While we were in the area, there was a celebration marking the death of a prominent local traditional healer. We were invited by the Fon of Babungo and got to sit in the tents for Fons and other Notables. We were not in any way notable, but I guess as foreigners, they wanted to show us hospitality. It was an amazing celebration to say the least. We went two days in a row. There was a lot of drumming, dancing, drinking and shooting of some very badly made rifles, many of which backfired. It was loud, exhilarating, and I think in 2 and a half hours, I shot 800 photos. It was dusk and rainy, so not that many came out well. And even some of these suck, but it does give you a sense of the ceremony. I feel very lucky to have seen it. It's not the kind of tourists normally get to see, though we were told during the dry season, in December, January, February, there are cultural festivals to which tourists do sometimes come and events such as this are staged.
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This is the Fon, loading up. The dancers approach his tent, dance. He gives them a few francs, and then shoots his gun.
Enormous sort of vibraphone, made of a tree trunk
Video taping, with my shitty little camera
Sareh and the Ju-Ju
Lots of gunfire
Sareh menacing the Ju-Ju
The Fon
I was a big fan of the beaded masks
Nice trees
The motorbikes we spent much of our three weeks on.
Sareh, Mona and the Fon
The gunfire was nearly constant, and quite deafening