Nov 16 (Sunday) – Lomé, Togo

We took the morning off and stayed on the ship.  The port.

After lunch we boarded the buses for our short shore excursion.  The drive took us through Lomé...

and along the coastline.  Looked like some nice beaches. 

We unloaded and walked over to a compound where we attended a Voodoo ceremony.  Voodoo is a prominent religion here in Togo.

There was an opening absolution that had to occur before we were allowed into the area.  A mixture of cornmeal and water was splashed on the ground.  Then some additional liquids were splashed.  It looked like it was an alcohol of some sort. 

Then three small piles of flammable material were lit, and we were allowed to go in.  They had covered benches set out for us which as helpful for enjoying the long ceremony. 

There was drumming throughout the entire hour plus that we were there. 

There was a large group under the trees that spent the entire time singing and moving, not quite dancing. 

Only a few people got out into the open area to dance.  Several men had on long grass skirts that swirled when they danced.

Several women also danced.  They women danced together and the men together.  

There was only minimal mixing. 

A couple of people fell into trances.  They were always immediately surrounded and confined by others.  Apparently, they can hurt themselves or others while in the trances.

They lit a small fire in the middle of the dance area and sat a kettle on it.  Don't know the significance of this. 

We were offered beverages.  Mary got a World Cola.  Have never seen this brand before. 

Some other photos of the ceremony.  

It was so interesting watching the faces of the celebrants. 

Unfortunately, our tour guides cut short our visit as we had to get back to the ships so we didn’t get to see the ceremony through to the end.

This evening Tara had arranged for another Indian dinner.  We joined her and Clause, Gorden and Sheila from Scotland, John and Leona from Ottawa Canada and Carl and Myra from Georgia.  As usual, the food was good, there was too much of it, and we all had a wonderful visit.