This Friday I took the occasion to partake in some Togo tourism. Some locals may see me and assume all along that I’m a tourist, but in reality and especially at this point (10 months in), I hardly feel like one. This Friday I took time out with a handful of other vols and ventured to one of the more well known tourism sites in Togo. By tourism site I don’t mean that it’s swarming with visiting Europeans and equipped with a gift shop, but the place does draw some attention and usually gets mentioned in traveler’s books, such as the ones written by Lonely Planet.
So on Friday, with the help of a nearby volunteer and his counterpart, we made the hike that heads up the side of one of Savanes’ plateaus to a century old cliffside fort, about 40 kms south of Dapaong. And we picked a great day for it! With an overcast sky, the weather stayed fresh all morning and although the rain threatened, it didn’t actually fall until the afternoon. With the heat at bay and a slight breeze it was gorgeous!
In southern parts of the region of Savanes (when the savannah starts) there are various plateaus that stretch north before they suddenly drop off into lower, rolling savannah. One of my favorite parts of the drive north to Dapaong is when the national route comes down off one of these plateaus and splits its two peninsulas. At this point you can look both left and right at two giant plateau tips pointing us north. Even the bike ride from my village (further north) to Dapaong leaves me at one point with a great view of a mighty plateau off in the distance to the south. Friday, we drove up to the edge of one of these plateaus and made the hike up the steep slope to the top. Although it was quick, it was very pleasant trouncing along the rocky but well forested trail.
Once on top we soaked in the refreshing breeze on our way to the house of the village chief, in order to pay the 2 000 CFA fee required for visiting the cliffs. For a bit we walked along the recently paved but not very often used road (established in the hopes of attracting more visitors) that leads right up to the site of the cliff fort, which sits on a northern face of the plateau. On the edge there’s a German built ladder fastened to the vertical edge that descends straight down onto a ledge that is the site of a former Moba fort. Once on the ledge you can walk along this perch where the remains of the fort rest. Naturally a cave jutting into the face of the plateau, Moba had built a fort in and around the hollow with chambers, storage rooms and pots all made of clay. Where the cave juts in we could crawl in to explore and at one point we even wriggled through a pitch dark passage that came out to where I’m pictured sitting in the picture. It was really a pretty wild experience to find this hidden treasure and get a glimpse into a bit of local history. We walked the ledge, along which the mini village stretched, snapping photos until we got to where we could no longer continue and found a small waterfall trickling down the face. It really was awe-inspiring to imagine that some of the ancestors of the Moba had lived here only a hundred years ago.
The fort had been occupied in the 19th century, while Togo was still under German influence. In the midst of conflict surrounding colonial and tribal issues, certain Moba had turned the cliff cave into a safe haven from their tribal rival, the Chokossi. It has now been years since any Moba lived there, but the marvel of the site is certainly still alive!
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