Fourteen Days Togo and Benin Holiday

The highlights of this holiday includes experiencing Voodoo – A unique opportunity to witness the intriguing and esoteric rituals of West Africa, Tamberma – Remote fortified dwellings in the Atakora mountains, Kloto – Scenic highlands and walks in the tropical forest, Abomey – The impressive Royal palace, a UNESCO Heritage site, Ganvie – A remarkable stilt village on Lake Nokwe, Village Life – Experience the diversity of cultures and traditions in West Africa, Lomé – Togo’s vibrant capital and the fetish market.

Day One: Arrival in Lome

Upon your arrivai in Lome at Tokoim International Airport, the guide from Afrikan Wildlife Safaris will welcome you and then transfer you to the hotel for the overnight. If you arrive early, you can go for the city tour and visit the Museum of the Arts – ‘Palais de Lome’. Dating back over 100 years, the building has been used as the French governor’s residence, the seat of Togolese presidency and also the residence of the Prime Minister before being abandoned. The 11 hectare park surrounding the palace is now home to a number of gardens and sculptures.

Day Two: Kpalime

After breakfast, you can go for the city tour if missed last on arrival, Visit the colorful market and Togo’s famed fetish market where locals and voodoo priests alike, can source anything from good luck charms to animal skulls to aid their pursuit of bringing themselves good fortune and health. Then drive to Kpalime, Togo’s 4th largest city which is surrounded by tropical forest. This area is Togo’s biggest producer of artisanal items including pottery, weaved items and wood sculpture, and we will visit the Centre of Artisans to see their work.

Day Three: Guided rainforest butterfly walk

This morning, you will go for a half-day, guided hike through the rainforest. We will be hiking for five to six hours guided by a butterfly expert. Along the trails we will learn about the important and delicate eco-system in the forest, where over 500 species of butterfly can be found. In the afternoon, we drive north to Sokode for approximately five hours. In the evening we witness a traditional Fire Dance. Dancing to the hypnotic beat of the drum, the dancers eventually leap into the glowing embers. They then pick up burning coals and pass them over their body and mouth without showing any pain or injury. Whether it is a matter of courage, magic or auto suggestion, witnessing these rituals is a real privilege and a truly interesting experience.

Day Four: Bassar region

On this day, we will drive towards Kara with stops along the way to meet the Bassar people. The Bassar live in traditional large clay houses with conical roofs and produce iron following an old traditional procedure. Strict rules have to be followed. only old women should provide the coal needed, which they collect from the mountains surrounding the villages. According to their belief, the iron would only melt under particular circumstances and if a strict code of conduct is observed. Our guide will also see if it’s possible to meet a traditional Chief who will talk to us about their role in the society and leading their village. We will arrive in Kara in the early evening.

Day Five: Kabye region and the Atakora mountains

Today after breakfast, we will start early our drive into Benin. The first part of our drive is through a mountainous region where the Kabye people reside. The Kabye are excellent blacksmiths who still work with traditional methods. After visiting the communities here, we reach the Atakora Mountains, a chain of mountains that starts in south east Ghana and cuts through Togo and Benin and have offered a refuge for the Tamberma people for generations. We will see the fortified dwellings of the Tamberma, their clay castles are revered throughout Africa. With phallic shaped fetishes adorning the entrance to their houses and surrounding wall representing the spirits of their ancestors. We will stop somewhere close to the border for a lunch break before crossing into Boukoumbe, Benin. Then drive to Koussou, and stop at a Somba village and viewpoints to catch a great photo over the Benin landscape.

Day Six: Atakora Mountain range and meet the Somba people

After early breakfast, you will go for a walk in this remarkable region, discovering some of the villages in the Atakora Mountains. The walk is around six to seven hours over undulating hills along visible trails with plenty of stops along the route. We will have the chance to meet the Somba people (this word means nude in the traditional language) whose traditions have not yet been changed by outsiders, due to their geographic isolation. Similar to the Tamberma architecture, the Somba architecture is characterised by dwellings that resemble a three storey castle. These beautiful fortifications are separated from the others depending on the ownership of fertile land. Walking shoes and walking poles are recommended for today. The terrain can be rocky in places with some ascents and descents. With warm temperatures sun protection and insect repellent are essential.

Day Seven: Natitingou

For today, you will drive to Natitingou arriving in time for lunch. Our guide will give you some information about the town before a free afternoon. There an optional visit to the town or relax by the pool in the hotel. The town hosts a market and an interesting museum about the people living in the Atakora Mountains. The museum is located in a French colonial house built in 1915.

