Togo means ‘house of sea’ in the Ewe language.
The country is located between Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Benin is blessed with deserted beaches, fascinating culture and friendly men and women. Upcountry is mountains and plateaus, the area near the Ghanaian border in the southwest, around Kpalimé, is scenic and is well known for its butterflies diversity.
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Over its history, Togo's culture, with its distinctly Francophone flavor, has remained as wealthy and enticing as ever. As topographically varied as its people are culturally varied from pristine coastlines to untouched savannas and rainforests, Togo is : Togo has almost 40 different cultural groups. It is the best destination.
Travelers can learn about medication and historical voodoo rituals, shop in cloth markets, and explore mysterious forests. You will fall in love.
The cherry on top is Lomé, the low-key yet tasteful capital, with its paths that are big, tasty restaurants and throbbing nightlife — and of course the fabulous beaches on its doorstep.
Togo’s has a big production of Cocoa, coffee, and cotton.
Explore Togo : Travelbook
BEST TIME TO VISIT TOGO:
JUNE TO SEPTEMBER
Travelbook Explorers Community Top 10 Favorites Experiences:
- Take a walking tour at the Le Grand Marché
- Hiking the Gorgeous hill country surrounding Kpalimé, well known for the butterflies
- Gaze at the extraordinary tata compounds, in the Tamberma Valley
- Discover the bewildering collection of traditional medicines at the Marché des Fétishes in Lomé
- Explore the crumbling colonial charm of Aného, the former capital, set on a Picturesque lagoon
- Enjoy at the Lake Togo's water sports, such as windsurfing and water-skiing
- Visit the small and pristine beach towns of Baguda and Avepozo
- Get a guided tour of the Caves of Nano and Maproug
- Koutammakou: Visit this UNESCO World Heritage Site
- Take a day tour at Sokodé: The second-largest city in Togo
BEST EXPERIENCE TO HAVE IN TOGO
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Tours and experiences to have in Togo: 7-Day Highlights of Togo
Day 1 — You'll be picked up at the airport and transferred to a beach hotel.
Day 2 — Walking tour of the city begins at the Independence Square and Congressional Palace. Visit the National Museum for an Superb historical and cultural overview of Togo. Continue your walk into the Grand Marche and Cathedral and receive a glimpse of everyday life in the city. The Grand Marche is an archetypal West African marketplace, lively and vibrant. We'll help you browse through this hectic, labyrinth of a market. Drive to Akodessewa Fetish Market, the world's largest Voodoo marketplace, to find out about the rituals of the ancient religion. Voodoo priests, traditional healers and charlatans from all around West Africa procure their ingredients here for their rituals. Return to the hotel.
Day 3 — Drive to Lake Togo. Sail across the lake on a pirogue (traditional dugout canoe) to Togoville. Set on a guided tour of the village, get a taste of Togolese rural life and gain some historical perspective. Sail back and enjoy a picnic dinner on the shore at Agbodrafo village. Go to the La Maison des Esclaves or Wood Home. This house was built with the intention of illegally operating a slave trade. The slaves were kept in the basement beneath the floorboards, unable to endure throughout their confinement and were shipped on ships waiting on the shore for a brief walk in the home. Return to the hotel.
Day 4 — Drive to Kloto for 2 hrs and set onto a 2-hr walking tour of the village of Kouma Konda in the bottom of Mt Kloto and embark on a botanical excursion and butterfly safari. The waterfalls, natural flows and tiny pools of water in the woodland provided an ideal habitat for butterflies. The Mt Kloto area now has over 1,000 species of butterflies of different size, color and form which flutter around night & day. Hike Mt Kloto to its summit to enjoy a panoramic 360° perspective of this Kloto region. This hike takes approximately 1-1.5 hr. Overnight in Kpalime.
Day 5 — Drive for the whole day to Kara creating a stop in the market city of Sokode. Visit the blacksmith village of Wyamde.
Day 6 — Go to the Koutammakou UNESCO World Heritage Site in the afternoon. The Koutammakou in northern Togo is a cultural landscape that is inhabited by Taberma individuals. The Tabermas are famous because of their two-story clay huts or Tatas' which are constructed from ground for a fortress for protection against invaders. Dancing with the Taberma girls in their gazelle horn headdress is an experience not to be missed. Push for the whole day back to Lome making food or shopping stops along the road. Overnight in Lome.
