Each January Ouidah in Benin plays host to a huge festival celebrating one of the country’s most popular religions – voodoo.

Whilst voodoo ceremonies can be found across Benin throughout the year, the Atlantic coastal town of Ouidah is considered the spiritual home of voodoo and its annual festival attracts thousands from across the country to receive blessings from the voodoo priests.

More than a belief system, voodoo is a complete way of life, including culture, music, philosophy, dance, language, art and medicine. Shrouded in mystery and often misunderstood, it is a popular and officially recognised religion in Benin and practiced across other parts of West Africa.

The Voodoo spiritual world’s supreme being is ‘Mahou’ and there are another 100 gods or voodoos each representing a different phenomenon – from ‘Sakpata’ for illness, healing and earth to ‘Heviosso’ for storms, lightning and justice. At the festival Voodoo priests ask these gods to intervene on behalf of ordinary people and may sometimes ask for offerings, such as a chicken to be sacrificed to the divinity.

The colourful festival is full of singing, chanting, dancing, the beating of drums and the drinking of gin.

Ouidah was once an important port in the slave trade from which it is estimated over 1 million West African slaves were shipped to the Americas. Walking around the small but atmospheric city you can see crumbling architectural landmarks that tell of its dark but historically significant past. Bruce Chatwins’ The Viceroy of Ouidah is an evocative tale of the slave trade and excellent pre-trip reading. A film festival (www.festival-ouidah.org) is also held in Ouidah at the same time as the voodoo festival.

You can visit Benin in 2016 on a fantastic overlanding trip through West Africa travelling from Accra in Ghana through Togo, Benin, finishing in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Get full details and book your place here.