Ouidah was our last stop in Benin, we had come in the hope of finding out more about the reclusive voodoo practices and its history as a prominent port in the slave trading era. West Africa is renowned for its place in slave trading history. Benin and the surrounding area (known as the Bight of Benin) was particularly badly affected with an estimated 20% of more than 10 million people enslaved by the Atlantic Slave Trade leaving from its ports.
Ouidah is now a picturesque, if crumbling coastal town making it hard to imagine it as a commercial centre for such a brutal trade. It once housed the forts of five different European powers who exported slaves in collusion with the monarchy of the Dahomey Empire. This nation who dominated the area for 300 years before colonialism worked together with foreign powers, supplying them with slaves in return for desired goods. This co-operation helped ensure the longevity and sheer scale of the slave trade here.
The only fort left standing is the Portuguese fort of Sáo Joáo Batista (rebuilt in 1967) which now operates as the museum of history. Artefacts, namely traded goods and shackles, from the slave trading era are displayed however little information is offered alongside them. The exhibition does not offer much insight into the ramifications of this horrendous drain on society or the experiences of people who were later repatriated. There were however pictures of voodoo customs which illustrated the religions spread with the slaves to Brazil, Cuba and Haiti, the main destination of captives from this region. In terms of explaining voodoo however the museum was as uninformative as it was about the slave trade.
From the fort you can retrace the path the captives took to the awaiting ships. The 4km walk winds through Ouidah then an idyllic sandy path takes you the rest of the way to the Door of No Return, a monument erected on the beach in memory of all the people taken from here. On the Route des Esclaves the slaves were forced to ‘shed’ their identities by walking around the tree of forgetfulness as a symbol of conformity to their new subhuman existence.
The tree now stands as a testament to black history, draped in flags of the world and surrounded by paintings and murals. Although the most powerful remembrance to the slave trading era we saw in Ouidah it does little to impress the magnitude and significance of what happened here. Much of the available history here does not seem as if it has been kept in mind for its historical importance for the Beninoise but more for the money of the few tourists that come here. Although not one to be proud of it is definitely one that cannot be allowed to be forgotten.
As Benin is a place where voodoo is so deeply entrenched we have been trying to find out more about its customs and practices. This is the only country in the world where voodoo is recognised as an official religion however it is still shrouded in secrecy. From what we understand voodoo is a system of beliefs that recognises spirits as powerful beings that affect everyday life and must be appeased with various rituals. The museum of voodoo in Ouidah had to be unlocked for us and the dusty and forgotten handicrafts as well as the tour guide who pointed at them did little to explain anything.
One aspect that does seem recurrent is the theme of retribution. Many rituals seem concerned with protection from evil spirits and wishing harm upon people perceived as enemies. Voodoo supposedly co-exists alongside Catholicism with the spirits being matched up to the saints however in reality it is the voodoo spirits that rule most people’s lives. We discovered an Unreported World that illustrates a far more sinister side to the religion and explains why it is so hard for outsiders to understand or question the workings of voodoo.
We truly enjoyed the tranquillity of Ouidah it definitely had one of the most relaxed atmospheres of anywhere in Benin. In terms of trying to find more out about slavery or voodoo it was however pretty disappointing. We did manage to anger a moto driver but as he did not have time to pass us the small pox voodoo stick his curses hopefully did not reach us as we fled to Togo!
