There, I found that some people are fascinated by chameleons, just like me. Some people even view them as a kind of deity, or god! I visited a Voodoo temple shaped like a giant chameleon. Voodoo is a religion or spiritual practice that originated in West and Central Africa. There is a lot of variety in Voodoo. Due to the African diaspora, versions of Voodoo are practiced in the Caribbean, the U.S. and South America. Even within West Africa, there is a lot of variety in beliefs, practices and ceremonies. What unites all Voodoo practitioners is the belief that every plant and animal has particular powers based on its unique characteristics. Therefore, if someone learns what those powers are, they can use the plant or animal to create change. In this particular town, the chameleon and its powers were revered. They created the temple as a way to showcase that their religious practices were as legitimate as Christianity or other major religion.
Soon after I returned to Togo, I saw a chameleon again. I was walking down the street with a big crowd of people. Suddenly the group split in two. Everyone was making room for something in the middle of the road. I looked around expecting to see a car or a motorcycle. Then, I looked down. In the middle of the road stood a chameleon. It seemed to be a regal creature in the way it commanded so much space.
As we walked on, I realized I did not understand completely my host community’s relationship to chameleons. They did not seem to revere the creature, as the group of people in Benin did, but they seemed to have greater respect for this particular lizard than for other lizards, which they treat as pests. My host mom and my teachers all wanted chameleons to be removed far away.
