Updated photos, stories and map

The sun sets over Ganvie, Benin a stilt village north of Cotonou.

Check out the new photographs (click link at right) and updates below.

Also, the map (click link above) is starting to look good!

Stilt Village of Ganvie, Benin (April 29, 2007)

In the 17th century, the land that currently makes up the southern portion of Benin was under the rule of the Dahomey kings. The seat of power for the Dahomey Kingdom was Abomey, which is a few hours north of present Cotonou. In general, the Dahomey kings were a violent bunch, with each king pledging to leave their children a larger kingdom. This pledge required constant war in order to expand their territory.

Today, a museum in Abomey pays tribute to the Dahomey and provides a taste of their ruthlessness. One tapestry shows a king using the dismembered leg of some poor guy to pound in the head of an enemy. In another room, my attention was drawn to a king's throne. At first glance it appeared to be a normal wooden throne but it was held up by four human skulls.

To the southeast of Abomey, there lies the stilt village of Ganvie. The village is located in the waters of Lake Nokoue. As the Dahomey kings were expanding their kingdom and simultaneously pressing conquered people into slavery, they came upon the Tofinu. To escape, the Tofinu fled onto the lake where they began constructing homes and living suspended above the water level of the lake. Fortunately for the Tofinu, the slave hunters pursuing them were forbidden to give chase onto the lake due to a religious custom not allowing people onto water.

The Tofinu have lived there since and today approximately 30,000 villagers live on the lake. The people live almost entirely off of fish which they catch in the lake by building artificial reef-like areas out of palm fronds. The fronds are stuck into the lake and as they decompose attract fish. After a period of time, the villagers construct nets around the area to haul in the catch.

As an overnight trip from Cotonou, Patrick and I visited Ganvie. We took a boat ride out and then stayed overnight in a hotel positioned near the market. The best part of the trip was taking a small canoe to explore the village. Everyone travels by boat. The houses are not connected so boating is a must. In the canals, there are ladies paddling around selling items, boat taxis kids on errands and anything else you could imagine in a village. Fresh water is dispensed by pump and boats full of containers queue up to get their fill. at night, the village shut down quickly but early in the morning boats were already beginning to start the day's business.

Voodoo Python Temple (Ouidah, Benin - April 27, 2007)

A single doorway led into the small, circular hut inside the walled compound of the python temple in Ouidah, Benin.

"Are you ready to enter?" the temple guide asked as he pulled a 3-foot long python off of my neck. In turn, the necks of Patrick, Joyce (another roaming PC Guinea volunteer who we happened across while walking the "Path of Slaves" in the morning) and I had been draped by a python from the temple. The guide had finished explaining how the python is an important aspect of voodoo in Ouidah.

Originally known as vodun, the voodoo religion is practiced by at least 50% of people in Benin. The historic center of voodoo is Ouidah, but voodoo was not formally recognized as a religion by the government of Benin until 1996.

The walls of the hut are made of concrete and the center contains a recessed area resembling the shape of a keyhole. Several steps lead down from the floor level to the base of this key-shaped area, which is used by the voodoo priest. A sequence of paintings depicting the arrival of voodoo and the python relationship cover the walls of the hut. However, it was the floor that grabbed my attention and provided a somewhat creepy feeling.

Snakes. Lots of snakes. Pythons were all over this temple. Some were by themselves but the majority laid together piled in a mass of long, muscular bodies with snake heads popping out everywhere. One appeared to have recently finished a meal and was bulging in its midsection as it digested.

"How many pythons are there?" the guide was asked.

"Thousands. Thousands," came the reply that I have top believe is inflated. "However, they are not all here. At night we leave the door to the temple open and the pythons are free to leave and go hunt where ever they wish. If a person finds a python in the city, they will return it to the temple."

New Photos

This photo was taken during a camel trek in the Aiir Mountains near Agadez, Niger. The last few weeks have been quite eventfull. I've visited good friends, found some members of the last giraffe herd in West Africa, went on a camel trek and more.

Read the posts and check out the photos (click to the right) and then let me know how you are doing!

