Voodoo festival in West Africa

Jean Zossoujbo, a guide at the Temple of Pythons, shows a python to a visitor to the temple in Ouidah, Benin, on Jan. 9, 2013. Voodoo is an official religion in this nation of 9 million people and this year's festival will honor the slaves taken from surrounding countries and sent into America and the Caribbean, people who brought the religion with them.

Credit: AP Photo/Sunday Alamba