Lome, Togo

Togo is a new country for us so we took an excursion to the Fetish (voodoo) Market😫, a school and a village.

About 48 per cent of Togolese are Christian, 33 per cent follow traditional religions and 19 per cent follow Islam. Traditional religions have priests who create cures and potions from a range of unusual ingredients like powdered chameleon, horse’s skull or lion’s teeth. That’s what’s sold at the Fetish Market in Lome - the world’s largest. You can also have a consultation there and have an amulet created to protect you (we passed on that.) we expected it to be larger and stinkier than it was. Fascinating.

We then drove to a village and visited a public (read free) primary school with about 400 students. They were excited to have us visit. The photos will show you how basic their school is. We learned that having public schools was a relatively recent development in Togo.

From there, we visited a village with a traditional king. A libation ceremony was performed to welcome us along with performances by drummers and dancers. We were then encouraged to walk around and explore the village.

We returned to the ship and grabbed the shuttle into the market area of downtown Lome. Wow! Bustling with vendors and tons of motorcycles. A great experience.

Back on board and dinner with our friends Geraldine and Thomas at Toscana. There was a Togo Toga party onboard tonight but we didn’t feel like dressing up but did go check it out.Read more