With the Explorer in Africa.

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Outside the memorial are craft stalls as well as selling shells-

But over the road possibly a bit of irony-

Are we now slaves to fashion?
We now returned along the slave route to the town of Ouidah were the slaves were kept prior to be taken to the ship.along the way I noticed this extensive fish trap-

There were little shrines along the way-

And then we came to what we were told was the house that belonged to the major Portugese slave trader where some slaves spent the night before being shipped off-

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We then stopped in the central square of Ouidah-

The square is a memorial to the slaves and a celebration of their descendants.A pretty diverse group had their roots here according to the art work.They included Rosa Parks,Malcolm X and Le Bron James.

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It is also the site of the old Portugese fort.After slavery was banned the French,English and Dutch who had forts here tore them down and left.The Portugese however refused to leave until finally forced to in 1961.Even then the two Portugese citizens living there then did try and burn it down.After the Portugese revolution of 1975 Portugal finally recognised African claims to the fort and provided the money for it's restoration.it is now a museum-

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Outside the museum there are quite a few children all wanting money.Once again some people dont learn.A dollar or two was given out by some but again a much older child came around and"collected"the takings.

Now we had brought a packet of cereal just in case mrsdrron couldn't eat any of the provided lunch.So I walked down a side street.Three young boys were standing there and made the mistake of smiling.I handed the cereal to the oldest who looked quizzically at the packet.I started remembering a little school boy French so told him to eat.He opened the packet and his eyes lit up.I got so many Merci's and merci beaucoup's that I knew I had given it to the right person.He then went into a house and his mother came out and said a few more merci's.I wished I had bought a lot more packets with me-

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There were though things to buy.Sugar cane juice was popular-

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Mrsdrron and I bought hats-

Thank goodness they were for the grandchildren!

 

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Of course when you give something away others dont want to feel left out.I had to explain to this fellow that I really didn't have anything else.

Then it was a short drive to the Sacred Forest of Kpasse.First our guide was talkking to the Forest guide-probably telling him this lot are a bit slow.We then got another passionate speech about the forest and it's importance to the Vodun(voodoo) religion.Ouidah is reputed to be the centre of Vodun.

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The first thing I noticed were lots of large millipedes-

Then there were many large statues-

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There was also the sacred tree-

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Different icons-

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And lots of bats-

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Now it was time to drive back to the ship.The rain had not returned so everyone was out and about-

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Amazing how many and how much can fit in one car-

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And the roadworks had started up again-

 

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It's roadworks Jim,but not as we know it.

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But the load from the overturned truck had been cleared-

We passed the truck just as the crane arrived to right it-

So back to the passing parade-

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But once again the picture I will take away from Africa are the smiling,waving children-

Once again a full day.This time I needed a soak in a warm tub to ease the muscles battered by such a bumpy ride.Enjoyed our dinner as usual and the went straight to sleep.
Tomorrow is Togo and the last full day of our adventure.

 

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We slept soundly.We were awoken by what sounded like a knocking noise.Opened the curtains to see a cultural show with drummers,dancers and stilt walkers.

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Now this was aproblem for me as it was a long day,3 hours in a bus there and 3 hours back so I needed to be at breakfast early.Rojaan though had decided that a massage was more necessary than 6 more hours in a bus.Unfortunately for her this day turned out to be the most memorable for me.Of course I was off the leash and able to do things that otherwise I might not have as you will see in the following posts.

Togo's navy was in-

Then into the busses-the same bus and guide as in Benin.We had our police escort as usual but there were police at every intersection and roundabout letting us have a non stop run through town.

 

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We were soon in the countryside.here the police escort was going ahead and forcing oncoming traffic on to the shoulders so we could continue on at 100km/hour.I am sure a few locals didn't welcome our presence.Sometimes through villages we had to slow giving me an opportunity for a few photos-

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In most shots you may recognise that there is a lot less rubbish than in the other countries we visited.Often in the villages you would see people raking up the litter into piles for removal.Yet this is meant to be one of the poorest of African countries. We passed an educational facility built by China-

Another thing that impressed me was the more organised agriculture.We passed many small teak plantations.Often they would be in front of schools or public buildings-

Our first stop was to a village to visit their school.This was only the second time this village has been visited by a tour group and both were from SS.The women were waiting to welcome us-

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Then into the village.Again note how clean-

 

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There was music and dancing-

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And of course the kids-

But we were here to visit the school-

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And school supplies were donated.Some even from Walmart!

