route. Later there’ll be the chance to meet the Somba people (this word means nude in the traditional language) whose traditions have not yet been changed by outsiders, due to their geographic isolation. Similar to the Tamberma architecture, the Somba architecture is characterised by dwellings that resemble a three storey castle. These beautiful fortifications are separated from the others depending on the ownership of fertile land. Returning to our guesthouse to escape the heat of the day, there is the option to head out again in the afternoon for further walks accompanied by a fetish priest. Walking shoes and walking poles are recommended for today. The terrain can be rocky in places with some ascents and descents. With warm temperatures sun protection and insect repellent are essential. This evening there is the opportunity to take part in an impromptu cooking experience, joining the kitchen in preparing tonight's dinner, all sourced from local produce.

Day 7  Djougou to Natitingou  
Have a more relaxing morning today, setting off on the one hour drive to Natitingou. Arriving in time for lunch, your leader will give you some information about the town before a free afternoon. There will be time to discover the town or relax by the pool in the hotel. The town hosts a market and an interesting museum about the people living in the Atakora Mountains. The museum is located in a French colonial house built in 1915. In comparison to the previous two nights our hotel this evening is more modern, built in the style of the Tamberma people.

Day 8  Natitingou to Dassa  
Today is a travelling day, with several stops en-route. Departing early, drive to the village of Taneka Beri at the base of the Taneka Plateau, where you will start our walk to a fetish shrine. We'll be walking for two to three hours throughout the morning, ascending the plateau along a rocky track to discover the ancient villages of the Yom who reside here. The Yom People live in round huts covered with conical roofs and decorated with terracotta vases. The upper part of each village is inhabited by fetish priests, dressed in a goatskin and their young initiates. In the afternoon drive south for around five hours to Dassa where you'll spend the night.

Day 9  Dassa to Abomey
Start the 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. Drive three hours to the town of Abomey, where you'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.

Day 10  Abomey  
This morning 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. This afternoon you 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 you 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, you may see the second mask ceremony on the morning of day 11.

Day 11  Abomey to Ganvie  
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 you'll meet a local Bokono oracle, a village soothsayer, this evening. Learn how these traditional people are guided through life by the drums and dancing of voodoos haunting rhythm. Tonight’s stay is in a very basic stilt house which, accessible 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.

Day 12  Ganvie to Grand Popo
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. Visit the museum at the Old Portuguese Fort and take a walk along the slave route to the beach, where the unfortunate victims were loaded aboard the slave ships. You 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 you'll stay in Grand Popo


Day 13  Grand Popo to Lome, Togo
We depart after breakfast this morning by bus for a short distance before we swap into boats for a 5 minute journey 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. Later this morning cross the border back into Togo, and continue for a short while before stopping in Aneho, a village of thatched houses with shrines and fetishes, and there may be an opportunity to watch a Voodoo ceremony. During such a ritual you’ll see traditional dancers falling into a deep trance at the hypnotic rhythm of drums. After the ceremony, meet a traditional healer who treat the patients with voodoo rites and herbs. Later this afternoon, continue 90 minutes towards Lome where there will be time for a last minute trip to the bustling market before your last meal.

Day 14  Lome
Your trip ends after breakfast at your hotel in Lome. There are no activities planned today, so you are free to depart from Lome at any time.