Horse Races – Tahoua, Niger (April 14, 2007)

The local showing Patrick and I around began running as shouts erupted from the crowd. The first of three horse races of the day had started. I followed him to see a pack of horses in the distance. The track was in the desert on the outskirts of Tahoua, Niger. Its oval-like shape must shift constantly as the winds blow sand, creating rises along some stretches and depressions in others. The sand is not hard-packed, but deep, soft and shifty.

The horses rounded the final bend to finish in front of the grand stand erected for the event. Their muscles working hard through the sand, the horses finished to a wild roar from the spectators. It seems as if some family livelihoods depends on the races. The 10-day international horseracing event had begun. This event happens each year in either Niger or Nigeria. By chance, the race was in Niger this year, in Tahoua, and on the Saturday we arrived.

Using Patrick and I as his “ticket,” our guide walked out onto the course after the first race had finished. We followed him to the finish line where we sat us down on the sand in the front row. I felt awkward being placed in such a good seat but the people sitting there welcomed us onto the sand with them. Here, we were treated to finish line seating for the next two races.

Looking for Giraffes (April 12, 2007)

About 60 km east of Niamey, the last remaining giraffe herd of West Africa lives in the area around Kouré, Niger. Given the fun time watching elephants in Ghana, Patrick and I decided to spend the day looking for giraffes.

Unfortunately, transport issues landed us and our mandatory guide on the side of a desolate stretch of road a little past Kouré around 11:00 am. We would now have to begin walking 5 or more kilometers out into the hot, sandy area with no shade and an intense sun in the hopes of finding giraffes.

The hike and gallons of sweat were worth it when a pair of giraffes was spotted under an acacia tree in the distance. Mouths elevated by their long, graceful necks munched on the leaves of the acacia tree that they could reach through the pointy thorns with their long and apparently blue tongue.

The giraffes are known to be curious and watched us as we approached. Elephants are massive but the giraffes seemed elegant roaming through the acacias. Given the midday sun, the giraffes were not moving much but I was fascinated to watch a pair glide past the tops of the trees. Soon, the guide pointed to a second pair that allowed us to get quite close. We ended the tour by watching a pair of adolescent giraffes hanging out under a tree.

Just as we were finishing viewing these beautiful animals, a truck with several Swiss over-landers pulled up to our small shade tree. They agreed to give us a ride back out of the bush so I spent the return sitting on the roof of their truck, enjoying the views of a landscape different that ones I have visited so far.

Trip to Niamey, Niger (April 9, 2007)

Leaving Jeanne in Togo, Patrick and I had a long couple of days of voyage to our next stop: the home of Geoffrey and Christine in Niamey, Niger. Geoffrey and Christine were also in Guinea and could be among our last PC Guinea sightings for this trip.

The voyage began at 9:00 am when we filled a 10-liter bidon (container) with millet beer in Jeanne’s village and loaded onto a minibus. Millet beer, known as juke in Togo, dolo in Burkina Faso and Mali, and pito in Ghana, is a local mixture brewed by woman and oddly tasting like apple cider. It was to be a gift for our friends in Niamey.

The first leg of transport was from Jeanne’s (near Atakpamé, Togo) to Lomé, Togo. The minibus was jam-packed. The malaria drug that I am on is mefloquin, or larium, and known to have some miserable side effects. Fortunately for me, my reactions have been few and have decreased considerably until this trip. My limbs now have a tendency to go completely numb and within a half hour of the ride my left leg lost feeling. I was able to manage until Lomé, where we quickly found a minibus that was also very crowded but my leg revived itself. This minibus was heading for Cotonu, Benin.

The ride to Cotonu should have been short but included many stops and took a long time. Minibuses do not have set stopping points. If someone wants to get out, they yell. Then, to ensure that the vehicle is always at over capacity the driver will stop to pick up someone else on the side of the road needing a ride. This process continues over and over.

From Cotonu, we boarded a bus leaving at 10:30 pm for Niamey, Niger. So, 13 hours into the trip we began an overnight bus ride that was scheduled to arrive in Niamey around 1:00 pm the next day. Following another border crossing, we arrived in Niamey and were able to deliver the dolo to an excited Geoffrey and Christine.

Happy Easter (April 8, 2007)

I spent this Easter in the Togolese town of Atakpamé. So far, one of the highlights of this West African tour has been visiting Peace Corps Guinea people who are now in other countries. The town of Atakpamé is very near to the new village of my good friend, Jeanne, and being able to spend Easter seeing her new site and celebrating with other PC Togo volunteers was a lot of fun.

