The Tata in Togo, February 2023

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/28AD3893-8D46-4EBA-B868-342C9A717690-143x190.jpeg

The final chapter of this journey is set in northern Togo – a small country on the West African coast sandwiched between Ghana & Benin. While many West Africans live in big cities attracted by the prospect of jobs, a …

Posted in Togo | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How Do You Voodoo? Benin, February 2023

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/3B2E10BE-066C-4EA1-A1AB-96E424706034-190x119.jpeg

  When the West African slaves arrived in the Americas they were forbidden from practising their religious beliefs. The practice of Voodoo has nevertheless survived and thrived with its original birthplace considered to be Benin. It is a religion that …

Posted in Benin | Tagged | Leave a comment

Of Warrior Women and Enemy Heads, Benin, February 2023

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/D9910158-9BA9-46CE-94F4-56A7C7B890E3-124x190.jpeg

The next part of my journey has taken me to the Republic of Benin. From the 1600s a sprawling complex of palaces were built for the successive dynasty of Kings who ruled the Dahomey Kingdom in current day Benin. The …

Posted in Benin | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Slave Coast, Ghana, February 2023

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/B6BF6476-3E0C-44C4-98CB-C53D8D666BFD-145x190.jpeg

According to an African proverb “Unless the lion gets to tell his story the hunter will always be the hero”. And so it is for much of Africa with its history told by the conquerors. So feet on the ground …

Posted in Ghana | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cocoa and Coconuts, Côte d’Ivoire, February 2020

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/8669402F-3488-4BF4-8911-A0FDB8A3329D-190x78.jpeg

My final post from my West African adventure comes to you from Abidjan in the country of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). I’ve reached the coastline and the Atlantic Ocean and I’ll unashamedly admit that I put my feet up here …

Posted in Côte d’Ivoire | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Animal Sacrifice to the Ancestors, Burkina Faso, February 2020

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/2B93887B-AAA5-4718-B71F-94A0F4BD047F-144x190.jpeg

This past week I’ve travelled further south to the country of Burkina Faso. As I’ve distanced myself further from the Sahara the landscape has become progressively greener. Villages are shaded by enormous mango trees in flower and surrounded by cashew …

Posted in Burkina Faso | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Magnificent Mud Mosque of Djenné, Mali, February 2020

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/407234D3-6393-4981-ABCE-DCFD9E4EE92A-190x143.jpeg

News of the legend of Timbuktu first spread to the outside world in the 14th century when the Malinke king made a pilgrimage to Mecca. His entourage of 60,000 each carried a bar of gold among other luxuries as offerings. …

Posted in Mali | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

From Slavery to Rally, Senegal, January 2020

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/C77E78FE-B838-4A13-A0D0-CD3A22BEA4D0-190x144.jpeg

Somehow when I came out the escape hatch this time I landed in West Africa. I only spent a few days in Senegal on the western most point of the continent before a longer journey through some of the Sahel …

Posted in Senegal | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Craters, Canyons and Creole, Réunion Island, April 2019

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/5268B5B5-07D3-431D-9530-0BE51F320E25-167x190.jpeg

My last stop on my Indian Ocean voyage has been Réunion Island- a little corner of France (an overseas French Department) next to Africa. Although the island is rimmed by beaches and coral reefs, at its heart it is volcanic. …

Posted in Réunion Island | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Hoist the Sails, Seychelles Islands, April 2019

https://walkaboutagain.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/794C6CE7-DC6B-4CEB-8C14-AEF296A4B22D-190x143.jpeg

I’ve drifted further north now to spend a week aboard a century-old Dutch sailing schooner exploring some of the inner islands of the Seychelles. This little Republic comprises more than a hundred granite and coral islands scattered over an area …

Posted in The Seychelles | Tagged , , | 2 Comments