Not having the car anymore it is a little harder to get out into the sticks, but still possible. I decided upon a trip to the Tamberna valley which is home to some pretty interesting people. Market day is always a good day to travel as it means more transport is going into small villages.
I wont dwell too much on the journey, but it is always a bit of an adventure in itself. It took two shared taxis to get me there, when I say shared I mean with seven other people and two on the roof. The first taxi had to go up a hill, which is always big trouble in this part of Africa, we passed about ten trucks which had broken down on either side of the hill, and the remains of many which drove off the side of the hill. In the end we had to stop to wait for a truck which was pulling the remains of another truck up the side of the valley. Our driver decided to tow another broken down car at this point. So seven people in our car and six in theirs we continued - slowly, with the rope snapping every so often, each time the rear car being that little bit closer. Eventually we arrived in the town which had a real festival atmosphere, and everyone had come out to the market a bit like a village fete.
The people in this area are all devout animists (voodoo people) and they live in these awesome little houses which look like mini fortresses. I decided to take a wander and see if I could get invited inside one, It didnt take long before someone offered to show me inside. He explained their way of life to me in French, and I was suprised to understand most of it, very interesting stuff too, so I will try and take you on a guided tour of the house.
Outside we have numerous small mounds which vary in height in size, every so often the housekeeper will decide a sacrifice needs to be made (chicken, goat, cow etc). For each sacrifice they build a new mound outside the house, im not sure but the size may depend on the animal? Above the door are two small mounds, these mounds represent the death of a family member who lived in the house (in this case two, see the photos). The walls are built very high, traditionally this was to protect them for other tribes and slave traders. The inhabitants would stand on the top firing down with bows and arrows.
Inside the house, the first room is the kitchen. It is in here that the sacrifices are carried out, the animal has their head dispatched on a mound (similar to those outside) located underneath a fetish. The next room is where the man of the house sleeps, with his axe never more than an arms length away. The rest of the ground floor is preserved for brewing beer and more food preparation and storage. The top floor is the communal area and home to small sleeping rooms and the main grain storage.
After the chap showed me around I offered to buy him a beer at the market. Markets are generally a bit samey nowadays, but this one proved to be pretty different. Most people were sitting down tucking into millet beer in sociable circles, so we joined in for a couple (It was surprisingly ok too). The market had a much more tribal feel, sick people came to see the fetish priests, they faced each other and waved a stick around, the dress was pretty interesting with a lot of the women having large conical white piercings in their chins (unfortunately they didnt like having their photos taken). There was allot of interesting food going down, I was invited to join in with some dog meat stew, but opted out.
As the sun was getting low the boys decided to call it a day, and a good day they had at market. Four of us squeezed in the front of the car while the back was taken up buy about 30 goats that someone had brought. The chickens and other purchass were lashed to the roof rack, and the remaining 5 passengers clung to the roof and sides. Of we drove a good day had by all.
p.s. The photos do work and I have back placed ones from the last few entries, there are no thumbnails but click on the text or where the thumbnail should be and it will open in a new window, I havent thought of a way around this yet - answers on a postcard!