Day 7 — Departure. You'll be dropped off at the airport. This excursion includes: airport transfers, English/French-speaking manuals, 6 nights in a standard double room, private car/van & motorist, activity fees and complimentary bottled water throughout the tour.
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Tour and experiences, powered by Viator and Lonely Planet ⇨ https://bit.ly/TravelbookTogo
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CAPITAL: LOMÉ
AREA: 56,785 SQ KM
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: FRENCH
Places you will love to explore in Togo…
Caves of Nano and Maproug — These caves, inhabited during periods of strife between the 17th and 19th centuries, are located in the north west of Togo. Though many of those original items found in the caves, like weapons, have vanished, people can observe how cave dwellers adapted the traditional structure of villages out the caves to create their own houses within.
Baguida and Avepozo — Seeking to explore Togo's pristine beaches? The beaches outside of Lomé are definitely cleaner and safer to strike. Short drives along the coast from the funding take visitors into the little beach towns of Baguda and Avepozo, some of the most beautiful and untouched beaches on the West African coast, lined with coconut trees and colorful fishing boats. The one issue is that you'll never want to leave!
Voodoo Fetish Market — Any visitor to Lomé shouldn't pass up the chance to visit this conventional voodoo fetish market. Constructed around a little lot, the market consists of tables displaying every body part of any creature imaginable, from hyena heads to monkey testicles and shark teeth. Tourists are often invited to take part in a small ceremony with a voodoo holy man and invited to hold and feed the live monkeys scattered round the marketplace. This is certainly an experience not to be missed, but beware of attempting to choose a shriveled fighter mind on your bag through back and customs into your country!
Le Grand Marché — Lomé’s central market is the commercial hub of the capital. Lomé’s market presents the quintessential picture of the spirit and vivacity of Togo and its people. Here one can find anything and everything, from shoes and motorcycle parts to fresh fruit and vegetables. As elsewhere in West Africa, women dominate market life. Weaving through the Grand Marché, these market women can be heard joking, gossiping, and laughing with one another, hawking their wares at the top of their lungs and berating their children. The crowds of the market sway to the beat of Togolese music pumping from ancient boom boxes. Lomé’s market presents the quintessential picture of the spirit and vivacity of Togo and its people.
Sokodé — The second-largest city in Togo, Sokodé includes a sizable Muslim population and a strong North African flavor. Life in this part of Togo is coordinated around the chiefdoms of their Tem people, which dictate political, social, and spiritual practices. The music and dance of the Sokodé people is some of the most notable in the nation, especially during the numerous religious festivals and ceremonies. Explore Sokodé's markets, and buy a few of the fabric for which the city's artisans are known.
Aného — On the easternmost end of Togo’s short coast sits Aného, the spiritual center of the Guin-Mina people. Built on a lagoon, this town was the first German administrative center on the coast and capital of the region. A colonial architecture still exists and is well worth a visit.
Agbodrafo — Now a small, peaceful place half an hour out of Lomé, this little town was Porto Seguro, a Portuguese fort and an important station along the Slave Coast. Though much proof of Agbodrafo's cruel past was erased, one can still visit the Woold Home (also called the maison des esclaves) and see that the chains which bound the slaves that were kept there.
Kpalimé — Found an hour and a half from Lomé, this city is cherished for its supreme all-natural beauty. Kpalimé is surrounded by various hills covered in rain forest, with small villages, deep valleys, and magnificent waterfalls. Once the middle of the coffee and cocoa trade, the city still has some impressive historic buildings, such as the German cathedral and the governor's house.
Koutammakou — This UNESCO World Heritage Site is situated about an hour drive north of the town of Kara from the Kara area. It's famous because of its batammariba, the round, mud-built homes of those Takienta people that have come to be a sign of Togo. Tour the area and learn about the religious practices of this Takienta.
Réserve de Sarakawa — If you're intent on seeing some normal African wildlife as you're at Togo, head to the Kara region and the Sarakawa Reserve. Once the private game reserve of President Gnassingbé Eyadéma, it is home to zebras, buffalo, antelope, and many bird species.
The Best things to do, Attractions and you must explore in Togo
- Parc National de Fazao-Malfakassa
- Cascade de Womé
- Parc Sarakawa
- Marché des Féticheurs
- Explore Kpalime and Climb Mt Agou
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Featured Pictures from Unsplash:
Photo by Jordan Rowland on Unsplash
Photo by Damian Patkowski on Unsplash
Photo by Muhammadtaha Ibrahim Ma'aji on Unsplash
Photo by Everton Vila on Unsplash
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