Going tribal in Ouidah

We paid a fix fee at the cooperative running the transportation business. An informal boater that approached us was quickly shooed away by formal boaters. Once it was our turn we boarded the small (<12') boat equipped with an Arab sail and departed. After 1h or so we arrived to Ouidah (Benin), a community established in the marshes, completely surrounded by water. We stopped for drinks at a bar servicing tourists, I bought a quilt featuring the map of Africa. We toured Ouidah, it reminded me of Belen, in the shores of the Amazon river. Instead of walkways a few planks connected homes, and most people moved around in canoes. There was a floating market where you could buy vegetables or fruit. This is a fishing village and early in the morning the market is busting with fish catches.

Our boat passed by a home where a voodoo (animist, traditional religion) was taking place in the front yard. Tall, beautiful women with head scarves danced slowly with what seemed lighted candles in their hands. We left town. In the main entrance to the town I spied a scary wooden structure, my guide explained it was meant to scare evil spirits trying to get into town - much like crosses my people in the Peruvian highlands put in the road connecting the town with the outside world.

The return to the pier demanded the boaters to row for 2hs against the wind (I thought you could sail against the wind with those Arab sails), and they expected a tip, that we refused to give on grounds that if their cooperative had established a fix rate and shooed away competition then they should stick to the previously agreed upon compensation.

Going tribal at Djemaa el Fna

Arrived this place in Marrakesh, Morocco, at dusk. The place was already full with water and tea sellers, dressed in colorful stripes, veiled fortune tellers, snake charmers, sellers of traditional drugs and herbs, story tellers, juggernauts and magicians. It looked like an exotic open-air circus.

Less than 1/10 of those there looked as tourists. Locals seemed to use the place as a place for social interaction. I saw a couple of male policemen walking around holding hands together. I ate fried fish at a food stall. Nearby bonfires protected us from the cold wind blowing from the Atlas mountains.

While I watched a sort of drama -with young men playing female roles, since it does not seem proper for girls to provide even innocent entertainment- a young man approached me. and asked where I was from. He ended up speaking a very decent Spanish, perhaps because a large proportion of tourists are from Spain. He claimed being the son of an Arab father and a Berber mother. He advised me to tip the actors that offered me some mint tea at the end of their act. Then he volunteered to show me some silversmiths and other artisans.

Taken precautions not to be detected by police (why?), he took me to the nearby souk where I bought red pointy shoes for a coworker. Stores sold handicrafts resembling antiques as such. I did not fall for that. Then my guide took me to the silversmith and I bought there a necklace for $200. He expected his cut, but since I suspected he had already received a commission from the silversmith, I offered my guide a couple of gifts, my wristwatch and my backpack (that I had purchased at a yard sale for $1 each), and a little money for his transportation. He demanded me to buy him a cell phone. I promised to send him a cell phone I did not use anymore, promise that went unfulfilled. In this game of outsmarting each other, I think I won, unless the necklace is not made out of silver, something I have been unable to verify to this date.