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Togo

Togolese Fetish Market

It seems that Togo is only just beginning to wake up to the potential of foreign tourism as an economic factor. Ranked among the politically unstable West African countries, although by no means the worst, Togo also has very little other than the charm of its beaches and interior landscapes to offer. Little in the way of natural heritage has been preserved, and a certain perplexity seems to grip the citizens when the needs of outsiders seeking stimulation are discussed. Perhaps one day this will change, but for the time being Togo seems more of a traveler that tourist destination, particularly bearing in mind what is available to the left and right in either Ghana or Benin.

Travel To & Within Togo

  • Flights To Togo
  • Hotels In Togo
  • Why Travel To Togo

  • Palimé
  • Lake Togo
  • Tamberma Valley
  • Fazao-Malfakassa Park
  • Kéran national Park
  • Fosse aux Lions National Park
  • The keyword in any discussions of Togolese tourism is potential. How much potential is open to question, but certainly the country is not without a diversity of culture, architecture, arts and music, and perhaps most obviously a coastline that is in effect a 50 mile wide sandy beach.

    Lomé, the capital of Togo, is a small center, but is often described as being the jaded Paris of West Africa. This is rather an overused comparison, and is moreover a matter of opinion, but Lomé certainly is among the most colorful and energetic of West African cities. Everywhere there is strong trace evidence of the cultural diversity that defines, not only Togo itself, but a wider region only very incidentally subdivided into individual nation states.

    Thirty seven ethnic groups inhabit the country, and while French is the official language, a plethora of different dialects can be heard in the day-to-day interaction on the streets. Christianity and Islam compete with one another for the souls of the living, but by far the strongest spiritual influence remains the traditional animist/voodoo reverence for the dead. Scattered around the capital and the hinterland are fetish markets that supply a flourishing demand for the accoutrements of this ancient belief system.

    The natural heritage of Togo is depleted and as a consequence the country has almost no potential for eco-tourism on a large scale. However, of the country’s three national parks, the Fazao-Malfakassa Park survives as an area of preserved forest and savannah woodland habitat, and an important refuge for the regions unique and diverse bird life. Poaching in the region is a severe problem, despite which some surviving populations of chimpanzees, elephants and a handful of other primates cling on, but not in appreciable numbers. The Fosse aux Lions National Park and Kéran national Park are likewise preserved somewhat as natural eco-regions, but do not retain any significant populations of wildlife either, and certainly the former supports no lions whatsoever.

    When To Visit Togo

    Like many of the countries of West Africa Togo straddles the tropical coastal belt and the Sahel, a region of savannah woodlands that transitions from the verdure of the coastal plains to the sands of the Sahara desert. As a consequence the climate varies from tropical in the south to arid in the north. Summer rains tend to fall from May until October, and of course the Harmattan wind that carry sand and dust from the Sahara desert occur between the end of November and the middle of March. The driest months are the winter months, and these are also the coolest, so on balance the best time to visit is between the beginning of November and the end of February.

    Travel Warning

    Togo is a backwater and has a limited terrorisim potential, a small but growing incidence of street crime, and a not appreciable potential for tropical diseases. All that can perhaps be said of the extraordinary risks of travel in Togo is that the local West African epidemic of advance fee fraud and confidence and sympathy scamming is gaining ground in Togo.

    The normal precautions against HIV/AIDS are advisable.

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