Sights in Togo
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Tamberma Valley
It would be a crime to visit Togo and not check out this amazing valley. Its unique collection of fortified villages were founded in the 17th century by people who fled the slaving forays of the Benin's Dahomeyan kings.
The valley was isolated until recently but is now the closest thing northern Togo has to a tourist hotspot, with the attendant overzealous guides.
A typical Tamberma compound, called a tata, consists of a series of towers connected by a thick wall with a single entrance chamber, used to trap an enemy so he can be showered with arrows. The castle-like nature of these extraordinary structures helped ward off invasions by neighbouring tribes and, in the late…
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Marché des Féticheurs
The Marché des Féticheurs, 4km northeast of the centre, stocks all the ingredients for traditional tonics and fetishes - porcupine skin, warthog teeth, donkey skull, serpent head, horse hair, parakeet tail, thunderstones and chameleons. You can also buy ready-made grigri charms, such as the lovers' fetish and the 'telephone' fetish for travellers. Stock is sourced all over Africa and some visitors may feel uncomfortable buying the parts of lions, panthers, antelopes and buffalo, or rare species.
The market is an overpriced tourist trap, but is still worth a visit. To get there charter a taxi or a taxi-moto.
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Grand Marché
Lomé's Grand Marché is a great place to get a sense of what Togo is all about. It is colourful, noisy, crowded and buzzing, not the place for genteel browsing but rather for intense haggling with the often formidable female marketeers, named Mama Benz, after their favourite motors.
This is the place to pick up everything from Togolese football tops to something exotic for a picnic. One of the most sought after items on offer is wax cloth, sold by the 2m pagne - the amount needed for a complete outfit - and available in a variety of bright colours.
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Akloa Falls
Togo's best waterfall is the 35m (115ft) Akloa Falls. It's like something out of a shampoo commercial: water gushing down a cliff, and people frolicking in the pool below, surrounded by lush vegetation. The falls are accessed via a strenuous climb that follows the Domi River and passes through coffee fields, pineapple plantations and a butterfly garden.
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Musée National
The entrance to the Musée National is at the back of the Palais du Congrès in Place de l'Indépendance. It houses historical artefacts, pottery, costumes, musical instruments, woodcarvings and traditional medicines, plus 'thunderstones' (large rocks shaped like eggs) and cowrie shells, both formerly used as legal tender.
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Palais du Congrès
To the east of Place de l'Indépendance is Palais du Congrès, previously Eyadéma's RPT headquarters.
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