International Voodoo Festival 2010

After a breakfast of stew sandwiches (very spicy and oily, but they are fantastic with fresh bread), we wandered around the town looking for signs of the extravaganza we'd been promised. But there seemed to be nothing going on anywhere in Ouidah. Moto drivers kept asking us if we wanted to go to the beach, and we eventually headed there. It was the place to be. Hundreds of cars, minibuses and motos crammed the Slave Route to almost walking pace and we walked the last little bit. The beach had been transformed from the dead place we'd seen only 24 hours before, to a vibrant festival with dancers an musicians. Huge marquees boxed in an area the size of a football pitch just behind the Door of No Return, and there were as many tourists with cameras as there were locals in tribal dress! Again, this made us think about the authenticity of the event. Maybe it had been years before, but money does strange things to people, and the amount of cameras, and therefore camera fees, must have been running into thousands!

The international festival was set up years ago by the president when he was 'saved' from death by a Voodoo priestess. events take place all over the country, but the main festival kicks off on the beach in Ouidah, so we were in the perfect place! We watched all sorts of things during the day, but the main ones were involving a group of people wearing only shorts. Their numbers grew as more people became 'possessed' and rolled around on the sand after drinking some unspecified liquid. After being sat on by their friends, the person in question took off their tops (yes, even the women) and smeared bright yellow paint over their head and chest.

Then they began doing some crazy African dancing to a fast-beating drum, kicking up sand and running around like madmen! Then came the weird stuff - cactus's tied to their backs, beating their bodies with said cacti, drinking the paint and spitting it over each other, rolling around in the sand, smashing glass bottles over their heads and cutting their arms with sacrificial knives (the latter two drew a lot of blood).

Other events included some member of the voodoo royalty blessing the sea, meaning hundreds of people then blessed themselves with the water, lots of crazy dancing from different tribes, from different countries (including Kez joining in again - she loves the African dance moves!), and finally a goat sacrifice! I was lost after going to watch some people light branches on fire and hit themselves with them, and luckily stumbled upon a small group of people preparing the goat. I was just in time as a massive congregation turned up, including some dignitaries from the area, followed by TV cameras and people holding umbrellas for them!

In the front row I had a great view of the Voodoo King blessing the knife and goat, before feeding it some concoction (also blessed!). then as the goat stretched its neck to reach the leaves, a man grabbed it's head and the knife was sawn (not cut) through the poor thing's neck. I'd never seen anything like that at all beforehand, and it was pretty amazing to witness. The blood poured out as the goat struggled and was left to drip over a metal figurine and into a bowl. Someone also collected some in a glass bottle. Some internal piece of the goat (possibly an organ) was then diced up into very small pieces and washed around with the still-twitching goat's blood. Pieces were then dished out to people in the crowd, turning it into a scrum!

It was a pretty amazing thing to see, but as I've mentioned before I am not sure about the authenticity of the event. TV cameras were present to capture some government ministers, or local dignitaries, giving speeches and there were army guards complete with machine guns to make sure that the event didn't get out of control... The amount of tourists also put me off. It was about 1:1 tourists to locals.

That evening back in the town we went for dinner at a place on a sandy side street. The choice wasn't great, but we all went for the standard pintade (guinea fowl) and rice. However, the rice was running low and we had to go for a few bowls of pate as well. This isn't pate like Brussels, this is similar to fufu or kenkey - fermented maize in quite solid, gooey lumps. It tastes like it looks: grey. There is no flavour at all, but its okay for sustenance, with pintade or chilli paste. Another food I am glad to have tried but won't miss!

After a few beers at a bar, with the loudest sound system in the world, and all the locals having a blast after a hedonistic day of smashing bottles over their heads, we grabbed some more stew sandwiches and oranges (cheap as you like and so tasty) before packing for our final days of the trip in Cotonou. Sad times - an epic trip coming to a close.