Ouidah, Benin

2019-08-01 : Ouidah, "La Route Des Esclaves"

In Ouidah « The Slave Route » is a section of 4 km of track which take us back to the stages of the last meters traveled by slaves on their native land before being embarked on ships to the Americas, from the Place Des Enchères to the Porte Du Non-Retour.

We begin with the Place Des Enchères, also called Place Chacha, nickname of Don Francisco de Souza. Chacha was a slave merchant born in Brazil and of Portuguese origin, he had won the absolute confidence of the King of Abomey who had entrusted him with the task of selling his prisoners of war and other victims of raids to Europeans. Pancrace, our guide, explains to us that it was here, under this large ficus tree (ficus platyphylla), that it happened. Slaves were traded for liquor, rifles, cannons (15 males or 21 females for a cannon) and other junk. Then the slaves were branded with the symbol of their owner.

The "Place des Enchères" in Ouidah

Also called "Place Chacha"

Don Francisco de Souza had 50 wives and countless children. Practically all the Souza of Benin today can claim to be his descendants. They are used to meeting regularly in the large family house that we can see at the end of the square.

On the way to the "Arbre de l'Oubli"

 The second stage is the « Arbre de l’Oubli ». The tree has disappeared today, swept away by a storm. In its place was erected a steel statue representing a three-headed mermaid. Here the slaves were subjected to a ritual which consisted in going around the tree seven times for women and nine times for men in order to make them forget their origin and their past.

Christine with Bertrand and our guide at the "Arbre de l'Oubli"

 

Christine and Pancrace to the "Zomachi Memorial"

We stop a little further at the height of a private building which is to become a « Museum of Return » dedicated to the descendants of slaves who return to the lands of their ancestors. Pancrace explains that a university professor is behind this project. We can admire on the surrounding wall very beautiful frescoes representing the different stages of the Slave Route.

Then we enter the village on the left. First we find a memorial in the center of a large vacant lot. This is where the Zomaï huts were ("where the light does not come in"), dark shacks where the slaves were locked up for several weeks in absolute darkness and extreme promiscuity. They were only served a very light meal once a day. This treatment had two objectives: first, to test their resistance and secondly to get them used to the living conditions they would find on the boats when they were transferred to the new continent.

Entering the village to the Zomai huts.

 

Monument at The Hut de Zomai

 

Punishment for the rebels

Those who did not survive this ordeal or who came out sick or too weak were thrown into a mass grave a few hundred meters away. A monument has been erected at this location.

The mass grave memorial.

A few tens of meters further on, we arrive at the main square of Zoungbodji for a new ritual around the Tree of Return. It is a very beautiful « sausage tree » which the slaves had to go around three times to ensure that their spirit returns to the native land after their death away from it.

L'Arbre du Retour

Guess why this tree is called "sausage tree"?

The slave route is lined with small statues. They have no direct link with the ordeal of the slaves but they represent the different monarchs of the kingdom of Abomey with their emblems. They were placed there to enhance the journey to the „Gate of No Return“.

 The foot which stumbles against a rock, emblem of Agoli-Agbo (1894-1900) whose motto was "beware! The Dan-Homé kings dynasty tripped, but did not fall. "

 

The chameleon, emblem of Akaba (1685-1708), whose motto was "slowly, gently, the chameleon reaches the target of the kapok tree".

 

The lion of Glele (1858-1889), whose motto was "the lion cub sows terror among its enemies as soon as its teeth have grown".

 The bird and the drum, emblems of Gangnihessou (1600-1620). "I am the biggest bird and the loudest drum. You can't stop the bird from singing and the drum from sounding. "

The bird and the rifle of Kpingla (1774-1789), whose mottoes were "the agitated bird only attacks other birds" and "in water, stone neither smells nor fears the cold. "

We arrive at the « Porte Du Non-Retour » at beach level after crossing the mangrove by a bridge. It was here that the slaves were put on canoes to join the large ships behind the bar (the kind of wall formed by the waves oft he ocean). For many of them it was the first time that they saw the sea. It is estimated that around 20% of the slaves lost their lives during this transfer, a large number by voluntarily throwing themselves into the water or by swallowing sand to die on the spot and not leave. A large monument has been erected by Unesco at this location.

La Porte de Non-Retour

Our little excursion ends here, the visit is over. We do not regret having done it, I think it is a must during any visit to Benin. After Gorée in Dakar and the fortress of Elmina in Ghana, here is a rather different third way of approaching the history of the slave trade in Africa.