As our northbound trips start from Accra and we embark upon the long journey up to Tangier, it's time to catch up on the second half of our recent Accra to Ouagadougou trip.
Having spent 2 weeks slowly exploring Ghana's Volta region and the south of Togo and Benin, after Christmas we had a couple of days driving up to the north of Togo. The grounds of this primary school made for a great bush camp - the children were fascinated as we set up camp for the night!
We had plenty of interesting stops along the way. Above, on the left, Alice is standing in front of the Aledjo Fault, a stunning feature through which the main road passes. On the right, Frank is trying to get through the entrance of a sacred Baobab tree, which has a large cavity inside with room for half a dozen people to stand. It was a bit of a tight squeeze!
Below are weavers at work at a local co-operative. They are weaving long but narrow strips, which are then sewn together to make a range of garments.
The Tamberma Valley World Heritage site is home to the Batammariba people; we spent 2 nights with them in Togo, visiting their fascinating 'Takienta' (mud fortress houses), learning about their beliefs and traditions, and witnessing traditional music and dance ceremonies.
Below, Tracey tries her hand at archery; good job we weren't relying on her to catch our dinner!
As the day cooled off we trekked up to a cave network, formerly inhabited as a retreat in times of tribal war. From here we were treated to some spectacular views of the valley below.
From here a short drive took us across the border to Benin and the Atakora hills, home of the Tammari people. We learnt of their animist traditions, and saw the similarities of their fortress houses with those of their cousins in Togo. Most of these were spread out among their agricultural areas, rather than being grouped into villages.
We trekked to see waterfalls, caves and agricultural lands. Above are giant grain storage jars which are partitioned inside. They are in a cave, near a water source, that was used as a retreat in times of tribal conflict as well as to escape slave raiders. It is believed people could have hidden for up to 6 months inside!
Below, Frank, Tony, Al, Alice, Theo and Tony stand outside a sacred Baobab tree which we visited on another trek.
Millet is a common crop of the area and is made into millet beer. Above, Tony and Sam share a gourd of it, wondering if it might be a little more palatable cold! We watched 2 locals down a gourd, drinking simultaneously from the same vessel, but didn't manage to pull this off ourselves!
Below, Jase climbs up to look inside a grain storage hut on the roof of a house, which is partitioned inside for different crops. A bell on it's rain hat stopped thieves getting inside without waking the household who would sleep nearby.
Another short drive took us to Pendjari National Park, part of the WAP complex, the largest protected wildlife zone in West Africa. We boarded a couple of 4x4s for a bumpy and dusty day of wildlife viewing.
We were lucky enough to see buffalo, waterbuck, warthog, jackals, crocodiles, many antelope, many birds, and numerous herds of elephants. At our first coffee stop we were treated to a rather special encounter with a group of elephants that wandered right past us. We also visited a hippo pool where we saw many active hippos up close.
Below, Tracey, Janet and Sam were getting as dusty as possible!
From Pendjari we headed across the border to Burkina Faso and after a great bush camp we stopped in Fada where, above, Al is in front of the signs. Here we encountered a major problem...no eggs! Jase and Al were both very concerned about the next few breakfasts!
We then travelled west to Bobo Dioulasso, home to skilled artisans and a great live music scene. Some of the group visited the impressive domes de Fabedougou (above) and nearby waterfalls. Below, a great evening of live music.
The trip ended all to soon in Ouagadougou, but we'll be back in Burkina Faso very soon to explore further on our current Accra to Freetown trip.
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