Slave Road, Ouida, Benin

Stefano and I hired a tour guide to walk us down the "slave road" from the "slave market" in the city center to the "gate of no return" near the ocean port and explain the stations along the way. 

1. Slave Market and to the left was the Branding Building

2. Where the "Tree of Forgetfulness" once existed.  The future slaves were told not to remember their past, only the future...

3. Next, the cemetery where the bodies where buried in a large hole after spending a few nights in the House of Darkness.

4. The "Tree of Return" - representing the "spiritual" return of the slaves to West Africa after their death.   The guy in the yellow shirt, pink pants, and white shoes was our tour guide. 

Two of the stations along the slave road symbolized the African woman's involvement in the slave trade.  African women helped capture "potential" slave from other tribes. 

The "Gate of No Return" 

Random Take Aways from the Tour: 

Seven Major Stations on the "Road of Slaves"

1. Slave Market

2. Marking or Branding House

3. Tree of Forgetfulness

4. House of Darkness

5. Cemetery 

6. Tree of (Spiritual) Return

7. Gate of No Return

Top Six "Gates of No Return" in West Africa

1. Senegal

2. Angola

3. Benin

4. Elmina

5. Congo

6. Gabon