Koutammakou
The land of the Batammariba in Togo's far north, where families still live in earthen tower-houses with granaries on the roof.
- Arrival
- Gnassingbé Eyadéma International, Lomé · LFW
- To the site
- About 28 km from Niamtougou airfield in a straight line
- Private jets
- Clear in at Lomé, then Niamtougou
- Best time
- November to March
The city
Houses shaped from the earth.
The Batammariba, whose name is said to mean those who shape the earth, settled these valleys in the 17th or 18th century. Their takienta are built of mud on a round or oval plan: animals below, grain stored on the terrace above, and a shrine to the ancestors in the same walls. About 1,700 are still lived in on the Togolese side.
UNESCO listed the landscape in 2004 and redrew its bounds in 2023. It covers more than 270,000 hectares across the border into Benin. The dry season, from November to March, is the time to come; by July the rains are heavy.
- The takienta Tower-houses of one or two floors, a national emblem of Togo, with the granary on top.
- Farm and forest Farmland where, as UNESCO puts it, nature underpins beliefs, rituals and daily life.
- The Benin side Across the border in the Atacora hills, where the Batammariba trace their origins.
Arriving
A long way north.
Lomé is the gateway, more than 400 km to the south. In the north, Niamtougou has a 2,500-metre concrete runway about 28 km from the site, used by the air force, government aircraft and the occasional charter.
- Lagos 55 min
- Accra 1 h 00
- Barcelona 4 h 50
- Vienna 6 h 05
- London 6 h 15 long-range jet
When to go
November to March.
Hot all year, with one long rainy season. From April to October the rain builds to more than 230 mm a month in August and September. November to March is dry, with afternoons of 33 to 35 degrees.
- 34° J 6
- 35° F 16
- 35° M 60
- 34° A 102
- 32° M 136
- 30° J 179
- 28° J 221
- 28° A 233
- 30° S 239
- 32° O 119
- 33° N 18
- 33° D 10
Elsewhere in Togo
More reasons to come.
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