Series 5 : EP4 : Stilts, Slavery, Sorrow. Abomey,Adingnigon and Ouidah

It's the 16th of September, 2025 today and we are still in Bohicon / Abomey. The rain has blown over and it looks like the stilt dancing that was scheduled for yesterday will be on this morning. That's going to give us a tight schedule for the day as we have another dance event about 100km away in the afternoon.

A note about stilt dancing. It seems it originated in Brazil and was back imported into Benin, I think in the late 19th or early 20th century. I wasn't able to find much on the internet about stilt dancing in Benin. Edmond, our guide, gave us an explanantion but I was busy with the camera and don't remember a lot of it. Maybe I should have recorded what he said....

Then a short trip to a nearby village, Adingnigon, to have a look at their Voodoo Temple and the Chameleon Temple which is a multi denominational space. The Voodoo only temple is called the Lion Temple and we are permitted to have a look at the outside but not the inside. That's for congregation members only. The Chameleon temple though is open too us but we have to take off our shoes. It hosts Voodoo, Muslim and Christian services. The caretaker shows us around and explains the the buildings and functions to us. The Chameleon Temple has a bit of an unfinished look to it becuase it's a work in progress. It's funded by the local community and when they raise some money they get more done to it. I think at one time the outside was painted but the tropical climate is really hard on paint. The Lion Temple though looks to get very regular maintenance.

Anyways, we then travelled down to the coast to Ouidah which is about an hour away. I find myself trying to get some pictures of the few but not rare electric motorcycles around. Light motorcycles are a backbone of personal transport in a lot of Africa and in areas that have better electric infrastructure these electric motorcycles look to be becoming popular.

After lunch at yet another nice restaurant we head off for a not so happy part of the day, a presentation on the slave trade on the Slave Coast, now Benin. This was followed by a visit to the Door of No Return, a memorial to the vast number of African people who were shipped out as slaves, mostly to the Americas, never to return to Africa. Personally I found all this a bit difficult. It's hard enough to concieve that people who considered themselves 'civilised' could happily trade people like livestock just to make a dollar, but when to come to one of the major centres and hear about it from the people whose ancestors it happened to and in some cases participated in it, it becomes more difficult.

Given that I don't wan't to take a lot of people's time with a long video I split this day into two videos. After the Door of No Return we drop in on some traditional salt making and then head a short distance to a Mask Dance in one of the coastal villages. That was fun! Then off to our overnight accommodation right on the beach. A very nice thank you resort surrounded by palm trees and with it's own beach life guard should you want a swim during the day. I didn't, but I did opt for a Gin and Tonic.

I hope you enjoy this video. PLease give it a like if you think it's earned it.

#Travel #Africa #Benin #Stiltdancing #Voodoo