An extra bonus was the arrival of the first true rain of the season. It rained almost the entire day before Easter, which was beautiful. I have not seen rain since the beginning of November (pretty abnormal for someone who has spent the last several years in Portland, OR). The rains also cooled the temperatures down into the upper 70’s, now quite cold for me.
I hope you all were able to spend this weekend with good friends and family

Border Crossing: Ghana to Togo (April 4, 2007)

“Where are you going?” the border guard yelled at us as we walked past his small office.

Not realizing that we were getting off to a bad start with the person in control of our immediate future, one of us replied, “To the canteen to buy some water,” as we continued walking along. Minutes later, after drinking ice-cold water as refreshment after hiking out to the bat home of Wli Falls, we returned to the guardhouse.

“Where did you go?” the guard grunted.

“We were thirsty and needed water,” I began to explain.

“Passports,” the guard interrupted.

We handed over our passports. For me, this period is always a bit trying. Will the guard want some sort of bribe? Are there any problems with the documentation? In this case, will the passport juggle performed weeks ago in Ouagadougou become a problem? I became more nervous as the guard kept flipping back and forth through my stamped pages.

“Do you have a Togolese visa?” he asked.

I pointed to the page containing the Visa Entente, a five-country, two-month visa good for Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Niger. This visa had been hard to get with some embassies saying that it no longer exists. Fortunately, passport officials in Ouagadougou issued one but this was the first test using it.

Satisfied with the Visa Entente, the guard continued leafing through my passport. “Just stamp it and let me through,” I wanted to say knowing that the longer he took the higher the probability for trouble.

“I don’t see your Ghana visa and entry stamp,” he finally says and I readied myself for trouble. This man was not friendly and regularly rudely belittled Ghanaians and Togolese who had stopped in.

In my case, his simple statement opened up a wide array of confusion. I had hoped he would lose interest hunting through my visas and stamps and not look hard for the Ghana stamps. After all, I was leaving the country.

“Well, that’s because the visa and stamps are not in that passport,” I unhappily replied. “They are in this one,” I continued holding up a second US passport. The look on his face indicated that he was none to happy with the sudden appearance of a second passport for one Francis James McGowan.

The procurement of a visa takes time and embassies can hold a passport for several days so while in Ouagadougou, Patrick and I needed to obtain both the Visa Entente and a visa for Ghana. Hoping to save time, my Peace Corps passport was given to the Burkinabe office and my personal passport to the Ghanaian Embassy. This resulted in the problem that I was now facing.

The Ghanaian official obviously did not like the explanation. “This is a problem. A big problem,” he stated shaking his head.

“Well, your counterparts at the Burkinabe-Ghanaian border let us in, so you should now let us leave,” Patrick pointed out.

The man looked blankly at us. This problem was one he did not know how to handle, but it was slowly starting to look like he would relent. Stamping our passport and letting us pass through would get us out of his way and allow him to return to his Parcheesi game.

“We’re very sorry. It has been a problem for us as well,” I nudged.

“Fine, I will stamp it but you only have a single entry visa. This means that if you are not allowed in Togo, I will not let you return to Ghana,” the guard said.

“Great. Thank you,” we replied only wanting to get the precious stamp and pass the gate.

A few minutes later, our passports were stamped and we were walking in the no-man’s land between Ghana and Togo. So far each border crossing has been similar. Here, a 5 – 10 minute walk separated the two outposts. The walk was a nice one through a lush, green-forested area and up a small hill. What would we do if we were turned away from Togo?

When we reached the Togolese side, a man came out of a building with a big smile on his friendly face. “Bonjour et bien venue en Togo, ” he exclaimed. It was so nice to again be in a francophone country. I have had a much easier time conversing in francophone countries than in Anglophone ones. This man was incredibly nice. He stamped my passport and when the lack of a Ghanaian visa/stamp was brought up he said, “No problem, and we were soon off into Togo.

