The Great Loop of Togo

This morning we visit Agbodrafo, a former Portuguese city that has become a peaceful small town nestled between Lake Togo and the ocean. A former slave trading port located 30 kilometers from Lomé, it has been recognized as part of the "Slave Coast".

You can discover some remnants of this past such as the slave house (Woold Home) or the well of the enslaved, as well as the locality of Glidji, site of the ceremony of taking the sacred stone. We spend a good half-day participating in and exchanging with the daily life of Agbodrafo's inhabitants.

Arrival in Aneho, where we settle in at the hotel.

After breakfast, excursion to the village of Togoville, rich in traditions and historical past. Magnificent crossing of the lake by canoe to discover this village that gave its name to the country. It is worth visiting especially for its historical remains bearing witness to slavery and colonization. The population, although practicing voodoo, is one of the most Catholic in the country.

Departure for the village of Avévé. Meeting and visit with the villagers. We discover in complete immersion the local traditions marked especially by vodoun. Possibility to attend traditional dances inspired by local culture.

Return to Aného and night in the same hotel.

We leave the south coast today heading towards Kpalimé. On the way, we visit and meet with peoples who, fleeing wars, live on the mountainsides and practice intensive agriculture.

A region of coffee and cocoa, Kpalimé is set in a natural environment of outstanding beauty surrounded by hills with thick forests and deep valleys. The Agou peak (Togo's highest summit) is covered with dense forests and dotted with small villages. Many natural waterfalls allow you to cool off by the water. Kpalimé is also the country's most important crafts center, where a very large number of artists and craftspeople have settled: wood sculptors, batik makers, potters, weavers, calabash carvers, etc.

Upon our arrival, we visit the Womé waterfalls, which we reach after a short drive followed by a little walk through the forest. The place is idyllic for swimming, with water deep enough and pleasantly cool!

We are now heading towards Atakpamé.

Atakpamé is a prosperous town perched on a hill and which completes the coffee-cocoa triangle formed by Kpalimé, Badou and Atakpamé. Once, the town was a mountainous refuge. Later, during German colonization, the town became an agricultural and administrative center. With a bit of luck, you can witness a tchébé dance performance on stilts. It is one of the most famous dances in Togo and one of the region's specialties.

The central market is located around the town's main square. As night falls, the square becomes more lively and both buyers and visitors walk to the beat of music.

At the Nangbéto dam located not far from the town, we can observe hippopotamuses.

After breakfast, we leave very early in the morning heading north. We pass through Kamina before arriving at our destination for the day, Sokodé.

Sokodé is one of the largest cities in Togo. It is an administrative center where the Kotokolis live in the majority, Muslims whose clothing reminds one of North Africa. The men wear large boubous and the women wear the veil over magnificent very colorful outfits. Local music and dances are not found anywhere else in Togo. During the knife festival, the streets fill with traditional music and dances.

Visit and discovery of certain private houses (tombs of warriors) to which regular offerings are still made.

This morning we head northwest for a first stop in Bassar. The Bassar are the pioneers of the iron civilization in this part of Africa. Meetings and solidarity visits with the chiefs who, in their large clay houses, settle community issues.

Continuation towards the famous Batammariba country (on the Togo side) and Somba (on the Benin side). The houses there are original fortified-farms with stories characterized by their fortified forms with terraces. They are grouped in small villages of about ten units corresponding to a clan, essentially in the north of Togo and Benin. They are built to contain everything the family head owns.

In the heart of the village, discovery of the tamberma with the population to see the construction techniques, the way of life of the Batammariba people and visit several types of tamberma. With their permission, we will enter their tamberma.

Night at the Kandé campsite.

A city in full expansion, Kara is at the heart of visiting Northern Togo. It is here that one finds one of the most numerous ethnic groups in Togo, the Kabyés or "farmers of the stone" because they practice agriculture on rocky terrain.

The Kabyés have made the region an important agricultural center where yams, cotton, peanuts are cultivated, and where mangoes and other fruits are found. Their houses called Soukala are a collection of huts joined together by an enclosure wall where only a single patriarchal family lives.

Meeting and exchanges with craftspeople, particularly blacksmiths. Possibility of attending in July of each year the traditional festivals Evala, initiation festival.

Road to the south heading to Notsé, region of pineapple culture. Stops and visits along the way, including at the Aledjo fault.

Notsé is the capital of the Ewe people. Not much remains of the kingdom that developed there around the 15th century, but Notsé remains a mythical place for many Ewes, as evidenced each year by the largest traditional festival of the Ewe people: Agbogbo-Za.

Meeting with pineapple growers. Visit of historical ruins, witnesses to Ewe civilization. Lunch with the pineapple growers.

We arrive in Lomé in the evening and settle into our hotel.