West Africa Cruise: Togo (11.30.24)

Togo was a new country for me, my 118th!  It was also a very exotic place.  On November 30, 2024, we visited the tribal king who presided over 500,000 Togo residents.  We also met a voodoo priest and voodoo priestesses, visited a voodoo shrine, and watched voodoo dances.  The voodoo religion migrated, with slaves, to Brazil and the Caribbean, and even to New Orleans.

The tribal king held an audience for four busloads of Oceania tourists.  Togo now has a parliamentary national government, but the president consults with tribal leaders about important matters.  We learned, during our visits to West Africa, that West Africans, whether living in rural villages or big cities, identify with their tribes and the tribes' leaders.  

This scepter was given by Queen Victoria to the king to commemorate the end of slavery.

We visited a home and temple for voodoo priests and priestesses.  The priestesses arrived, dressed in white.

The voodoo priest joined the line of priestesses.

During the day we witnessed several "welcome" ceremonies, which involved adding liquids to a gourd bowl and then pouring them out on the ground.

At the voodoo temple, we visited a shrine encasing an idol worshipped by the people.

The voodoo dance performance involved watching whirling grass "creatures." Later in the dance, strange idols were retrieved from underneath the "creatures."  The idols went back underneath, and then the grass "creatures" were overturned, to reveal that nothing was there!

A friendly woman in orange beckoned members of the audience to dance with her.  She was rewarded with tips tucked into her ample bosom!

I wondered which of these ladies was my age.

As usual, a visit to a fishing village was included in our tour.  I have now seen lots of African fishing villages, but I love them all, for their picturesque boats, landscapes, and people.

A beautiful woman presided over the smoking of the fish.

And, of course, I can never resist the African children.