6 August, day 1:
Aneho
Arrived 21:20, getting visa at airport took about 40 min.
Outside of airport our hotel transfer was waiting for us with our names written on a piece of paper. On the way we realised that our hotel is not in Lome (as it was stated in the booking.com profile) but in Aneho. Which is about 25 min drive from the Lome Airport. What is funny is that these 25 min drive takes you from one side of the slim country to the other, as Aneho is close to the border with Benin and Lome is just on the border with Ghana – bizarre feeling.
Aneho is a main destination for those wanting to visit Lake Togo, which is a significant “must see” destination of Togo. So since our itinerary was very flexible, we took this mess up with a hotel as an opportunity and started our discovery of Togo from here.
7 August, day 2:
Lake Togo, Togoville
The hotel “Lac Togo” is overlooking the lake, providing beautiful views and the scenic sunset. From the hotel a pirogue can be hired to cross the lake and visit Togoville. Lake is quite shallow so the pirogue is pushed by wooden poles. The views are beautiful, the ride takes about 15-20 minutes. Lake is full of crabs and shrimps, so you can see the fishing nets every here and there. Some pirogues were loaded with large orange containers, it is petrol, our pole-man explained. In Benin petrole is cheaper, so people are transporting it via this lake to sell for a higher price in Togo. This petrole travels all the way from Nigeria, where it is produced, growing in price with every new border, so unfortunately Togo gets the most inflated price.
Our visit to Togoville and Slave house is described in the dedicated post.
8 August, day 3
Lome, visa extension, Fetish Market, my failure at Grand Marche.
After leaving our passports at the immigration office for visa extentsion (the whole process took about 40 min and costed 500 CFA per person) we made our way to the grandma share. The place is such an overwhelming mess that turkish markets seem like a kindergarten in comparison. People shouting, motorbikes and cars signalling, all packed together in a chaotic fast moving bundle. To my embarrassment i had a complete meltdown and we had to leave after the first 15 minutes, heading to our next destination fetish market.
Fetish market is well organised for visits. on arrival you need to pay entrance fee (that includes a guide) and optional photography permission.
9 August, day 4
Getting passports back, 7 seater to Kpalime – see dedicated post.
10 August, day 5
Meeting AVES and hiking jungly mountains around Kpalime: 2 waterfalls, villages, vegetables/chicken/pork/fish farm. All in all a very rich day – totally recommended.
11 August, day 6
Full day hike with AVES to the highest waterfall in Togo – Agumatsa de yikpa.
Also the highest waterfall i’ve seen to date. Amazing experience – another must see.
12 August, day 7
relaxed morning in Kpalime, visit to the local art centre and crazy 2 hours ride in 7 seater to Atakpame under torrential rain. Sharing with us the back seat there was a nun and a massive fat mama (must be prohibited on a 7 seater). On the way we almost had an accident because of the rain, so the nun was crying the name of jesus and telling us it was the god who saved us, after i asked the driver to go slower “because i’m afraid”, when the nun heard this she reassured me that God is protecting us and we will arrive safely – so we did. Atakpame was just a stopover as we were heading North to see the famous Tamberma land and it’s Tata houses.
13 August, day 8
Continue our way north taking a 6 hours bus to Kara.
On arrival to the hotel in Kara we were immediately approached by a guy called Djerry offering his services as a guide. After a round of negotiations we agreed a program and a fixed fee for the next two days: riding 2 motos through Tamberma land with stops at attraction points, spending night at the heart of Tamberma in a Tata house with optional traditional dinner, next day continuing to Nadoba to cross the border to Benin and ride all the way to Natitingou with stops. We managed to negotiate all this for half of the original asking price and paid 50 000 CFA for all this (plus UNESCO sight entrance fees and guide, meals and Tata house sleepover). Was is a fair price? Hard to say, we tried to calculate what it would cost us if we used public transportation – and it looked more expensive and more hassle.
14 August, day 9
Tamberma land and night under the stars in a taata house.
Early start and we are off with Djerry and his companion Erik to finally see the unique and iconic sights of Togo. This adventure deserves a dedicated post.
15 August, day 10
Waking up from the night under the start (well.. stars and a mosquito net) on the roof terrace of a tata house, just on time to meet the first rays of sun showing from behind the gorgeous green clif.
Crossing the border to Benin in the afternoon.
Budget 9 days 2 people:
Including visas (20$ for Seb and 80$ for me) we spent 650 GBP, which makes about 70 GBP per day for 2 people.
We kept it to minimum staying in ventilated (not conditioned) rooms at around 8000-10000 CFA and mostly eating in local makis (an eatery where locals eat – cheap and good), getting around on shared taxis and Zems (motobikes), stayed modest on souvenirs, but still got a few. We could have made it cheaper if we haven’t stayed in a lux hotel for 1 night and skipped a few hotel dinners.
