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Why leave to Togo ?

Togo is a country of cultures and traditions. The ethnic groups that compose it (about fifty) have their own rituals, their festivals, their way of life and organization, their way of understanding the world around them. The richness of the country lies in their diversity and in their relatively preserved and authentic character. One of the privileged moments to get to the heart of these beliefs and traditions is the traditional festivals. They are usually an opportunity to thank gods and ancestors and to remember their origins. While initiation rituals tend to disappear under the influence of modernity, some populations continue to practice them in an ancestral way. The maritime region is an opportunity to discover the animist and voodoo rites around Aného and Togoville. These practices are very much rooted at the community level and still punctuate village life. The region is the setting for very beautiful traditional festivals such as those of Epe-Ekpe (in Glidji, Guin New Year), Dezan (Togoville diaspora) or Ekpan (Agbodrafo carnival). Towards Tsévié and Notsé, in the centre of the historical heart of the Ewe people, there are also some very beautiful festivals: Agbogbo-za in Notsé, Ayiza in Tsévié. The Western Plateaux region is mainly populated by farmers and cultivators living in the mountainous regions of Kpalimé, Badou and Atakpamé. Further north, we meet the Islamized populations of the Sokodé region (Tem), which have organized themselves around traditional chiefdoms. At the level of Kara, we join the Kabyat country, the "stone farmers" whose traditions are still manifested today through the "evala struggles". To the west are the Bassars who knew the ancestral work of iron. 50 km to the north are the Betanmariba and probably the most prestigious site in the country: the Koutammakou landscape (also known as Tamberma country) whose populations and fortified dwellings (takienta) are classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Finally, in the Dapaong region, we will meet the Moba-Gurma people and their ancestor worship. Each of these ethnic groups and cultures testifies to Togo's great cultural diversity.

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