Hiking Ghana’s Highest Mountain (April 3, 2007)

Mt. Afadjato is located east of Volta Lake near the Togolese border. To get here, Patrick and I boarded a tro-tro (minibus) in Hohoe, Ghana that would supposedly take us to the base of the mountain. The drive out included beautiful scenery in Ghana’s lush Volta region on a mixture of paved and dirt roads. Soon, we came to a junction that had a sign pointing to the area where the mountain is located, 7 km away. The tro-tro stopped and the driver tells us that he will be continuing in the other direction. Our hike would be a little longer today…

Arriving at the base of Mt. Afadjato, we registered and were given the obligatory guide for the hike up. The trail was steep and in minutes I was sweating in the heavy, humid air. Nearing the top, the guide turns around for the “well, here we are” announcement and I expected to end on a towering peak with gusts of cool, refreshing air.

The sun was baking on the top and the air was barely moving. Some nice views were available but haze prevented me from seeing Volta Lake.

“I though this was the highest peak,” Patrick said to the guide. “What’s that peak there?” he continued, pointing to a nearby and much taller point.

“That is Advadu Peak,” the guide replied, “and it is the tallest point in Ghana but not considered a mountain. The peak is part of a ridge so it does not count.”

“What about over there?” Patrick asked again, pointing to a set of taller peaks.

“Those are in Togo.”

New Photographs

Click the link at the right for new photos.

Ghana Coast

Slave Castles - Ghana Coast

During the 17th Century, the European powers began concentrating on the West African coast, specifically the Gulf of Guinea which contains the current Ghanian shoreline. The coast was known as the Gold Coast due to the access to gold, ivory, spices and later, unfortuantely, slaves. At the Europeans jostled for coastal dominance, they constructed forts and castles along the coast. These structures were not to defend against Africans, but to protect against other European nations. The good thing about the Ghanian coastline compared to much of the remainder of West Africa is that it is rocky instead of swampy. This allows the building of large fortifications. By the end of the 18th Century, 37 forts occupied a 500 km stretch of coastline. Today, two of these castles are classified as Unesco World Heritage Sites. They are located in Elmina and Cape Coast, Ghana and I was fortunate to visit both sites.

The tours at the castles showed where slaves would be held until leaving Africa for the Americas. The dungeons were damp and stuffy and people could be held there for up to six weeks. Finally, the men and women would pass through the "Door of No Return" where they would pass to begin the Middle Passage. The door leads to a beach where small boats waited to transport people out to the bigger ships.

The following inscription was written on both castles:

In Everlasting Memory
Of the anguish of our ancestors
may those who died rest in peace
may those who return find their roots
may humanity never again perpetrate
such injustice against humanity
we, the living, vow to uphold this

Kakum National Park, Ghana (March 30, 2007)

Walking along a cable canopy walkway, I was suspended about 30 meters above the forest floor of Kakum National Park. This park is located north of Cape Coast, Ghana and protects 357 sq km of land that is a mixture of true rain forest and semidecidious forest. 40 species of large mammals, 300 or so species of birds and 600 different varieties of butterfly call this place home. Endangered species such as forest elephants seek refuge here and are rarely seen (I saw none).

To get to the walkway, I took a 30 minute hike through the dense forest. I am always amazed at the sense of calmness that develops when I am dwarfed by huge trees and am only a visitor in a place teeming with life.

The canopy walkway itself is 350 meters long and broken into seven viewing platforms where you can look out and down into the forest. The walkway itself is fairly stable though moves from side to side a bit which unnerved some people on the walk.

Green Turtle Lodge (March 26 - 28)

The Green Turtle Lodge is located on a somewhat isolated stretch of beach on the Ghanian coast. Positioned west of the large town of Takoradi and the destination town of Busua, GTL is a good place to step away from constant travel. At GTL, I slept on the beach under the stars a couple of nights and in a tent the others, listening to the sound of the ocean throughout the night.

I again met a couple (Mark and Corinna) who are travelling and I originally met in Bobo, Burkina Faso. These two drove away from Edinburgh, Scotland several months ago in a highly modified Range Rover and plan to drive the entire west African coastline before reaching South Africa and returning up the eastern side. I always enjoy hearing the stories of other people as they travel along the same or different paths as myself.

At GTL, I spent the majority of time either bodyboarding or bodysurfing in the warm surf. It was great to relive the childhood of a beachbum. Unfortunately, March is at the end of the turtle nesting season so I did not have the opportunity to see sea turtles.