Then it was back to the dancing
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The Expedition crew got into the swing of things-

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Now a confession.I also performed.I mean how hard can the chicken dance be?Hopefully no photos of this performance will emerge.
Now it was time for the whole school to get together and sing for us-

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Before the singing I had time to walk around the village by myself-

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As I returned to the main gathering a young woman came up to me and handed me her baby-

Fortunately she took it back.Seeing this this young lady wanted her photo taken-

 

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One of the French passengers then gave a speech on our behalf-

I quite frankly felt totally inadequate at this point.I am supposed to be educated but here are these kids in one of the poorest countries in Africa speaking French,talking to us in English and of course speaking their own language.
Also we found out that this primary school was established here in 2001 by the head teacher.It was not until 2010 that it was recognised by the government and funded for the first time.What dedication.
So now more of the children-

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You may wonder why I have put in those last two photos.This is the village's soccer field and goalposts.Here I had another magic moment.The local team were playing-half the team wore their shirts against the other half who didn't.The shirts were winning easily because they had the star player.
Well you may remember I played soccer as a youngster.Watching the star it was obvious he was predictable.He feinted left,then right and left again.So I went on.As soon as he feinted right i went to his left and dispossessed him.It took 3 times before he realised what I was doing.So then i left the field.Exhausted!
Their coach came up to me and asked if I played soccer.I told him I used to.He then says-"Papa you are the spirit of my father returned to give us a message".I passed on a couple of tips but the spirits forbid me to tell you what they were.

So it was time to farewell the village.I wasn't the only passenger to have a go at soccer.It appeared that the team enjoyed our interaction as they all came out to wave goodbye-

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So now it was nearly two hours in the bus to a mountain resort.We passed an Agricultural Research station funded by the Chinese-

And the usual road side stalls-

 

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Some more of the passing parade-

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We now started on the long climb to the mountains passing more villages.As the bus had to slow a little it was a bit easier to take photos.The first sight of the mountains-

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And an example of a teak plantation screening a school from the road and a well hidden but neat cemetery-

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Now we are getting close to our destination.lots of lovely views,magnificent vegetation and evidence here and there of slash and burn agriculture.A lot of the road was lined with very old mango trees planted more than 100 years ago when they built a castle on top of this mountain.

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Near the summit and there were a lot of choices of accommodation and restaurants-

Fortunately where we were headed had the best looking sign-

Before lunch we were taken to the local village.Greeted by scouts and offered a young coconut to drink.It is refreshing.

The children came to watch-

 

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There were interesting designs on the houses-

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And the entrance to the village and gardens-

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A local guide then took us through the village-

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That fellow was a revered traditional healer from the village.We went across the sports field to the school-

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Australia made the map but someone had taken a bite out of Tasmania.
Next of course the children.Some smiling,some working-

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The Togo flag flew proudly over the village-

Whilst the old German castle,now the President's holiday villa looks down from the mountain peak-

They are building a church but progress seems slow-

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Then we were shown some of the plants and trees that are important to the locals.For decoration the lipstick plant-

You can see why it is called that.Stefan then proceeded to annoint the group.Next was the cacao tree.you can see how the fruit is borne directly from the trunk-

Then I had a little argument with a South African who said that this tree and the mango were from Africa-

Sorry but both the jackfruit and mango originated in India.
There were large termite mounds-

After a little uphill walk we reached the resort-

The police escort were there-

 

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And the dancers and musicians were ready to welcome us-

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The women were painted-

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The children were ready-

The band started up-

And everyone got rhythm-

 

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If you ever wondered where jazz has it's roots watch this fellow on the trumpet-

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So much energy and joy.And he sure had rhythm.

 

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Back to the party-

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I had to interrupt my enjoyment to have lunch.I washed it down with a beer as usual but couldn't resist a glass of what was called "palm grappa".Actually distilled palm wine known as sodabe in Togo though our guide said it was known in Ghana as "fall down wine".He was wrong as I had a second glass and didn't fall down.

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Lunch here was the best of the African meals we had.The mango for dessert was appreciated.