Togo

Get in

thumb|375px|Visa policy of Togo

Get around

A taxi-moto (motorcycle taxi) will cost CFA 150-500 to get you around. You can tell who the taxi-moto drivers are: they will honk or hiss at you as they drive by and usually wear baseball caps and sunglasses. A taxi will usually cost about CFA 500 for a one-way short trip inside the city, for trips to the northern parts of the city expect to pay up to CFA 2,500. Taxis will have yellow licence plates and their registration number painted on the car. Always negotiate before you get on/in, the quoted price will include tip.

Sometimes, when you are on a side street, it might be helpful if you ask a security guard to wave down a taxi for you. Tipping CFA 300-600 is expected.

See

thumbnail|The tatas in Nadoba

Lomé's markets, both general and voodoo, are the most popular stop in the country along the road between Ghana and Benin. The smaller towns of Togoville on Lake Togo and Aneho on the ocean are also popular stops for the former's voodoo shrines and historic sights and the latter's beaches.

Lately, the coffee growing region around Kpalimé has become popular with the errant tourist in Togo, with a good number of nice hikes, cooler weather, and pleasant views.

Perhaps the most alluring part of the country is the hardest to get to—the hilly and sparsely populated north. The best known destination is Tamberma Valley — the Koutammakou UNESCO World Heritage site, to the north of Kara. The local Batammariba people (known by colonists as the Tamberma) constructed and live in unique Takienta (a.k.a. Tata) "tower-houses" of mud and straw, which arguably have become the Togolese national symbol. It's a surreal dreamland of a place, and easily a highlight of a trip to Togo, although it is a journey to get there.

Togo's few parks and reserves are relatively rarely visited, but if you manage to make it out there on a safari, Fazao Mafakassa National Park in the center-west of the country is quite beautiful. In the far north of the country is Kéran National Park, with one of the larger elephant populations in West Africa. Aside from Kéran, the north also offers a ton of potential outdoor excursions, with nice hikes up mountains, out to waterfalls, etc. Akloa …

Do

Sports, especially football, are the main entertaining activity in Togo. You can watch the football league games played in the weekends (check listings). Apart from football, there are several night clubs that can keep you awake at night, and the capital is full of them; the Chess BSBG is among the most popular.

TV programs are not the best in the world, with films and sitcoms that have been played for years.

The beach offers another type of fun. Many activities and parties are organized there, with people coming from all over Lomé to enjoy the beautiful weather in the weekends. Despite those great things at the beach, you really have to choose a good spot to avoid stepping or sitting on the unwanted.

Buy

thumb|270px|[[Lome Fetish Market]]

Eat

thumb|Fufu Akume is made from corn flour. The "national" dish of West-Africa is Fufu. In Togo, it consists of white yams pounded into a doughy consistency. You will find plenty of Fufu Restaurants in the cities as well as roadside stands. Akume and Fufu are usually eaten with your hands and come with different sauces (from smoked fish to spicy tomato to peanut).

Plantains can also be found in various forms; grilled, cooked, mashed or fried. In the season, mangos, papayas, and pineapples are for sale everywhere.

There are a lot of local fruits sold on the side of the highways and main country roads - pineapples, oranges, mangoes, etc. You can also sometimes see them selling African fan palm fruits (Borassus aethiopum) which look like orange coconuts. Ripe fruit can be opened by removing the top (cap) and then peeling off the skin (using hands or machete) - then people suck on the bright orange fibres as they are quite sweet and reminiscent of mango. Not for everyone but can be fun if you are into trying out exotic fruits.

Drink

Lemonade and Bissap juice are the most popular drinks. There are many bars almost around all corners in Lomé where you will be able to have a beer.

The most popular drinks you will find in common bars are beers and sodas. Here is a list of the beers you may find based on their popularity: Pils Guinness Castel Flag Eku Lager Cocktail de fruit Coca Cola Fanta Pompom (apple based soda) Limonade Sprite XXL (red-bull-like soda) Schwepp's Tonic Pamplemousse (grapefruit based soda) Sodawater Moka Malta Malta Guinness Don't be surprised if most of the bars do not have what you ask. The Togolese are not renowned for their organisation and tight management, except one small motel called "Auberge London" in the northern suburbs of Lomé called "Agoe" where you will have all the possible drink listed above.

Stay safe

thumb|Aného Beach As a rule, stay away from public beaches, where tourists find themselves mugged any time of day or night. Most of the country has little crime, but Lomé is a clear exception, and is a good deal more dangerous than any city in Ghana or Benin. If going somewhere at night, take a car taxi, and get the numbers of a few trusted taxi drivers if you plan to stay for a while.

Driving is atrocious in Togo, with fatalistic overloaded speed demons chancing it on curves and hills, capital streets swarming with motorcycles throughout the black of night, and worrisome accident scenes along the main roads. The hilly north-south road north of Kara is particularly dangerous. If you are skeptical, take a day trip, and marvel at all the husks of buses and trucks that weren't there on the way out! Traffic is the single biggest danger to travelers in Togo.

Stay healthy

Drink bottled water such as Volta or sachets of "Pure Water". Bissop juice is also fairly safe as it is boiled, and avoid the lemonade "citron" despite its delicious appearance. Stay away from roadside meals if possible. People relieve themselves in the streets in Lomé, so be aware of that.

In rural areas you can sometimes see vendors on the side of the road selling the Ackee fruit, the trees of which are quite abundant throughout Togo. While locals cook this fruit or eat the yellow arils of it, it is recommended to avoid eating it altogether, as black seeds and red fibrous rinds contain hypoglycin A - a toxin which can cause a "Jamaican Vomiting Sickness" (severe hypoglycemia) and can result in coma or death.

Respect

Greetings are a little more elaborate in Togo. Say hello to everyone when coming and going. Handshakes are key. Also, maybe if you try to get to know them, you will fit in. Make sure you make yourself feel like you are at home. Don't make it too homey, though, because you don't want to get on their bad side.