Lomé is the capital of Togo and best deep-water harbor in the region. Much of the shipping
to and from Ghana, Benin, Niger, Togo and Burkina Faso comes through the modern container terminal here and then goes out overland by truck.
We were greeted coming off the ship
by traditional dancers on stilts, with the modern port cranes of the container
terminal visible behind:
French is the official language but locally
Ewe is spoken. We visited a local Ewe village of 1000 people 30 minutes out of
town and had an audience with the chief or king, still chosen patrilineally. There
was a ceremony with traditional dancing; the king wore traditional ceremonial
garb, and he welcomed us, put us under his protection, and answered questions. Below is a video of ceremonial dancing and a photo of the King and Queen:
The main religion is Voudou, which
can be and sometimes has been combined and syncretized with other religions, including Christianity. We
visited the world’s largest Fetish market, where items are sold that are used
in rites and ceremonies. Here are some pictures:
Later
we took a shuttle to the Grand Marchée (Grand Market), 10 or 12
blocks of hundreds of shops and stalls, which is not a tourist market so much
as a large regional market where people from 5 neighboring countries and all
over Togo come for the wide variety and selection available due to the port.
Joani, of course, bought fabric, a traditional West African print.
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