Togo & Benin: culture, nature and voodoo

We leave the south coast today heading towards Kpalimé. Along 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 situated in a naturally beautiful environment surrounded by hills with thick forests and deep valleys. The peak of Agou (Togo's highest summit) is covered in 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 craft center, where a great many artists and craftspeople have settled: wood sculptors, batik makers, potters, weavers, calabash makers, …

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

This morning we visit Agbodrafo, a former Portuguese city that has become a peaceful little 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 chained, as well as the locality of Glidji, the place of the ceremony of taking the sacred stone. We dedicate a good half-day to participatory activities and exchanges in the daily life of the inhabitants of Agbodrafo.

Arrival in Aneho, where we settle into the hotel.

This morning we transfer to the town of Ouidah, close to the Atlantic coast, our gateway to Benin.

We spend the day wandering for hours through this historic town and begin with the Temple of Pythons. It stands opposite the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the city's cathedral, with which it forms a striking contrast.

Then we stretch our legs exploring the sacred forest of Kpassé. It is a wooded area where hundred-year-old trees stand tall. We enjoy discovering its vodoun temple with its statues of voodoo deities, as well as contemplating the king's iroko tree.

The Slave Route remains an unmissable circuit in Ouidah. We walk several kilometers of beach to trace one by one the 5 stages of this path, symbol of the slave trade in Benin.

We finish our visit to the town with a brief stop at the Zinsou foundation to admire contemporary African art.

We then head to the lacustrine city of Ganvié. This village is situated in the middle of Lake Nokoué and has been inhabited since 1770 by the Toffin, a tribe that fled inter-ethnic conflicts and the evils of slavery. The spectacle that unfolds before our eyes is exceptional: its floating market with a thousand colors and a thousand fragrances, and its bamboo and thatched houses on stilts. The excursion is made by pirogue.

Then we head to Porto Novo, the administrative capital of Benin. It is also the capital of the Ouémé department. This beautiful and charming port city stands out for its multi-ethnicity and especially for the colonial architecture of its buildings, listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites (such as its Grand Mosque).

An African city known as the heart of the worship cults of the god Orisha, three distinct religions predominate there: Christianity, the Yoruba religion and Voodoo, and Islam.

We visit the Honmé Palace, before continuing with some history and culture at the ethnographic museum. You can admire various indigenous artifacts such as Guèlèdè masks, weapons and musical instruments. The Grand Mosque is a real feast for the eyes with its multicolored facades and architectural style.

On the road to Abomey, we pass through Pobé to pay a courtesy visit to the "Holi" women and admire their traditional adornments and tattoos. It is one of the rare ethnic groups that still preserve their cultures.

Former capital of Dahomey, the city of Abomey is home to the royal palaces of the ancient kings. Founded in the 16th century, Abomey houses the museum that preserves ancient royal objects, ornaments and treasures of the former kingdom. The sites were abandoned following the defeat of King Behanzin against French colonists. Later, these castles were renovated by UNESCO and became historical museums.

We visit Goho Square and take a break with the Hountondji specialists in the transformation and manufacture of gold and copper objects.

We're taking the road north today and making our first stop in the historic city of Dassa-Zoumé. Impressive rocky hills surround the town forming a natural amphitheater of great beauty called the 41 hills.

Before Natitingou, we make a second stop at Djougou to visit the village of Taneka Koko, located in the heart of a region mainly occupied by animist hunters and millet farmers.

Arrival at Natitingou and overnight accommodation.

Before leaving Natitingou, we visit the popular museum and then the city market. It is also possible to take a swim in the natural pool of the Kota waterfalls.

On the road leading to Boukoumbe are villages whose population is essentially agricultural. Boukoumbe is one of the nine communes of the Atacora department, not far from the border with Togo. We are in Somba country, a region where people lived naked and isolated from the rest of the world until the 1960s. It was not until 1975 that the government "civilized" this pagan people, notably through schooling.

A few kilometers from Boukoumbe, we arrive at the small village of Koutagou, which in the Somba language means "where there is happiness". This village is known for its Somba tatas, traditional constructions that command admiration. But beyond these veritable strongholds, the small village of Koutagou presents a plain conducive to hiking and exchanges with the local population. We can also admire the peaks of the Atakora which, in the distance, challenge us…

Continuation towards the famous Batammariba country which is none other than the counterpart, on the Togolese side, of the Somba country in Benin. The houses there are original fortress-farms with stories distinguished by their fortified shapes with terraces. They are grouped in small villages of about ten units corresponding to a clan, essentially in northern Togo and Benin. They are built to contain everything the head of the family 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 homes.

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 "peasants 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 set of huts united by a surrounding wall where only a single patriarchal family lives. Meeting and exchanges with craftsmen, notably blacksmiths. Possibility of attending in July of each year the traditional festivals Evala, initiation festival.

Sokodé is one of the largest cities in Togo. It is an administrative center where the Kotokolis, Muslims whose clothing recalls North Africa, live in the majority. The men wear large boubous and the women wear veils over magnificent brightly colored outfits. The 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 (warriors' tombs) to which regular offerings are still made.

We are now heading towards Atakpamé.

Atakpamé is a prosperous town perched on a hillside and which completes the coffee-cocoa triangle formed by Kpalimé, Badou and Atakpamé. Formerly, 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 watch a tchébé dance performance on stilts. It is one of the most famous dances in Togo and one of the specialties of the region.

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

At the Nangbéto dam located near the town, we can observe hippopotamuses.

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

Meet with pineapple growers. Visit the historical remains, witnesses to the civilization of the Ewé. Lunch with the pineapple growers.

Just a few hours left in Togo and we take the opportunity for one last tour of the city in Lomé. We will also take a stroll along the beach to share our joys and emotions. Some souvenir shopping and refreshments and it's already time for the transfer to the airport for our return journey.