Togo Travel Guide

I was not going to eat here, but I am so glad I did! I was staying in the hotel and decided to go and see their rooftop bar and restaurant. I was just going to have one beer and then take a cheap taxi-moto into the city. The second I entered the thatch covered bar - I thought - wow! My server was the friendliest waitress and bar tender. She told...

I was not going to eat here, but I am so glad I did! I was staying in the hotel and decided to go and see their rooftop bar and restaurant. I was just going to have one beer and then take a cheap taxi-moto into the city. The second I entered the thatch covered bar - I thought - wow! My server was the friendliest waitress and bar tender. She told me...

A family was sitting outside their house and prepared a dinner when I walked by their house. I was invited inside to see a newborn baby.

Bush taxis (taxi-brousse) to Agbodrafo can be found at the autogare in the Grand Marche (Big market of Lomè). Just state your destination and you will be pointed to the next bush taxi. You will have to wait until the taxi is full of passengers before it leaves. So be prepared to wait. The trip to Agbodrafo takes 1-2 hours, and the fare should be...

Agbodrafo is today one of the voodoo strongholds in Africa where traditions, beliefs and superstitions are a way of life. Witchcraft, wicca and other rituals items can be seen along the streets all over the town. The place is genuine and the voodoo rituals are real.

Aneho is the border town against Benin in the maritime region of the southeastern Togo. The town is also known under the name "Little Popo", and was earlier a Portuguese slave market. It became the first German capital of Togo in the 1880's before the capital was transferred to Lomé in 1897. The town's main industries are farming and fishing.The...

Notice the the Frontiere Togo-Benin signboard has a H.I.V warning. It might be confusing to understand how Aneho can be the border town to Benin when it is "far away" to the border. But if you look closer to the map you will see a very narrow strip of land on the Benin side, called "Grand Popo". Aneho, which was named "Little Popo" is on the Togo...

The cathedral stands out among everything else in Togoville, so you won't have trouble finding it. This German built church has some nice stained glass and rather grisly murals inside..definitely worth a look.

Boats leave from Agbo dock when they fill up with people. I paid 3000CFA($6) for the ride, which was arranged by the guy from my hotel...you might pay more doing it alone. Be warned the boat guy will hassle you for a tip on the ride back....not all of the other Togolese passengers, just you the foreigner.

In the village of Nangbani, outside Bassar, we went to see this handful of preserved iron blast furnaces from 1850. It is not so much the age of the furnaces, nor is it the style of construction, that makes them interesting, it is the fact that blacksmiths are pivotal in the Togolese culture. Only post-menopausal women were allowed to collect the...

Behind the palace is a courtyard surrounded by the houses of the king’s wives amongst other sacred buildings. The late king is buried in this courtyard. He chose the burial spot himself before he died. The mound has a small hole in it to allow air in so that the king’s spirit can breathe and so that he can look out and check how his kingdom is...

The ostrich egg on the top of the thatched roof of the palace buildings is placed there to protect the royal family against evil spirits.

The Fire Dance was held in a clearing in the small village of Tinadou, just outside Kparatoa, some miles from Sokode. There was a large sign at the roadside advertising the dance. Villagers from many nearby settlement came to witness the show, as well as us 15 tourists. The dance takes place round about a month after the festival of cutlasses. The...

As usual, the restaurant staff encouraged us to order the set menu. We obliged. I am all for an easy life. We were glad we did. The starter was a very nice vegetable soup, and the main course of Pork Escalope, was the best meat we had in West Africa. The menu said rice as an accompaniment, but by special request, we received chips! Dessert was...

We stopped just outside Kara at this restaurant for lunch on our way through (having stayed in Kara a couple of nights previously) from Taberma Valley south. It was a pleasant little spot to stop and they readily agreed to us cooking our own food and using their premises, providing we bought drinks. Cool. Daniel (the chef) cooked us goat and rice...

In another section, not far from the dead animal part, was the area where they sold live goats. They were crammed in rather tight and making a lot of noise. Perhaps they’d seen the fate of their fellow animals in the butcher section?

Inside one of the large halls, was the butcher section. Huge slabs on meat lay on solid concrete counters. The meat didn’t look bad, but it also did not look like the same quality as I would get in the supermarket back home. It did not smell though, as I have experienced in other meat markets, and there were very few flies. One sight that did amuse...

The chief is seated by the side of the clearing in which the dancing takes place. Next to him is the fetish (or vodoun) priest. As part of the ritual, the faithful will greet the priest, partly to show respect, and partly to ask for favours, advice, treatment of illnesses, spiritual guidance or help with their problems. The priest will, through...

There are also an awful lot of misconceptions that vodoun originated in Haiti. Yes, it is the state religion in Haiti, but it was brought there by the slaves from West Africa during the French colonial time. I was quite perturbed to find that most web sites I found were devoted to vodoun in Haiti, in fact some did not even mention West Africa, when...

Most of the dancing was done by women. A couple of hours into the ritual, a couple of young lads did get up to join and, much to the approval of everyone present. There was much cheering and clapping and they seemed to be rather embarrassed by all the attention. They didn’t last very long though, and soon went to sit down again, leaving the dance...