Man in red hat is the Zangbeto divinity. The protector of environment and night security. Important position when state sponsored police were not around.
Hat of Gelede, in the center of Benin. The Divinity is for birth celebration.
Ghana girlz gettin' crunk.
The wandering voodoo priest can be seen all over the streets in Benin. One or two kids will follow him with sticks, almost as a guide. I asked the kid in the white if I could take a photo. I dug a 500 cfa coin out of my pocket. The kid gave me a disgusted look and barked “Paper only”! I handed him a 2,000 cfa note and he nodded. As I brought out my camera the priest immediately turned and walked down the street. I followed and got this one photo. When I got closer the priest lifted a calloused hand out from his dress, pointed at me, and growled crushing sounding words in Fon. The boy took immediate action and swung at me.
Drummers from the North.
Twenty minutes into the dancing and roaring, I caught a hand tap twice on my back pocket. I caught him on the wrist and pulled in a young scared and hostile faced kid. I stared at him and couldn’t muster my broken French together to yell over the drums something pertaining to his slow pickpocketing tactics. I was happy not to make a scene of the young man after watching throughout the day pickpockters getting caught and beat up by local beninise men, then by beninise police, then by beninise locals again.
The door of no return monument in the grounds marks the last steps that slaves took on African soil before boarding slave ships to the "Americas." The thieves of the festival, incidentally, were marched back under the monument before answering to more acts of violence in the streets.
the door of return monument invites africans around the world back to Africa.
(the poor upkeep of the monument caused the figures to lose their color)
