Togo: towards Nadoba, into the Tamberma Valley

A taste of adventure, fortress-like houses & and a fine, rural market

Kara: heartland of the Kabye people

Kara is a relaxed, somewhat nondescript town about 400 km. north of Lomé; you can use the town as base for several excursions. For me, Kara was nothing more than a stopover on my way to Benin via the Tamberma Valley,  and the fondest memory I have was a long conversation with a local teacher (in poor German) about political and social conditions in Togo, which was really eye opening. It’s the Kabye tribe that settled here, attracted by the fertile land. The local market is rich in agricultural- and crafts products and worth a brief visit. You can also explore the surrounding hills by bicycle or car; the attractions being the villages and scenery. If you want to spend a lot of money, you may like to look for a guide named Leo Paul, who charges an exorbitant guide fee of $35 a day though. Kara is in theory the official checkpoint to have formalities done when leaving Togo to Benin through the Tamberma Valley (Nadoba - Boukoumbé), but I didn't bother and was fine.

How to reach the Tamberma Valley

You can reach the Valley from a junction at Kandé village just following the international highway north of Kara for about an hour. From the junction, follow a dirt track for about 25 kilometers towards the Togo-Benin border. If you arrive in Kandé on Wednesday mornings, you will easily find a bushtaxi to Nadoba, the main village in the Valley. Vehicles can only pass during dry season though, as I found out! Just 15 minutes out of Kandé, the Keran river had flooded the bridge and surrounding lands. So the choice was either waiting for the river to retreat, or to wade through the water and continue by foot. Together with half a dozen other passengers I chose for the last.

Visiting a homestead in Tamberma Valley

A nice side effect of the natural roadblock was that there were a few hours of walking, and I had ample time to chat with a friendly guy, who later showed me around in their family “fortress”. Which was really great, since I read somewhere it could be quite a challenge to be invited to one. Most people live isolated on their lands, so if you purposely come close and start taking pictures without asking, some may be offended. If you however ask for permission, or even ask if you can look around, some owners reputedly take the opportunity to ask for money. I think it's best to ask for permission in any case, and it then depends on your socializing skills what the result will be. In my opinion negotiating in money should be avoided, instead be amiable and bring some nice treats from town, which you could offer as a gift. That usually breaks the ice. Maybe the best option to independent travellers who seek to visit a traditional homestead on invitation, is to take a Wednesday bush taxi all the way to Nadoba Village, and mingle with people at the local market. If nothing works, you can see some of these traditional homes around Nadoba as well, and although the ones I saw here where not in top condition, at least they were more authentic than many “museum-like” structures that I saw on the Beninese side, many newly build especially for tourism purposes.

Nadoba Wednesday Market

The colourful Wednesday market in Nadoba is a regional highlight and provided me the nicest day of my stay in Togo. Not because of its size, or because of its merchandise, but because of it’s rural charm. Everyone knows one another, and the market is teeming with activity. Farmers and alike from all around the border area, some in traditional dresses, do arrive here with their trade. Craftspeople offer their services. But socializing is a major motive too. Towards the end of the day many men got involved in gambling and gossiping and getting drunk from local brew served in huge calabash shells.

Staying overnight in Nadoba

I could have taken advantage of the plenty onward transport options this Wednesday (and most on this day only!), but as I was enjoying myself at the market, I decided to stay at the local guesthouse annex bar annex (as I discovered later) disco. Just when I was convinced of a very boring evening to come, alone, no electricity, no friends, no English speakers, one after the other youngster dropped in. A little later followed by a bunch of guys who started a generator, and placed discolight and loudspeakers in the courtyard right in front of my room. By 10pm, some 60 people, mostly teenagers, were ready to party and finally the DJ started the music, a cool mix of modern and traditional music from all over West Africa! This was a fantastic end of the day; it was big fun!! Some hours later I managed to fall asleep on my bed, probably the most noisy environment I ever fell asleep in, destroyed from a tiring day. I woke up at 5AM and had another quick look at the weekly Wednesday party, maybe 10 or 15 people still dancing. I slept another hour and then went out for an early walk around the village and the journey by foot to Benin!

Crossing the Benin border (Nadoba to Boukoumbé)

The cross border road from Nadoba to Boukoumbé (Benin) is a dirt track with a length of about 10 kilometers and passes lush and quiet land, with several traditional houses and farms. There’s no checkpoint at the actual border that is just marked by a Baobab tree, but you should report at the police station in Boukoumbé to fulfil formalities. The extremely relaxed officer in charge didn’t mind that I had no Togolese exit stamp in my passport. If you arrive here from Benin, you almost certainly need to get your entry stamp in the Togolese town of Kara.