Day Eight:  Taneka plateau and drive to Dassa

On this day, you will depart early driving to the village of Taneka Beri at the base of the Taneka Plateau, where we will start our walk. We will be walking for four hours throughout the morning, ascending the plateau along a rocky track to discover the ancient villages of the Yom who reside here. The Yom People live in round huts covered with conical roofs and decorated with terracotta vases. The upper part of each village is inhabited by fetish priests, dressed in a goatskin and their young initiates. Then later drive south to Dassa for the overnight.

Day Nine: Visit the town of Dassa and the Royal Palace of Abomey

You will go to explore Dassa which used to be the capital of an ancient kingdom in 1385. Visit the Sacred Hill where funerals for the royal family take place accompanied by Voodoo practices. Then drive to the town of Abomey and visit the Royal Palace to discover the ornate majesty that was once the Dan-Homey dynasty. Now a museum, the Palace walls are still decorated with bas-reliefs representing the symbols of the Dahomey kings and its halls and rooms hold the thrones and altars, statues and arms of a kingdom that lived in a perpetual state of war and built its greatness on the slavery of its neighbours. In the centre of the royal courtyard is the House of Pearls, a temple built by king Glele to honour his father’s spirit, the walls made from a mixture of clay and human blood. Then proceed to Cove.

Day Ten: Experience Egun and Gelede mask ceremonies

Today, we will witness an Egun mask performance. According to the local tradition, people perform the rituals not only to represent but also to embody the spirits of the ancestors. Dressed in bright, colourful costumes, they emerge from the forest and form a procession through the village streets. This afternoon we also have the opportunity to visit a Gelede mask ceremony. A cult to the great divinity Oudua, the earth mother, Gelede is a cult, a secret society and a type of mask all at the same time. The brightly coloured masks represent the bridge between the society and the ordinary villagers and are comprised of a head with large eyes and sensual lips over which are an animated collection of characters and objects that tell stories, to the accompaniment of a choir and an excited audience. This is a really special day as we encounter contrasting ceremonies, both very different and yet equally memorable.

Day Eleven: Ganvie to spend a night in a stilt guesthouse

This morning, we will drive and then take a boat to Ganvie, the largest stilt village in Africa. Settled by the Tofinou people, fleeing the slave traders of the 16th century, the village today is an atmospheric setting of thatched huts, balanced on stilts of teak, where daily life is still very much conducted on the waters of the lake. Fishing is still the principal activity for the inhabitants and every day the men go about their business, whilst women deliver their goods to the floating market and children go to school and play from the backs of open pirogues. But even amidst this tranquil aquatic idyll voodoo plays its part. After a relaxing afternoon we will meet a local Bokono oracle, a village soothsayer, this evening. We will learn how these traditional people are guided through life by the drums and dancing of voodoos haunting rhythm.

Day Twelve: Visit Ouidah and then drive to Grand Popo

On this day, you will depart Ganvie and go by boat and vehicle to the town of Ouidah, considered to be the spiritual home of voodoo. Once an infamous part of the old slave route, Ouidah was the site of one of the largest trading posts, supplying slaves to Europe and its outlying colonies. Visit the museum at the Old Portuguese Fort and taking a walk along the slave route to the beach, where the unfortunate victims were loaded aboard the slave ships. Also visit the remarkable Python Temple, where Ouidah’s ancient snake cult is still very much in evidence. Snakes are still an important feature of many voodoo rituals, believed to be able to imbue vitality and protection. Later we head east towards the Gulf of Benin where we will stay in Grand Popo.

Day Thirteen:  Zangbeto dancing mask ceremony and voodoo ceremony

After breakfast, you will drive and then take a boat to a small village Zangbeto. The masks for this ceremony are full body, straw decorations and the wearers of these masks keep their identity hidden as part of a secret society of traditional Voodoo guardians. Later cross the border back into Togo and  continue for Aneho, a village of thatched houses with shrines and fetishes, and there may be an opportunity to watch a Voodoo ceremony. During such a ritual we will see traditional dancers falling into a deep trance at the hypnotic rhythm of drums. After the ceremony we meet a traditional healer who treat the patients with voodoo rites and herbs. In the afternoon, we continue to Lome.

Day Fourteen: Departure

After breakfast, the guide will transfer you to the airport to catch your flight back home.